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A new study by the University of Waterloo has found that speeding is the riskiest type of aggressive driving.
University researchers analyzed data from 28 million trips recorded by on-board devices in vehicles. They compared aggressive driving behaviours based on four indicators: speeding, hard acceleration, hard braking, and taking hard corners.
The researchers came to the conclusion that speeding was the only statistically significant link to crashing.
“The problem with speeding is there isn’t this negative reinforcement cycle,” University of Waterloo professor of electrical and computer engineering Ella Hilal told CBC News.
Hilal explained that arriving at a destination early and avoiding accidents despite speeding “negatively reinforces” people’s poor driving behaviour.
The professor surmised that rewarding good driving could address the issue. Cities could try working with insurance companies to keep a close eye on customers’ driving habits and offer insurance discounts to safer drivers, Hilal recommended.
Several insurers are developing, or have already developed, their own solutions to monitor driver behaviour while encouraging road safety.
Allstate Canada has its Drivewise app, which tracks drivers and their habits, allowing the insurer to give up to 30% off discounts to those customers who avoid trouble. Aviva Canada has teamed up with venture capital firm Highline Beta to launch an accelerator program to develop solutions to make safer roads.
