10/10/2012
* Cobra welcomes ABI's call for an overhaul in young drivers' learning and development
* Cobra warns more must be done to ensure safety and manage insurers' risk
* Telematics reduces insurers' risks which will reflect in lower insurance costs and decreased accident rates among young drivers
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. Telematics already offers the technology to impose this type of restriction as it monitors all aspects of driver behaviour and can readily support this in real-time, meaning any changes in the law will be easier to monitor and bring peace of mind to insurers.
Cobra already provides the technology that powers the Co-Operative's Young Driver Insurance policy. The insurer has already seen its technology have a positive impact on drivers taking up these policies.
Cobra telematics technology already powers three driver based insurance packages. These are:
• Pay How You Drive - the better your driving the lower your premiums
• Pay As You Drive - based on the time, distance and location of journeys covered by the driver
• Pay Per Use - premiums are based on a driver's mileage
Pay how you drive insurance will automatically deliver lower premiums for those drivers who drive responsiblyand pay as you drive means drivers only pay for the journeys they undertake.
Pay as you drive insurance also incentivises drivers to avoid the morning, late afternoon and holiday driving peaks, helping reduce both premiums and congestion at peak times.
-Ends-
*The report showed that while only one in eight driver licence holders are aged 25 or under, one in three fatalities on UK's roads involve a young driver.
The ABI believes that improving the safety of younger drivers during the time they are learning to drive can rectify these issues including a minimum 12 month learning period, graduated driving licences, and lowering the age at which people can start to learn to drive. While Cobra UK welcomes these calls, the company; a leader in safety and security solutions for the motor industry, believes this overhaul should only represent the start of change.
COBRA SPEED LIMITER ACHIEVES 26% FUEL CONSUMPTION IMPROVEMENT AT THE MPG MARATHON
08/10/2012
Cobra’s speed limiter helped achieve a 26% improvement on manufacturer stated fuel consumption figures in last week’s Fleet World MPG Marathon. Driver Doug Powell drove the Volkswagen Transporter BlueMotion fitted with a Cobra speed limiter for two days across a 370 mile route to highlight the MPG and safety benefits of fitting a speed limiter. Read full story »COBRA’S VIZUALOGIC IN-CAR ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM STRIKES GOLD AT INDUSTRY AWARDS
08/11/2012
Cobra UK, leaders in the provision of safety and security solutions for the automotive industry won a Gold award for its Vizualogic in-car entertainment system at the 9th annual Mobile Electronic News (MEN) Awards last night (Wednesday 7 November 2012). Read full story »Restored from an archived copy of this page captured on 05/10/2013. Product availability, specifications and pricing are being reconfirmed.