As a parent, there comes a time when you have to trust your child to do the right thing – even when you are not 100% confident they will. Every bird needs to ‘fly the nest’.
When you add into the mix the known risks involved with driving, it’s no wonder that a lot of parents are highly concerned when their child starts to drive their own car. This is where Black Box Insurance comes in.

To put the minds of parents at rest, Safely Insured have developed a Black Box Insurance Scheme which allows both the driver and the parents to access an online dashboard where they can view the driving behaviour of the child, through a scoring level for a few key driving factors. The data comes directly from a small ‘black box’ placed under the vehicle’s bonnet – this is often also referred to as ‘telematics’.

 

As an insurance company we are only too aware and concerned by the level of risks that young drivers are at – Brake, the road safety charity, revealed recently that ‘one in four 18-24 years olds crash within two years of passing their driving test‘. That is a worrying statistic.

What are Young Drivers doing wrong?

We feel it’s all about educating the drivers about how to improve their driving performance, with guidelines and indicators that will help them reduce those risk factors that lead to accidents.

One of the issues with young drivers in the UK is that after passing their driving test, their ‘driving education’ ends there. Many of these drivers are still unaware of how to drive on a motorway, how to drive in the dark, how to safely over-take another car, why it is important to watch your driving speed. This kind of knowledge is embedded in the brains of more experienced drivers.

What’s the answer? Black Box Insurance

Ideally, as a parent you would like to be by their side sharing this advice, but that is not always practical. If you could view your child’s driving behaviour data via an online real-time dashboard, their on-going driving education can continue – whereby you can discuss concerns with driving behaviours that are flagged up from the data captured from the ‘black box’ in the car. On the positive side, if you can see how sensible they are driving, this allows you to relax in the knowledge that they are a competent and safe driver.

The data on offer is 100% accurate and should prove a good guidance tools for highlighting areas for them to improve on, if necessary. You can identify specific journey where the driving behaviour has been an issue – with times and maps of the journey taken recorded.

As an insurance company, we want drivers insured with us to be safe and we will also be active in informing drivers of any concerns with have with their driving behaviour. The benefit of this works both ways – if the young drivers insured under the scheme shows positive driving behaviour, they will benefit from being offered much more competitive future premiums – and looking at the average premium for a young driver, this is an offer not to be dismissed lightly. In the worst case scenarios where the driver continuously ignores these suggestions on improvements to their driving behaviour, their policy could be cancelled. As harsh as this may seem, the whole ‘telematics movement’ for young drivers is all about reducing those high accident statistics for this group of drivers.

What Does The Black Box Measure?

From assessing many accidents and samples of bad driving behaviour, we have identified five key elements that often relate to or cause accidents. This is how the drivers are assessed and they gain an average overall score. The five key factors are;

• Speed
• Acceleration
• Braking
• Mileage
• Time of Day

From the online dashboard, you will be able to identify the specific journeys the driver has taken, the time and mileage of the journey. you will be above to click through to a map showing the actual journey itself. If there are any concerns with the driving behaviour, these will be highlighted.

The Future for Young Drivers

As a parent, you don’t want one of your children to be another negative driving statistic. You want them to be safe on the roads. You also want to keep insurance costs down to a minimum. Getting a Black Box Insurance policy may give you both of these – and peace of mind, leading to a future where you child grows into a confident, safe driver.

Young & Learner Drivers Insurance Guide

You may also find this Young & Learner Drivers Insurance Guide very helpful, explaining nearly everything you will need to know about Young Drivers Insurance, including Black Box & Telematics explained.

Call our Young Drivers Team today to discuss your child insurance options, including cover for Provisional Licence holders and they will be able to answer any questions about the policy and arrange a quotation over the phone. Call 03303 331 256.