Experts unite to explore safety ratings for young driver car insurance
I'm delighted to be leading the communications for this important project
A collaboration of leading researchers, road safety organisations and insurance specialists will explore how car insurance policies could help reduce crashes involving young drivers and better protect them, their passengers and other road users.
The feasibility study will test whether a safety rating system could help young drivers and parents look beyond price when choosing motor insurance - identifying products with evidence-based features designed to support safer driving.
The Young Driver Insurance Safety Framework project combines road safety, behavioural science, consumer research, insurance and communications expertise.
The project is funded through Transport Scotland’s Road Safety Framework Fund and led by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). It brings together Confused.com, Agilysis, Defaqto and Angelica Solutions, alongside researchers Dr Neale Kinnear (Affective Mobility) and Dr Elizabeth Box (ECM Research Solutions), and road safety communications specialist Rebecca Morris (Vision Zero Communications).
Together, they will connect research into young driver risk with industry insight and families’ experiences to develop and test a common approach to assessing the safety value of insurance policies.
In Great Britain in 2025, 269 people were killed and 4,466 seriously injured in collisions involving car drivers aged 17-24. The harm extended beyond the young drivers themselves to their passengers and other road users.
Young drivers’ greater collision risk and the resulting cost of claims are key reasons why their insurance premiums are so high.
The research will focus on telematics, commonly known as “black box” insurance. It will examine which driving behaviours products measure, how feedback and incentives are delivered, and the quality of evidence linking those features to safer driving.
These findings will inform a safety assessment framework and a prototype consumer-facing rating approach, which will be tested with young drivers, parents and industry stakeholders.
Jamie Hassall, Executive Director of PACTS, said: “The strength of this project is the expertise coming together. Road safety researchers, behavioural scientists, insurance and consumer specialists each bring a different perspective. Working together allows us to connect robust evidence with how insurance policies are designed, used and chosen by families.
“Price understandably matters to young drivers and their families, but it can be harder to judge how effectively a policy supports safer driving. We want to test whether a safety rating could make that support easier to recognise and compare, helping families make informed choices and encouraging improvements across the market.“Insurance companies recognise the risk of young drivers and are keen to play their part in a safe system to help reduce the risks young drivers face and help them develop as safe and competent drivers.”
Young drivers and parents in Scotland will take part in surveys and focus groups to explore how they choose and use insurance, what they understand about telematics and how they respond to safety information.
Insurers, brokers and comparison platforms will also contribute to the research, helping establish the evidence requirements and commercial and technical feasibility of an assessment framework.
The work will draw on behavioural science as well as road safety evidence. Young people gain driving experience while areas of the brain involved in planning, decision-making and self-control continue to develop, underlining the importance of understanding how feedback and support are designed.
Dr Neale Kinnear, of Affective Mobility and the project’s technical lead, said: “Telematics insurance can play a significant role in managing young driver risk, but the design and delivery of a product is critical to its effectiveness for improving safety.“Consumers need a way to quickly assess differences between products, but any information or rating system needs a credible foundation.“We will develop the assessment criteria and test whether the resulting information is understandable and useful to consumers, practical for industry and capable of influencing choices. We will also examine its limitations and possible unintended consequences.”
Running until August 2027, the feasibility study will develop and test a safety assessment framework and prototype rating system. Its findings will inform recommendations on whether and how the approach could be used more widely.
