Hard brake 23% less in the winter than in summer
Speed on highways 20% less in the winter than in summer
Speed on local roads 7% less in the winter than in summer
Speed on rural roads 15% less in the winter than in summer
Drive on a weekend night 14% less in the winter than in summer
Drive on a weekday night 20% less in the winter than in summer
The driving behaviour of over 18,000 motorists with telematics policies, covering 106 million miles over a two year period was analysed - 95% of the telematics insurance policies had a young driver as a main or additional driver.
Selim Cavanagh, Vice President for Telematics at Wunelli, said: “Almost half of all road accidents involving young drivers can be attributed to slippery roads, travelling too fast for the conditions, inexperience, sudden braking and exceeding the speed limit. Telematics can help tackle these risks, providing insights for driver feedback. But our analysis also shows how sophisticated the insurance sector can become in rating drivers for risk whilst reducing claims loss ratios.”
Comparing driving scores for the summer vs winter, Wunelli found that 68% of drivers have a better driving score[iii] in the winter months. This is the first time telematics data has been analysed to show that young drivers with telematics policies are on average changing their behaviours in the winter months when the roads are generally wet and icy.
Despite the fact that in summer - more miles tend to be driven (Wunelli’s analysis shows people drive 12%[iv] less in winter than summer), the winter months are when the insurance sector typically deals with the highest volume of claims for car accidents and sadly many of the drivers involved are young. Department for Transport figures show drivers between the ages of 17-24 are statistically over-represented in reported road accidents[v].
Selim Cavanagh concludes: “This analysis demonstrates how telematics can enable driving behaviour to be linked to road conditions. As well as enabling timely safety messages to be communicated, it opens up the potential for new rating factors for insurers, exploiting the telematics experience and data analysis skills at their disposal from device agnostic businesses such as Wunelli. For example, drivers who are shown to drive more cautiously in wet and icy driving conditions may see their premium reduced at mid-term or renewal, while drivers who show no change in their behaviour could be regarded as a greater risk.”
|
