Aite Group: Ridesharing Drivers Safer Than Regular Drivers

Publicly available data on how ridesharing drivers truly fare versus average American drivers is limited. Even the U.S. insurance industry, which has responded well to ridesharing over the past 18 months, lacks insights into ridesharing drivers’ risk profile. Aite Group’s latest report, Driving Analytics: Ridesharing Drivers Are Safer Than Average American Drivers, uses data collected by driving analytics provider Zendrive to analyze ridesharing drivers’ behaviors and provides recommendations for how insurers should address this opportunity. According to the analysis, ridesharing drivers, based on multiple attributes, drive more safely than average drivers.

In terms of speeding, Aite Group finds that 30 percent of trips taken by ridesharing drivers involve speeding, compared to 41 percent for average drivers. Even when it comes to cell phone usage, which ridesharing drivers depend on for their work, they tend to be safer phone users while driving than average drivers. Ridesharing drivers are recorded fumbling with their phone for 23 seconds during a typical 15-minute trip, compared to 35 seconds for average drivers.

“Insurers with a negative bias toward ridesharing may actually reconsider and favor policyholders that engage in ridesharing to the extent that participating in such activity may contribute to making them better drivers,” explains Aite Group partner and insurance research director Gwenn Bezard. “For instance, insurers could incent young drivers to engage in ridesharing as a way to accelerate their growing up into savvy drivers.”

Source: Aite Group