Are Safe Young Drivers the key to cheaper car insurance?

Drivers in the 17 to 24 age bracket typically pay higher premiums than other motorists due to the increased insurance risk they pose.

12:29 16 March 2013

Young drivers could see the cost of their car insurancecut by up to 20% if the government introduces full proposals to improve young driver safety, as outlined by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

 

Drivers in the 17 to 24 age bracket typically pay higher premiums than other motorists due to the increased insurance risk they pose, but the ABI's Motor Conference 2013 heard today that these costs could be significantly cut if the government fully implements proposals to make young drivers safer motorists.

 

How telematics is helping young drivers

 

Young drivers are statistically the most dangerous on the road: 20% are involved in an accident within the first year of driving, and this figure doubles for 17-year-old male drivers, while over a quarter (26%) of road accidents involve at least one young driver aged 17-24.

Even more worrying is that one-third of drink drive accidents involve a driver under the age of 25 and dying in a car is the single biggest cause of accidental death of people aged between 15 and 24.

 

Instead of tackling this with prohibitively high insurance costs, the industry is looking at ways to make young drivers safer on the roads.

 

Telematics insurance is one method that is proving popular among young drivers - 15% of the top returned quotes run on MoneySupermarket are for telematics policies - and the average saving made is a staggering £1,960.
 
This means that many young drivers can cut their renewal price in half by simply agreeing to have a black box installed in their car and proving that they can drive safely.

 

However, the ECJ gender ruling has had an impact on prices, with young women paying, on average, 9.2% more than at this time last year, while young male drivers, the most at-risk demographic, are paying 22% less.

 

But it's not all about the cost of cover and the aim should surely be to make young motorists more considerate drivers, which is where the ABI's Safe Young Drivers proposals come in.

 

Making young motorists Safe Young Drivers

 

At its 2013 Motor Conference, the ABI outlined proposals which it hopes the government will implement to help ensure that new young drivers are more considerate and aware of road safety than perhaps others have been in the past.

 

The proposals include:

 

• a minimum one year learning period for young drivers

 

• for a specified period after passing their test, there would be a limit on the number of young passengers young drivers can carry

 

• restrictions on night-time driving

 

• a zero blood alcohol limit to eliminate any chance of inadvertently being over the drink drive limit .

 

If implemented, the ABI projects that these steps would lead to a 15-20% reduction in young driver premiums, which could benefit nearly 3million young people who hold a driving licence - this amounts to 8% of UK licence holders.

 

If it leads to safer roads, then it'll be to the benefit of 100% of UK licence holders.
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