Are you aged between 17 and 21 and have just started driving? Well, this could be the competition for you. Accident services provider CRASH and insurers Hooper Dolan have come together to find Ireland's best young driver and the prize is €4,000 to pay for your next year's motoring.
The competition will see young drivers from every county have their driving monitored and examined over a ten-week period. Their cars will be fitted with an Ingenium Dynamics black box that monitors their speed, gear changing, steering input and GPS location and sends that data back via a GSM link so that it can be analysed. The driver who performs best will win the €4,000 top prize, which includes €1,500 to pay for insurance, €1,500 for fuel and €1,000 for sundry other costs. There will also be regional winners who will each take home a prize of €500.
Tony McKeown, Sales and Marketing Director at CRASH, said "As one of Ireland's leading provider of accident services, we know only too well the devastating impact accidents can have on people's lives. Younger drivers in Ireland remain most at risk and in need of guidance on road safety issues. We hope that this competition will help to raise awareness of those issues in an exciting way that will help to focus their attention and allow them to learn along the way. We very much want to promote the use of the telematics systems to monitor and improve overall driver behaviour. This is being used by some insurers in Ireland to reward young drivers with lower premiums and we think this will only increase in the future."
Mayo GAA star Cillian O'Connor, who is supporting the competition, said "As a young driver myself, I know it is difficult to get on the road due to the high cost of motoring. As a sports person I am fully aware of the need to monitor and improve each area of your performance. Ingenium Dynamics does this for driving. I think it would be great if new drivers were able to prove they are good drivers and get rewarded with lower insurance."
Anything else?
If you want to take part, you'd better get your metaphorical skates on. The closing date for entries is Friday the 21st of February. To find out more about the competition, please visit www.ingeniumdynamics.ie, email [email protected] or call Freephone 01 524 5004.