For most motorists the steady introduction of Pay as You Go (PAYG) car insurance policies over the past few years has been a welcome development.

No longer is the Sunday driver forced to pay the same annual premium as his counterpart who takes a two-hour commute every day, and rightly so.

While the benefits have been felt all round, however, it is younger drivers who are particularly likely to save money with such a policy and even more so should they choose to take their cars out only during daylight hours.

This is largely down to the fact that, understandably enough, a disproportionate amount of accidents occur when there are the fewest cars on the road.

According to Norwich Union, young drivers account for some 45 per cent of road fatalities on the nation's roads which occur between the hours of 11pm and 6am.

Furthermore, young drivers are ten times more likely to be involved in an accident at night than they are if they just use their cars during the daytime, both facts prompting insurers to put premiums up accordingly.

"Our research tells us that young drivers are not necessarily high mileage drivers, so we strip out the high risk factor which are young drivers driving at night," explained Erik Nelson, general insurance media relations manager at the firm.

"I think that most young drivers who do not have to use their car at night, would benefit from Pay As You Drive," he added.

By switching to this system of cover, motorists are better able to take control of their finances and there is also anecdotal evidence that people are starting to alter their driving habits so as to save money, which can bring the added bonus of staying safe on the roads.

For example, drivers on PAYG policies may opt to take the bus or walk to the pub and therefore not give into the temptation of drinking a driving - a crime which the road safety charity Brake revealed that one in 11 young drivers have committed over the past year alone.

An added incentive is that, unlike the much more widely known mobile phone PAYG tariffs, car insurance premiums of this type, do not have to be paid for up-front and as such there is no risk of 'running out of credit' in an emergency.

Indeed, for drivers of all ages, PAYG car insurance policies are usually a God-send, meaning people no longer have to pay for a product they are not really making use of, while it may even be the case that as they grow in popularity, the nation's roads may even become safer at night.