Speed-tracking scheme to cut youth premiums by 50%

A motor insurer has promised young male drivers premium reductions of up to 50 per cent if they agree to have a tracking device fitted to their cars.

The AXA "Traksure" device allows the company to take a reading from a car every 15 seconds, showing how fast it is travelling and where it is located.

The firm, which is the second biggest motor insurer in the Republic, will match speeds and locations against a map it has compiled of speeding limits on all roads nationwide.

The map and data collected using an in-car global positioning system device means the company will know every time a motorist exceeds the speed limit on any stretch of road in the country. Data is collected via satellite from cars every week.

Mr Aidan Cassells, executive director of AXA, said he believes the technology "will be common practice within 10 years or so".

"We hear so much about penalty points and enforcement and the costs involved in that regard, but what we would be saying is that there are lots of ways in which technology could be used to alleviate those costs."

The scheme has operated on a pilot basis for the last two years and already 1,200 male drivers between the ages of 19 and 25 have signed up. The company now plans to extend it with a marketing campaign. It will also be offered to 17- and 18-year-olds.

On average, participants broke the speed limit 7 per cent of the time. Drivers performed worst in 30 m.p.h. zones, breaking the speed limit on average 12 per cent of the time. In 50 m.p.h. zones the rate was best, with drivers exceeding the speed limit was just 1.2 per cent of the time.

A summary of driving behaviour will be sent to each participant every month. If there is regular speeding, the driver will be given three warnings. If he does not correct his speeding habits after the third warning, his participation in the scheme will be reviewed. If the company decides to take him off the Traksure system, he will have to go to another insurer or pay higher premiums to remain with AXA.

Traksure participants will not be permitted to take their cars out of the Republic because AXA has not compiled speeding- limit maps for Northern Ireland or other countries.

Cars can only be driven by the insured owner - the scheme does not extend to owners with second- or third-named drivers on their policies.

The device is the size of a video cassette tape. It costs €1,200 and is paid for by the driver over three years. If a driver agrees to participate in the scheme for three years, AXA will guarantee no increase in premiums in that period.

The company says a 22- year-old driver on a provisional licence and driving a 1.1 cc car could expect to cut his premium from an average standard of €5,651 a year to €2,824, which includes the cost of the device.