New survey again shows how poorly young drivers are prepared for the road

17 February 2012

A new survey by ingenie®, the car insurance brand for young drivers, has uncovered the true extent to which 17-25 year olds are not prepared for the road after passing their driving test.

In partnership with RoadSafe®, ingenie commissioned a survey of 1,000 motorists and the results highlight a range of issues faced by young drivers.The nationwide survey, conducted by One Poll, revealed that:
• More than 50% of drivers admitted to feeling nervous, scared and
overwhelmed when taking to the road for the first time
• Male drivers aged 17-25 described confidence as their main emotion when
first taking to the road. However, they are more than twice as likely to have
a collision on the road in their first month of driving compared to female
drivers*
• 89% of young drivers take less than the recommended 40 hours of driving
lessons
• Young drivers change their driving style depending on their passengers –
driving less safely with friends but more cautiously with parents
35% of young drivers admitted to having had a collision in their first year of driving,
suggesting that they are often ill-equipped with the skills they need to drive safely.

Dr Lisa Dorn, leading psychologist and reader in Driver Behaviour at Cranfield
University, said the results were alarming but not surprising.

“Young people are passing their tests with fewer than 40 hours of in-car
tuition with a registered instructor. They therefore have a poorer standard of
driver education than is recommended, and this produces a feeling of nervousness
and a higher chance of a collision, as recognised by the ingenie survey.”.

“We know that the brain’s frontal lobe is not fully developed until the age of 25,
meaning young drivers already take to the road before they’re ideally equipped.
Continuing lessons with your instructor after you have passed your test, in particular night time driving and motorway skills, would make young drivers better prepared.” ingenie fits telematics devices into their customers’ cars to assess individual driving styles.

CEO Richard King said “It’s clear from our research findings that many young drivers speed through their theory and practical tests and get straight out on to the road without the essential skills necessary to give them onfidence to drive alone.
“Many believe that the main benefit of telematics insurance is to reduce car insurance premiums, but the greatest opportunity is to use the technology to assess a driver’s style, provide helpful feedback to improve their driving and therefore build a community of better drivers.”
 

The ‘MyFirstCar’ campaign launched on 16th February 2012 and invites all drivers to share their stories on witter (#myfirstcar) and enter the ingenie Facebook competition  for a chance to win up to £100 of Ticketmaster vouchers.