Discovery pledges to improve one million lives through road safety by 2023

Discovery Insure announces its commitment to improving road safety, calling for a constructive behavioural approach to solutions to mark the 5th United Nations Global Road Safety week, joining global leaders on the campaign to #SpeakUp and Save Lives.

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5-29 years, according to the WHO. With a road death toll of 22.5 per 100 000 people, South African roads are among the most dangerous in the world, and our most vulnerable citizens, pedestrians and children, are most at risk.

The UN’s #SpeakUp campaign aims to inspire leaders to take action by showcasing strong leadership on road safety from governments, NGOs, foundations, schools and universities and companies.

Anton Ossip, CEO of Discovery Insure, says: “We have a responsibility as a nation to better protect our young and our vulnerable, and the solution is simple; we need to change behaviour on our roads. Over 90% of road accidents are caused by driving behaviour. The UN Global Road Safety initiative creates an opportunity to #SpeakUp and draw attention to potential solutions, which we feel should be linked to the principles of behaviour change that have been proven to work.”

Between September and November in 2018, Discovery opened its app to all South Africans giving them the chance to be rewarded for shifting their health and driving behaviour. Over 60,000 people participated in the Vitality Open initiative clocking up over 97 million kilometres. Over the ten week period, 37% of drivers improved their driving and 75% of these considerably reduced their collision risk, showing that over a short period, with access to the right information and incentives, it is possible for people to change their behaviour.

Ossip continued: “We’re passionate about creating a nation of safe drivers and safer roads, and have committed to contributing to a reduction of road fatalities in South Africa by making at least one million non-Discovery Insure lives safer by 2023,” concludes Ossip.

Discovery’s network of safety partners are planning to #SpeakUp this week to raise awareness of critical safety challenges. Among them is the Safe Travel to School programme, a globally-unique collaboration between Discovery and paediatrician-initiated child safety NGO, Child Safe. The programme is having a dramatic impact on vehicle related trauma and mortality in the Western Cape, with no injuries or deaths among Cape Peninsula pupil commuters for five years running. The transformative technology on which the project is based is the Discovery DQ (Driver Quotient) Track device where data feedback enables drivers to dramatically improve their driving and safety awareness. 

Notes to Editors:

Discovery’s road safety initiatives, besides the Safe Travel to School partnership with ChildSafe, include SEE ME in Alexandra and WheelWell. Discovery is also a member of the United Nations Foundation. For more information about Global UN Road Safety Week go to https://www.unroadsafetyweek.org/en/about.