SHARING DATA ON NOVICE DRIVER COLLISIONS

139. In order to assess risk and determine insurance premiums, the insurance industry collects a wealth of data regarding the types of traffic collisions which involve novice drivers. The Minister described how valuable that data would be to the Department, in its work formulating polices to cut novice driver deaths and injuries. He said:

"[…] I am very keen to work with the insurance industry to get access to some of their data […] because that data might help us to identify at what point in a driver's career the likelihood of serious and fatal accidents significantly starts to increase […] we do not have the detailed evidence I would like to have and the insurance industry almost certainly does have it […]"[214]

140. The Minister told us there had been difficulties in getting access to the commercially confidential data held by the companies, and in particular, to the level of detail the Department would find useful.[215] The Association of British Insurers explained that there is no single industry-wide database containing such information, because such a database would contravene competition law. We understand from the Department and the Association of British Insurers that progress has been made, and that the industry is working with Government to test a prioritised set of hypotheses against the data it holds.[216] We encourage the insurance industry to make data available to the Department for Transport, in order to help inform national road safety policies. This is a matter of national importance and collaboration and co-operation are essential.

141. Different government agencies are involved in collecting and collating data relating to driver licensing and casualty and crash statistics. The DVLA holds information about driver licensing. The police collate data on road collisions in the STATS 19 database.[217] The Department explained that the STATS 19 traffic collision form does not record the driving licence numbers of the drivers involved.[218] A review of the content of the STATS 19 form recently considered adding this requirement, but the proposal was rejected because of concerns that it would increase the burden of work for the police. In contrast, police collision reports do record driving licence numbers, but these reports exist only on paper and the data is therefore not collated and available centrally for analysis. Given the importance of understanding the nature of novice driver collisions and casualties, it is unacceptable that the Department for Transport and the police are not collaborating to make best use of existing data regarding traffic collisions and driving licence information.

INSURANCE CHARGES FOR SUPERVISED LEARNER DRIVERS

142. The decisions made, and policies offered, by the insurance industry have a direct impact on novice driver behaviour and training. Witnesses drew attention to the importance of novice drivers having plenty of supervised driving practice ahead of taking the test. Some witnesses suggested that one of the barriers to novice drivers undertaking private practice is the high cost of insurance to allow them to drive the family car.[219] They suggested that more affordable insurance would encourage novice drivers to support their professional tuition with greater levels of private practice. The ABI provided data to indicate the levels of risk and cost associated with supervised learner drivers, novice drivers and the general driving population. It argued that the data justified the higher premiums for supervised learners compared to general driving population.

Table 5: The cost of insurance claims and premiums for learner drivers, novice drivers, and overall driving population

		Proportion making claims	Average cost of claims	Average premium
Supervised learner driver	Male	16%	£602	£726
	Female		£264	£559
Novice driver	Male	32%	£1,710	£1,311
	Female		£587	£837
Overall driving population	Male	16%	£283	£400
	Female		£209	£330

Source: Association of British Insurers

143. These figures show that, unlike novice drivers, supervised learners make only the same proportion of claims as the general driving population; their crash risk is no higher. Where male supervised learners differ from the general driving population, is in the cost of their claims, which are higher than the general driving population, but still much lower than that for novice drivers. It should be noted, however, that female supervised learners have a lower average claim cost than males in the overall driving population (although their average premium is still noticeably higher than that for the overall male group).

144. In addition to this potential barrier to supervised driving practice, the Department for Transport identified that anyone convicted for driving while disqualified, unlicensed or uninsured are likely to have life-long difficulties obtaining insurance, meaning they could be permanently excluded from the legal driving population.[220] DVLA records show that about 7,500 novice drivers lose their licence each year for driving without insurance.[221] These figures only include those novice drivers who have been caught and convicted. The scale suggests a widespread problem in ensuring insurance coverage among novice drivers.

145. We understand that the insurance industry seeks to price the actual risks posed by different categories of driver, in order to ensure that the cost of claims are collectively covered. It would appear, from the information provided, that female supervised learner drivers are paying above the odds compared to the male "overall driving population". We would encourage the insurance industry to re-examine the high insurance charges imposed on supervised learner drivers, in the interests of encouraging them to gain maximum practice, a factor which has been shown to be crucial in promoting novice driver safety.

THE ROLE OF INSURANCE POLICIES IN PROMOTING SAFER DRIVING

146. The insurance industry has been well-engaged in the debates surrounding novice driver safety, and some insurance companies have been active in seeking to offer insurance schemes which encourage novice drivers to drive safely. For example, some insurers offer lower premiums to young drivers who make fewer journeys at night, when the risk of them causing a collision resulting in death or serious injury is particularly high.[222] Norwich Union offers an insurance package for drivers aged 18-23 which encourages young drivers not to drive at night. Policyholders are charged up to 20 times more per mile driven during the time period when crash risk is highest (11 p.m. - 6 a.m.) than at other lower-risk times of the day. The pilot, launched in January 2005, saw the number of collisions among young drivers drop by 20%.[223] More Than offers a similar scheme.[224]

147. In addition, several companies offer lower premiums to novice drivers who have completed the Pass Plus post-licence training scheme. It remains to be seen whether companies will continue to offer these discounts following emerging evidence from the ABI that the safety benefit of such schemes is marginal.[225] No-claims bonuses are another way of providing an incentive to drivers in general to avoid risk-taking.[226] Insurance companies therefore already play an important part in influencing driver behaviour.

148. During the course of our inquiry, we also heard that young novice drivers are often driving the oldest vehicles on the road.[227] These vehicles are equipped with fewer safety features. Collision records show the age of the vehicles involved, and the records illustrate that for drivers aged 26 years and above, the vehicle is, on average, five years and six months old; this rises for drivers aged 17-19 years to an average of seven years and one month.[228] The EuroNCAP results give an indication to the public of the safety performance of new vehicles. But for those young novice drivers on a budget, an assessment of a vehicle's safety features may not be a consideration to which they give much weight.

149. The insurance industry has introduced some innovative schemes which offer discounts designed to encourage young drivers to modify their driving behaviour, by avoiding high-risk driving, such as driving at night. We welcome these schemes and note their apparent effectiveness. The insurance industry can play an important part in the effort to improve novice driver safety. We suggest that the industry explores what contribution it could make through insurance packages which draw attention to the safety risks posed by driving older vehicles with less effective safety features.