Road safety campaigns are being launched this week, but unless driver behaviour improves, South Africa’s high road death rate is unlikely to change.
In an attempt to change the driving behaviour of its customers, Discovery Insure has turned to technology and incentives.
Anton Ossip, chief executive of Discovery Insure, said the company was installing a telematics device called DQ-track into the vehicles of the 35 000 South Africans who insure with it.
The device tracks the way people drive and the insurance company rewards those who drive safely.
Ossip said the device acted as an ordinary tracker in case the vehicle was stolen, but it was also able to tell at what speed the car was going and how aggressively the driver was driving.
For instance, it can detect how often the driver slams on brakes.
Discovery Insure rewards its clients for driving well.
Using the technology, the company has been able to collect a lot of data about people’s driving habits.
Six months after insuring with Discovery Insure there was a 20 percent improvement in people’s driving behaviour, Ossip said.
The data also shows that most accidents happen late at night.
“We have seen that you have 10 times the chance of having an accident if you drive between 11pm and 4.30am.”
He said the major causes of accidents were speeding and drivers who talked on their cellphones.
The device has also shown that women are better drivers than men, and that younger drivers are involved in more accidents because they lack experience, showing their nerves at night and during rainy weather.
Ossip said there appeared to be a difference in driving behaviour according to the cars people drive. Cabriolets, for instance, have more accidents than station wagons.
The device can also track the G-force of a car. If a high G-force is recorded, this often means the car has been in a collision.
Ossip said Discovery then called the driver of the vehicle and, if there was no response, sent an ambulance to the scene because it might mean the driver was unconscious. -The Star