Young married couples and older women score well in SA driver safety review

03 December 2019 - 13:39 By TimesLIVE
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Of the 4,781,236 travelling days measured on the Safe Dayz app, 49% were safe.
Of the 4,781,236 travelling days measured on the Safe Dayz app, 49% were safe.
Image: Gergely Zsolnai / 123rf

SA continues to face a challenge with young drivers who are notoriously recognised as “unsafe and aggressive”. However, married people and older women are providing a good example.

This is according to a review of motorists' behaviour on a driving app.

Chief actuary at Momentum Short-Term Insurance Rudolf Britz said a recent review of two years’ worth of statistics indicated that 60% of its Safe Dayz users were between 25 and 55 years old.

Clients younger than 35 earned safe-day points than those over the age of 35.

“There is no significant difference between males and females. However, younger females are slightly safer than their counterparts, but tend to behave similarly until the age of 55, when females become increasingly safer than males,” said Britz.

Of the travelling days measured, “49% were safe, with young, married clients recorded as safer than young, single clients”, he said.

The company would like to see this figure improve, especially among the younger generation.

“Poor road-safety performance places an enormous burden on everyone, from individuals and communities to businesses and government,” Britz added.

The data was logged between November 2017 and February 2019.

In 2017, the International Transport Forum’s (ITF) Road Safety Annual Report showed SA had one of the highest road crash rates in the world, with about 25% of those collisions triggered by the use of mobile phones while driving.

The Safe Dayz app, available on Android and iOS, was developed the same year to trace client behaviour. The app can also be used by passengers, whose scores are calculated based on their driver's behaviour. Up to 30% cashback on premiums is the reward for clients.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now