Time and distance to first accident and driving patterns of young drivers with pay-as-you-drive insurance.

We conducted a study of approximately 16,000 drivers under the age of 30 that had purchased a pay-as-you-drive insurance policy, where their risk of being involved in a crash was analyzed from vehicle tracking data using a global positioning system. The comparison of novice vs. experienced young drivers shows that vehicle usage differs significantly between these groups and that the time to the first crash is shorter for those drivers with less experience. Driving at night and a higher proportion of speed limit violations reduces the time to the first crash for both novice and experienced young drivers, while urban driving reduces the distance traveled to the first crash for both groups. Gender differences are also observed in relation to the influence of driving patterns on the risk of accident. Nighttime driving reduces the time to the first accident in the case of women, but not for men. The risk of an accident increases with excessive speed, but the effect of speed is significantly higher for men than it is for women among the more experienced drivers.