Night-time curfews not the answer for young drivers says The Co-op
Night-time restrictions on young drivers should not be part of the solution to increase safety on Britain's roads says The Co-operative Insurance.
Transport Research Laboratory has made a series of recommendations for new drivers which includes night-time curfews. These come ahead of an imminent Government Green Paper on how to improve young driver safety.
The Co-operative would support the introduction of a Graduated Driver Licencing system which would expose novice drivers to a greater number of driving experiences to prepare them for life on the roads.
However, The Co-operative Insurance believes enforcing a night-time curfew as part of the GDL is not the answer.
James Hillon, Director of General Insurance, said: "We fully support the aim of making the roads safer for everyone, but believe that educating novice young drivers will be more effective than imposing such a restriction.
"We recognise that too many young drivers are involved in road accidents, and that their premiums are higher as a result, but believe these issues can be better tackled by encouraging them to drive safely.
"In 2011, we introduced telematics insurance for young drivers where a smart box is installed in a car. The scheme has helped cut accident rates by a fifth by helping to inform young people how to improve their driving and rewarding responsible driving with lower premiums."
In addition to the significant reduction in accidents, claims for the most serious type of ‘catastrophic' accident are 30% lower. The scheme calculates premiums on how the individual drives - not on how their general age group drives - and has helped lower the average young driver premium by over £400.
James added: "Our experience with telematics shows that the technology can inform young people how to improve their driving, and importantly, rewards good driving with lower premiums.
"In the case of night-time curfews, young drivers may have a real need to drive at night, such as for work, and we're concerned that curfews would have unintended impacts on their lives. Telematics prices insurance on driving behaviour, which includes the time they drive, so if they drive when accidents are more likely to occur the premium will reflect this.
"Passing your driving test and getting a car is an important liberating step for young people. We believe most take their responsibilities as a driver seriously and the aim should be in helping them to drive safely."
The Co-operative Insurance Young Driver scheme uses a Smart Box installed in a car and takes the average of 4 factors: speed, acceleration/braking, cornering and time of day, from which young drivers achieve a score that will get them a discount providing that they drive safely.
Young drivers with The Co-operative Insurance do not face a penalty charge for driving at night but the risk will be reflected in the premium.
Customers can earn 30% of their initial premium back in discounts if they achieve a top score of five for their overall driving performance.