Young SA drivers say they're 'best'
2012-08-01 15:00
THE FAST AND THE YOUNG: A Discovery Insure survey has found that 81% of drivers would rate themselves "excellent".
A study conducted by health insurer Discovery has found that 81% of South African drivers rate themselves "excellent", a figure at odds with the reality on South African roads, which has one of the highest fatality rates in the world.
Discovery collected the date from its Discovery Insure vehicle insurance clients after their DQ-Track programme results – that looks at driver performance, awareness, vehicle condition and roadworthiness – was analysed. The drivers logged more than 114 million km.
SOUTH AFRICAN OPTIMISTS
Anton Ossip, Discovery Insure CEO, said: “Out of the group who considered themselves to be excellent drivers, our data shows that a very small percentage of these drivers are actually excellent drivers.”
By contrast, given the survey’s parameters, only 10% of drivers were found to be “excellent”. The majority (58%) were rated “moderate” and 32% “poor”.
The most optimistic drivers, Ossip said, were those aged between 18 and 25 – 90% of the young adult drivers surveyed believed they were “above average” or “excellent” drivers. Discovery Insure quoted another survey in which it found more than 75% of young adult deaths were caused by motor vehicle accidents.
But Discovery believes it has the tools to address these concerns, such as offering rewards to clients making healthier lifestyle and better driving choices based on regular feedback through its DQ-Track feedback.
Dr Craig Nossel, head of Discovery Vitality Wellness, said: “People, with the help of regular feedback, will usually change their behaviour when they realise how their choices negatively affect their quality of life.”
Ossip added that young adult driver research showed they were “more receptive to having telematics technology installed in their cars than their parents are, and 80% of young drivers want feedback on all aspects of their own driving behaviour.”
