QBE’s Insurance Box telematics technology will be used in a world-first study of young drivers.

Mark Stevenson, a Professor of Urban Transport and Public Health at Melbourne School of Design, has been awarded a $530,000 Australian Research Council grant to study drivers aged 18-25.

“Young drivers comprise 13% of the population, yet they account for 22% of driver deaths in Australia,” Professor Stevenson said. “The introduction of in-vehicle telematics is a technology that holds considerable promise with respect to reductions in road trauma.”

The research will explore whether telematics feedback and incentives for good driving such as cash or lower insurance premiums can change risky behaviour.

It will track 200 Victorian drivers who have in-vehicle telematics installed in their cars under the Insurance Box product.

The study, to start next month, is a collaboration between Melbourne University, Insurance Box, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission and Monash University.

QBE Head of Customer Experience and Insurance Box founder Frank Peppard says the University of the West of England, which has a team of telematics experts, is also involved.

QBE is contributing funding and analytics support from actuaries, he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We are delighted the research is going ahead. It is a world-first in assessing young drivers. There have been trials overseas but not using a live insurer.”

The 200 participants will be offered rewards such as $100 in cash for good driving.

“We aim to share the results with all insurers when the study is published on the benefits of using telematics,” Mr Peppard said.

He says the use of technology resonates well with younger drivers.

“They want the facts about their driving and they don’t want their parents telling them how to drive.”

However, parents can access their children’s driving results, to monitor progress.

The four-year study will explore what form of insurance incentive should be offered and examine if direct feedback or incentive-based cover leads to measurable change in driving behaviour.

Mr Peppard says Insurance Box customers of all ages receive renewal discounts of up to 20-30% to reward good driving behaviour.

Insurance Box, set up in 2013, is the first insurance company in Australia to require policyholders to install in-vehicle telematics devices.

The devices record speed relative to speed limits, driving times, crash events and near misses that require hard braking. Data can be observed via a smartphone app.