Many parents will tell you that asking a young person to do something is one thing, but getting them to actually do it is another. Imagine then the pressures that many may be feeling to keep young drivers at home amid the coronavirus lockdown.
It seems that despite the best efforts to keep us indoors, not everyone is listening with worrying news released about a spike in the number of miles driven prompting UK medical director for Public Health England Dr Yvonne Doyle to urge people not to get behind the wheel.
Now, however, there is an added incentive to follow this guidance – with one insurer offering to reward young drivers that do so.
Carrot Insurance, which uses black box technology to record driving patterns, has noted that, in fact, most young people are doing the right thing. For example, in the 24hrs after the lockdown was announced on March 23, the average number of daily miles driven by its customers fell by 38%. Now, it is, pun intended “dangling a carrot” in front of young drivers to keep them on that path.
“We want to encourage our customers to reduce their car use further still, so in the period Monday April 06 to Monday April 13 (Easter Monday) we will issue double rewards to all customers with a ‘New Driver by Carrot’ policy who leave their cars at home and don’t drive at all during that seven day period,” said director Andrew Brown-Allan.
“They normally earn weekly rewards for demonstrating that they are safe drivers, and this will continue for those making essential trips, but in our view the best way to keep themselves and others safe during lockdown is to leave their cars undriven.”
