Cobra UK has welcomed the Association of British Insurers’ (ABI) call for an overhaul in how young people learn to drive, following a report into how to reduce the high crash risk young drivers represent and to bring down their motor insurance premiums.

However, Cobra feels that changes to young driver training should be just the start of a complete change in way they are monitored and insured to increase their safety and reduce their insurance premiums. Telematics technology powered driver based insurance packages can successfully manage insurance companies’ risk and are already being used successfully by a small number of insurers.

“Telematics technology gives young drivers the chance to prove they are safe drivers by recording how they drive, measuring key outputs from a car's journey in real time such as times and distances, fuel consumption, mileage, cornering, braking, average speed, top speed, the car's location, and journey type,” says Andrew Smith, managing director, Cobra UK.

"Our telematics technology is already available here and now for insurance companies wanting to adopt this approach. It's the enabler for making an immediate and dramatic impact on young drivers' insurance premiums, as well as reducing insurers' risk. Changing the way our younger drivers are trained is a step in the right direction, but what is the point of training them to be better drivers when the cost of insurance means they won’t be able to afford to drive anyway?” Smith added.

The ABI’s proposals are a start and it is also calling for time restrictions on young people’s driving habits for the first six months after they have passed their test, forbidding them from driving between 11pm and 4am.

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