This month I’ve been analysing two different sets of statistics, both on different subjects but both compelling for a number of reasons.
At Car Loan 4U we are committed to giving our applicants the best deal possible on their car finance when buying a new or used car. This ethos has always stayed the same and has stood us in good stead since my fellow director James Wilkinson and I founded the company over six years ago.
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We’re committed to providing the customers that choose us with a professional service that’s quick, easy and friendly. In addition, we provide them with what we believe is the best ‘pre-approved’ car loan to match their circumstances and allows them to source their car from any dealership in the United Kingdom.
We firmly believe this focus on the customer experience has helped us establish ourselves as the largest online car finance specialist in the UK and statistics have played a big part in helping us to realise this achievement as our car loan completion rate has risen by 76 per cent over the last 12 months.
But it’s not just these types of stats which are so compelling. Like every company, we want to give our customers a unique and satisfying service and it’s from this that we have been compiling different type of data through our own research.
When it comes to buying a car, we have always known that our applicants look to buy a specific model of car for a number of reasons – perhaps one that looks good or drives well – (but from our research commissioned and compiled) on different topics over the past year, we’ve found drivers are also looking for something even more important: in-car safety features.
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By GlobalDataIn effect, this research was brought about by reading the latest figures from the Department of Transport, which made for quite unsettling news.
They revealed the annual number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents increased to 1,901 in 2011 from 1,850 in 2010, the first annual rise since 2003. Serious injuries also increased from 24,510 to 25,022 in the same period, which was also the first annual rise since 1994.
It’s easy to get too focused on the hard numbers and lose sight of the fact that these are real people.
Something needs to be done towards improving these statistics. That’s why we decided to commission the research to find out first-hand exactly what in-car safety features motorists want to be installed.
For us this was an extremely useful tool in finding different trends and the results were undeniable.
Motorists want car manufacturers to install new in-car technology to boost safety in all models.
The most overwhelming statistic was that almost 40% of motorists want in-car detectors fitted to show alcohol blood levels.
Further statistics also revealed that over a third of motorists want to see cameras installed in all new cars to provide recorded evidence of accidents, and that one in three motorists want to see sat navs placed higher up in cars, so drivers don’t have to glance down. It’s also interesting to read that one in four motorists would like to see more voice-activated controls.
When it comes to mobile phones, one in 10 motorists has difficulty in hooking up their phone to their car for handsfree.
One in five motorists also state in-car technology stops them paying full attention to driving and believe gadgets such as touch screens, entertainment systems and sat navs are simply too complicated to use in many vehicles.
The statistics are worrying when you consider that the trend for the last 17 years has been downwards and during this period we have seen major improvements in vehicle safety. However, our research shows motorists want to see new technology introduced into new cars to improve driver safety.
Cars are getting safer and safer all of the time but they are falling down on how the driver and passenger interfaces with new technology. Some of these systems are so complex they can prove very distracting for drivers trying to use them.
Hopefully, through our own research we can help to further raise the awareness of such an important, and perhaps often overlooked, issue.
In the wider context, it is certainly encouraging that more motorists are looking towards the more conventional needs regarding such a serious issue.
Ryan Dignan is co-director of Car Loan 4U
