Wake-up Call: How Sleep Affects Your Clients’ Driving Risk

Robert Attwell, CEO, Discovery Insure, South Africa

Blurb> Sleep is often overlooked when it comes to risk, yet its effect on driving safety and insurance claims is significant. Recent data from Discovery Insure reveals a compelling link between poor sleep and increased motor vehicle accidents. For insurance brokers and financial advisers, this creates an opportunity for educating clients about how they can lower their accident risk – just by sleeping well.

The effect of sleep on road safety is often overlooked. A 2024 survey by the National Sleep Foundation in the USA found that almost 90% of adults were likely to avoid driving when they’d had a few drinks, but only 50% said they wouldn’t drive when they’d had poor sleep.

In fact, sleep isn’t only essential for physical and mental health; it has a direct influence on driving behaviour – and mitigating accident risk.

New study reveals sleep’s unequivocal effect

A new research report by Discovery, titled The sleep factor: A data-led blueprint for better health, shows the unequivocal effect that sleep has on health, wellbeing and road safety.

The study is informed by one of the largest private-sector sleep data sets in the world, comprising tens of millions of sleep records collected from wearable devices and representing one of the most comprehensive, longitudinal and behaviourally rich sleep-health repositories available. The data is cross-referenced with clinical claims, Vitality engagement metrics and Vitality Drive’s telematics data on driving behaviour, enabling causal modelling that links sleep patterns to real-world outcomes.

When it comes to accident risk, the research also measured sleep metrics and accident claims data across 10,000 drivers over a four-year period (clients who are Vitality members and who share data on their physical activity and other metrics, including their sleep, with Discovery).

What the sleep numbers show

“The findings are remarkable,” says Robert Attwell, Discovery Insure CEO. “Sleep is a five-times stronger predictor of motor-vehicle accident risk than demographic or credit factors in isolation. The relative importance of sleep as a factor when measuring accident risk is 32% higher than traditional insurance factors combined.”

It’s not just about how many hours on the pillow, either. Sleep quality is one of the most critical determinants of sleep-related accident risk. It comprises three key metrics: how consistent your sleep start time is, how much you sleep and how deeply you sleep.

“The research shows that, for most adults, seven to eight hours of sleep a night is the recommended duration for optimal health outcomes. Clients with sufficient hours of sleep can significantly reduce their accident risk – they’re 32% less likely to have a vehicle accident than those who sleep too little. Clients who consistently go to sleep within one hour of their ideal bedtime are 36% less likely to have a vehicle accident than clients with poor sleep consistency. And clients with better levels of REM sleep (the dreaming stage of sleep), typically above one hour, are at the lowest risk and are 14% less likely to be involved in a vehicle accident,” notes Attwell.

Start the sleep conversation

Brokers and financial advisers are uniquely positioned to influence client behaviour, not just through financial decisions, but also through lifestyle choices that affect risk. And sleep is an area where awareness can lead to meaningful change.

Sleep may not be the first thing that comes to mind when discussing insurance, but it’s a powerful predictor of risk. By helping clients understand and improve their sleep habits, brokers and advisers can reduce claims and position themselves as forward-thinking professionals in a competitive market.

“Intermediaries can make clients more aware of how their sleep affects their risk by simply having conversations,” suggests Attwell. “Include sleep habits in your risk assessment discussions. Ask clients about their sleep routines, especially those who drive frequently. Share the latest statistics with them and chat about the findings. You can also encourage clients to track their sleep if they use wearables and to aim for healthier habits.”

A world-first behavioural incentive

“In March 2026, Discovery Insure will launch Vitality Drive Sleep Points, the world’s first behavioural incentive programme that rewards quality sleep. This new development is fully aligned to our Shared-value Insurance model that aims to create better drivers and safer South African roads,” says Attwell.

According to Attwell, the integration of sleep metrics into Discovery Insure’s Vitality Drive programme is not only a world-first, but also a natural next step for the insurer. It builds on more than a decade of incentivising safer driving through Vitality Drive and it harnesses the scale of Discovery’s broader investment in sleep.

“Sleep is not a luxury – it is critical for reducing risk on our roads. By embedding the improvement of this biological process into clients’ everyday choices, insurers and advisers alike can help mitigate risk by reducing accident-related claims – and create a safer, healthier future for all,” he concludes.