Web-based tool for insurers to assess drivers now available in North America

CogniFit, Ltd., an organization that assesses and trains cognitive skills, is introducing a risk assessment tool designed for auto insurers to the North American market.
DriveFit Premium is a Web-based interactive program for auto insurers to assess the cognitive, psychomotor and personality skills needed for safe driving.
The program tests drivers in 12 areas, including focused attention, reaction time, switching attention, speed estimation, visual scanning, obeying traffic laws, short-term memory, speed of perception, time estimation, distance estimation, risk-taking and concentration. The tests are designed to determine which are most, or least, likely to be involved in an accident.
“DriveFit Premium helps create a unique ‘picture’ of each policyholder’s risk level beyond that of demographic data traditionally used to determine premiums,” said Ed Corbally, director of risk and safety services at CEI, a provider of direct repair program outsourcing to property and casualty companies and driver risk management services.
“DriveFit Premium gives insurers a new resource to reduce physical damage payouts and also provides them the option to reward high-scoring drivers with lower premiums.”
After each driver completes an online DriveFit Premium assessment, results are immediately available to insurers for analysis. While each insurer’s risk management system differs, the insurance company compares existing statistics for drivers with similar age, gender, license type and driving experience to those of the new insurance candidate.
“We use a version of DriveFit to assess what would otherwise be ‘unknown’ risk factors of novice drivers, as they have no driving history,” said Peter Christianson, president of Young Drivers of Canada. “The 30-minute driver assessment tool — which could be completed from home personal computers — adjusts to the unique needs of each driver, improving driving decisions and, in turn, performance on the road.”