Insurethebox: Night bans will not cut young driver risk

Government plans to ban young people from night-time driving will neither cut premiums significantly nor improve driving behaviour, says telematics insurer Insurethebox.

The insurer’s conclusions are based on an analysis of more than 600 million miles driven by its 150,000 customers, whose telematics boxes record details of when, where and how they travel.

Insurethebox said it was “unfair” to single out one section of the population when all age groups are more likely to have accidents at night. Furthermore, such a law would be unworkable, have unintended consequences and create an undue strain on police resources, the company added.

However, Insurethebox’s report supports many of the proposals to recue accidents among young people and thus premiums.

These include controls on the number and types of passenger that young drivers can carry and cutting their alcohol limits.

The report said: “Our data shows that 19- to 23-year olds drive the highest percentage of their total miles at night. When you take this into consideration, the main reason young people crash more often at night is that they drive more often at night, not that they are much more dangerous.”

According to Insurethebox data, only 11% of accidents involving young drivers take place in the hours between 11pm and 4am, which have been recommended for a curfew. Furthermore, a ban would most likely not stop them from driving, just move their journeys to other times, when there would be a consequent increase in accident rates.

Alternatively, it could cause young drivers to speed to get home before the curfew or to go by unsafe means of travel, such as walking late at night.

Insurethebox spokeswoman Charlotte Halkett said: “We have dedicated a huge amount of effort to promoting safe motoring, and we believe that young people learn by experience. Preventing them from carrying lots of passengers of the same age really would be effective in our view. It would cut the number and severity of accidents. Banning them at certain times, though, would be counter-productive.”