Royal & SunAlliance endorses Drive for Life

Citing a disproportionate number of Ontario youths who are involved in fatal car collisions, Royal & SunAlliance is offering premium discounts for graduates of a program that uses a simulator to teach defensive driving techniques. Road safety statistics show 225 people died in the GTA as a result of traffic collisions last year, according to a Royal & SunAlliance press release. According to Transport Canada, young drivers aged 16-24 accounted for 23.6% of driver fatalities and 26.2% of serious driver injuries in 2004, despite the fact that drivers in this age group account for only 13% of licensed drivers.”Handing the car keys over to your teen can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially with statistics like these,” Shawn DeSantis, vice president of personal insurance at Royal & SunAlliance, says. “At Royal & SunAlliance, we believe that parents have an obligation to ensure their children have the driver training and skills necessary to make them safe drivers. That’s why we offer insurance discounts for families with young drivers who have participated in the Drive for Life program.” The Drive for Life training program uses state-of-the-art driving simulators, equipped with dynamic front, rear and side-view mirrors, to teach drivers the defensive driving techniques required when faced with challenging, high-risk driving scenarios. According to a pilot study conducted by SMARTRISK, an organization dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives, the Drive for Life simulator-based training program supports improvements in driving skills and behaviors among participants during the course of the program.The SMARTRISK study concluded that there was a significant reduction in collision levels among participants while using the simulator. Specifically, 58% of participants experienced a collision incident in the initial test scenarios. At the end of the program, the collision rate on the simulator decreased to 7% among participants. “The complex driving environment in a large city means that drivers need stronger skills and modified behaviors to deal with challenging road situations,” Drive for Life’s managing director John Williamson says. “Experience is one of the most important factors in driving.”We provide that experience through training on our simulators that is based on our proprietary SPOT driver program. By using SPOT (Scanning skills, Predicting ability, need to create Options and Taking action), Drive for Life trained drivers have successfully reduced their chance of being involved in a collision.” Royal & SunAlliance offers program graduates discounted rates on automobile insurance premiums for each of their first four years on the road. The savings can amount to as much as 20% in year one (or up to 40% if combined with a standard driver training program).