Tracking Driving Behavior

Should You Let "Big Brother" 

Track Your Driving?

If you have shopped for Auto insurance recently, chances are you have learned about Telematics devices that track your driving for the carrier. Progressive has Snapshot, Safeco has RightTrack, State Auto has Safety 360, to name a few.  
We get people pushing back, telling us they don’t want “Big Brother” spying on them. But this isn’t spying, namely because they cannot get the information without your consent and participation (You have to intentionally plug the device in or download an app). And it is a good idea, especially if you are in the less hazardous group of drivers.  Let me explain why.

Why is this a good idea?

Auto insurance is changing. Distracted driving has driven claims payouts over the carriers’ budgets.  According to the CDC, 9 people are killed each day and 1,000 more are injured in Distracted driving accidents. Aside from the human life/pain factor, there are the financial factors. Both the people involved in the accidents and the carriers are affected financially by claims. So it makes sense for Carriers to want to know what type of driver you have been before they decide what kind of pricing to give you.They will be the ones paying out the claims, which generally pay you much more than you have paid in insurance premium. 

Low gas prices have encouraged more people to drive more often and longer distances.  Growing cities (and their populations which means more traffic) have added to stop and start traffic accidents. Cell phone usage (while driving) has added exponentially to distracted driving. In recent years, distracted driving has caused 400,000 people to be injured in car accidents annually, with over 3500 resulting in death. 

But I'm a good driver, why do they need to track my driving?

Carriers now want to look at not only your driving history, but your current driving behavior as well. In today's "instant" world, they can do this in real time through Telematics devices. This new trend of giving discounts for good driving, tracked in real time, can be a possible deterrent in distracted driving. It will definitely give the carriers real time information about how their clients are driving. 

Remember- bad drivers affect everyone's rates, not just their own.  In recent years, seven of the top ten auto insurance carriers (based on market share only) have paid out more in claims than they have charged in premiums. This means they must raise their rates just to stay operational. Rates are increased across the board in these situations.  Everyone will be affected, but someone with tickets or accidents will receive larger increases. And if you allow the carrier to track your driving and you are in the pool of low risk drivers, you are eligible for deeper discounts. 

So what do these device actually track for the carriers?

There are four things the telematic devices usually track. 

* Late night driving (between Midnight and 4 am)

* Number of miles driven

* Amount of high speed driving

* Amount of Hard braking

All four of these factors are indicators of hazardous driving, often leading to frequent accidents. Tracking these can show a carrier in real time how safe a driver you are. Carriers track these factors for different lengths of time, ranging from 90 days to a full year. They offer an initial discount for agreeing to the tracking (5-10%) with a possibility of a larger discount of 30-50%, depending on the carrier. You can see how you are driving during the tracking period through the carrier's site or a mobile app. 

These are optional devices for now, but I believe they will become mandatory down the road. (Since they can track your driving, why wouldn’t they?)

But let me be clear, they are not tracking where you are driving or who is driving. They can only read the car’s data. I assume a good hacker could hack a car gps and track location, but that is not the goal of the carriers. They want to see if you are a safe risk to insure. Like most companies out there, insurance carriers are trying to be competitive and profitable. Writing less hazardous people accomplishes both of those goals.

The device only takes a moment to plug in and then you don’t have to do anything else until the carrier tells you to unplug it and send it back. That’s it. And you can get up to a 50% discount, depending on the carrier. Not bad for plugging in a flash drive. No one wants to pay for insurance, so if you can get some savings, why not do it?

If you have questions, call your agent. If they won’t answer your questions, call us.

We can explain that!

There are three ways to request a quote for your insurance needs: 

* Visit our website

* Email us

* Call Brockman Premier Insurance at 877-987-8683