Whether Young Drivers of Canada’s new online driver training will hold the same value and insurance discount as the traditional “hands on” training is yet to be seen, says Leonard Sharman, a spokesperson for the Co-operators, following this week’s announcement of Drive Online.
“Generally the ministry of transportation does the accreditation, and we follow their lead in that respect,” Sharman told Insurance Business Online. “If we have concerns about the on-line training, we will take it up with the ministry – but if the ministry decides the online training is worthy of accreditation, then we’ll take it from there to see if we will treat all of the programs the same.”
The How to Drive Online site www.howtodriveonline.com launched on Monday, with the aim of improving the percentage of Canadians who take driver education.
Currently there are over 23 million licensed drivers¹ and approximately 40 per cent of them have not taken any form of driver education, according to Young Drivers.
“Accidents are both predictable and preventable,” says Peter Christianson, president of Young Drivers. “There is a large percentage of Canadians that have had no driver training at all and they share the road with you and I. We need to bridge the knowledge gap for Canadian families who would otherwise decide to opt for no driver training and to reach out to drivers who need a refresher on how to drive defensively.” (continued.)
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The How to Drive Online program offers two levels of training. The first covers the basics of driving and explains how to successfully control the vehicle. Skills such as parallel parking, right and left hand turns and braking techniques are covered.
There are interactive components and six camera videos of real traffic that any novice driver, someone looking to upgrade their driving skills or new driver coach can benefit from. According to Christianson, How to Drive Online can be easily accessed at the user's convenience, anywhere, anytime they have internet access. Both levels can be used in conjunction with a driving school or Young Drivers driving lessons to reinforce safe driving habits and correct defensive driving techniques.
The carrot for consumers has always been the insurance discount for first-time drivers. The average insurance loss ratio is 64.9 per cent which means nearly $65 dollars out of every $100 in insurance premiums go towards repairing damage. The driving lessons in this new online program show drivers how to avoid crashes which will in turn help keep their insurance premiums lower in the future.
Training that the Co-operators acknowledges has been valuable, and has been traditionally rewarded by insurers, says Sharman.
“We do give better rates for anyone who completes the course, the regular training,” says Sharman.
