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CAPE TOWN - South Africa’s best drivers can be found in the Western Cape, according to data from an insurance company's smartphone application.
Discovery Insure claims to have collected 16.8-million km-worth of drivers' data in June 2014 through the launch of its Driver Challenge app that month.
Western Cape drivers are reportedly the top drivers in SA, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Limpopo drivers are reportedly the worst.
DRIVERS IMPROVE
Despite 70% of users being male, data showed women were, overall, better drivers. They recorded more harsh braking and higher levels of cellphone usage while driving though male users suffered in areas of speeding and cornering, Discovery said.
The survey found that drivers improved their cars after using the app for a few days.
Users with scores of less than 50 improved on average by 20% over the next two days of usage. High-scoring drivers (70 or above) improved by 7% over the same period. Reportedly 10% of drivers improved their score by at least 10 points after the first day.
Discovery Insure CEO Anton Ossip said: "We're heartened by the great response thus far, which shows that South Africans are passionate about making a positive difference in their driving behaviour.
"We're particularly pleased that most users were able to improve their driving scores within a short time, so people are willing to improve their driving behaviour if offered the tools."
HOW IT WORKS
More than 36 000 people have downloaded the Driver Challenge app which provides real-time feedback on their driving.
Using their smartpphone's accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS, users are given feedback on their braking, cornering, speed and whether they're distracted behind the wheel (such as using the phone while driving).
Drivers are assigned a score from 0 to 100 and ranked on a leader board which rates them.
The challenge will end in August 2014.
The top drivers by province are:
1 Western Cape
2 Gauteng
3 Eastern Cape
4 North West
5 Free State
6 Northern Cape
7 kwaZulu-Natal
8 Mpumalanga
9 Limpopo
The Discovery Insure app is available to download for free from the App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android.
WORST TRAFFIC IN SA...
In June 2014, Satnav specialist TomTom released its fourth annual global traffic index for 2013. The report analyses traffic in major cities in SA such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town.
The results revealed that Cape Town is now the most congested city in South Africa, surpassing Johannesburg which was the most congested city in 2012.
SKY-HIGH TRAFFIC FINES
Irresponsible drivers will have to pay quite a bit more for traffic offences as the minister of transport and public works, Donald Grant, reports that traffic fines in the Western Cape will increase from August 2014.
Discovery Insure claims to have collected 16.8-million km-worth of drivers' data in June 2014 through the launch of its Driver Challenge app that month.
Western Cape drivers are reportedly the top drivers in SA, followed by Gauteng and the Eastern Cape. Limpopo drivers are reportedly the worst.
DRIVERS IMPROVE
Despite 70% of users being male, data showed women were, overall, better drivers. They recorded more harsh braking and higher levels of cellphone usage while driving though male users suffered in areas of speeding and cornering, Discovery said.
The survey found that drivers improved their cars after using the app for a few days.
Users with scores of less than 50 improved on average by 20% over the next two days of usage. High-scoring drivers (70 or above) improved by 7% over the same period. Reportedly 10% of drivers improved their score by at least 10 points after the first day.
Discovery Insure CEO Anton Ossip said: "We're heartened by the great response thus far, which shows that South Africans are passionate about making a positive difference in their driving behaviour.
"We're particularly pleased that most users were able to improve their driving scores within a short time, so people are willing to improve their driving behaviour if offered the tools."
HOW IT WORKS
More than 36 000 people have downloaded the Driver Challenge app which provides real-time feedback on their driving.
Using their smartpphone's accelerometer, gyroscope, and GPS, users are given feedback on their braking, cornering, speed and whether they're distracted behind the wheel (such as using the phone while driving).
Drivers are assigned a score from 0 to 100 and ranked on a leader board which rates them.
The challenge will end in August 2014.
The top drivers by province are:
1 Western Cape
2 Gauteng
3 Eastern Cape
4 North West
5 Free State
6 Northern Cape
7 kwaZulu-Natal
8 Mpumalanga
9 Limpopo
The Discovery Insure app is available to download for free from the App Store for iOS and Play Store for Android.
WORST TRAFFIC IN SA...
In June 2014, Satnav specialist TomTom released its fourth annual global traffic index for 2013. The report analyses traffic in major cities in SA such as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town.
The results revealed that Cape Town is now the most congested city in South Africa, surpassing Johannesburg which was the most congested city in 2012.
SKY-HIGH TRAFFIC FINES
Irresponsible drivers will have to pay quite a bit more for traffic offences as the minister of transport and public works, Donald Grant, reports that traffic fines in the Western Cape will increase from August 2014.
