UbiCar’s Northern Beaches’ Safest Driver Competition, proudly supported by the Northern Beaches Council, revealed unique and exclusive insights about drivers in the Northern Beaches.
Data recorded by UbiCar – a safe-driving app – reveals that the biggest spike in motorists using their phone behind the wheel is when kids are collected from school between 3pm-4pm.
Over 800 motorists competed to be the safest driver using the free UbiCar app, which assesses Speeding, Phone Distraction, Cornering, Acceleration and Braking to measure drivers’ performance behind the wheel.
“Only twenty-two percent of competitors felt they used their phone while driving yet in reality seventy-three percent of drivers did,” said Carolyn Batterton, co-founder of UbiCar.
“The number of drivers looking at their phone while driving also peaked between 8am and 9am which is a busy time on the roads with school drop off as well as people making their way to work.”
Winning driver, Cerian Brondum of Bilgola Plateau, took home $2,000 after achieving perfect scores and proving her exceptional driving skills.
“Not only is it interesting to find out if you are as good a driver as you think you are, but it brings out a competitive streak that I didn’t even know I had,” Mrs Brondum shared.
Coming in at second place and taking home $1,000, Freshwater resident Scott Martin thinks the UbiCar app helped him become a more responsible driver.
“I’ve been driving for 25 years, which means I’ve picked up some bad habits. Since I’ve started using the UbiCar app, I’m concentrating so much more on the road.”
“I think this program with UbiCar and the Northern Beaches Council is a great idea, and I think all councils would benefit from doing the same,” Martin added.
Mother of four Nuala Quigley, who placed at third and won $750, thought she was an average driver, but has become a more conscientious driver since downloading the app.
“I’m more aware of my speed and my braking. I think the Phone Distraction indicator was very telling as well, so it made me not look at my phone,” Quigley admitted.
“It definitely has slowed me down on the roads.”
