Do You Use a Driving Monitor?
 

To save on auto Insurance, this option to lower my rate and save was
offered to me to get a discount on my auto insurance.

It's a app that tracks your driving habits.

Anyone have one?

I don't have one and don't want one. But, just curious, how much is the discount, and, can it increase your rate?

Yes I do, have for a year. Really reduces car insurance. I don't drive very much anymore, maybe a thousand miles a year and I don't drive at night. Paid about $ 550 for 12 months of coverage 300/100/100.

Big Brother already knows everything about us including driver statistics gleaned from already installed software & monitors built into new cars. So for now you may have a choice, but once we've all purchased these newer vehicles they'll have all the info they need to raise and lower your rates as they see fit. This isn't tin foil hat conspiracy theories, it's already happening and was exposed in a recent article about this. Should be able to Google it.

I wouldn't be interested at this time. I was basically required to use one when I initially signed up with this insurance company (or possibly when I added a new vehicle) but I would not choose to have one full-time.

I find it difficult to believe that auto insurance companies even care how people drive. Simple math will tell you that these companies must be making a killing selling auto insurance to retirees. Most companies will not even cover a driver for more than $250K, so their overall risk is extremely low, while collecting tens of millions in premiums from Villagers alone.

The big problem is these devices make mistakes that ding your rating. Then your rate goes up (a lot).
Things like...
Excessive speed in a school zone, such as 40 in a 20; but the school zone is not in effect at that time.
Hard braking; but you avoided an accident as a result = reckless bad behavior.
Speeding in a round about; but you are not in a roundabout you are in the bypass.
Going over 75 at any time.
You have no control over how a valet or mechanic is driving your car.
Following the direction of police at an emergency scene, or at road construction with alternating traffic in a single lane, thus driving the wrong way on a one way. [At a hazardous waste drop off, was directed the wrong way and the car alarmed loudly about that]
Roads change over time (speed limits, lanes, construction, one ways become two ways), and maps take a while to update; so every time you are doing the new "right thing" you are being flagged for dangerous driving.
Stopping on a limited access highway; even if there is an accident or heavy traffic.
Driving off road because the map doesn't have your new development's roads yet.

Surely none of these happen here LOL

Some good points here not to get one.

To hi-jacket my own post here a little, yesterday I sat down with my insurance people and to figure out ways to lower my premiums, (I drive a 9 yr old Highlander.)

The lady behind the desk said all those new safety features that come with
new cars, there's a big insurance discount on them.

I said well, if there's a accident with all the sensors, relay switches etc. that need to be adjusted, plus the body work, your discount just went out the window because
your insurance has to pay.

Everything went silent.

Nfw

Ford is the only company that doesn't sell it's information to insurance companies. All of the others do so they know how you're driving.

I did a quick check on this because, well, TOTV. It looks to me like this was true until very recently. Ford apparently now sells to lexnexis who makes it available to insurance companies.

We have them and are saving about $230/yr between the two cars. I'm at or close to 100 (perfect) on braking and phone distraction but "fair" on acceleration (because electric car) and speed (because of the hell that is I75). Cornering is always "needs improvement" because spirited corning is fun.

The ramp northbound onto the turnpike at 301 is a tough place. Uphill, on a corner, with a bridge shortly after the merge lane ends. It's nice to hit the merge area at 60-70mph, and the electric car does that with ease, but I get dinged there every single time for excessive acceleration. Sure guys, just try to accelerate slowly there and see how it goes for you! Grrrrr!

Roundabouts ding me for cornering all of the time.

I kinda resent it but I kinda like the idea of monitoring driver behavior too. So many lunatics on the roads these days.

On my thing you can pull up your drives on your phone and see where your violations occurred. I think it makes you a safer driver, just knowing something is monitoring you and getting feedback on where "stuff happened" on your drives.

Joe

We have State Farm’s version and it saves us a couple hundred dollars a year on our 5 year old truck. I think we are pretty safe drivers but it still dings us here and there but a couple hundred dollars is still better in my pocket than theirs.

Have had 2 companies offer them and I did both. 1 hooked up to the car (better option) and the other ran on our iPhones (very bad)..

Drawbacks:
Plugged into your car:
* if you brake hard for a bird, some idiot turning from the wrong lane in a roundabout, and you put on your brakes hard, you get dinged.
* if you give it gas to get around a slow driver, you get dinged

The positives:
* actual mileage used
* didn’t care or knew if your passenger was on the phone (more on this later)

App on your iPhone:
Don’t do this, the app is too dumb and I told them up front (more on this);

No positives!
Drawbacks:
* the app is always on, the root of all problems
* the app is stupid, if you and your spouse is in the same vehicle, it can’t differentiate who is driving (root of all problems)
* every time you drive, ride in a friends car, ride as a passenger, it counts the mileage driven. So if you and your wife both ride in the car you just drove 2x miles. Every time you take your golf cart somewhere, you are adding miles driven in your car.
* say you and your wife are in the car together and your wife is the passenger and she answers her phone, dinged! Can’t talk and drive, but she isn’t driving. The app doesn’t know that.
* are are riding in a friends car and you get on the phone, dinged! Can’t drive and talk on the phone, but you are a passenger in somebody else’s car, app doesn’t know this.
* same as above but you are in your golf cart, dinged! The app doesn’t know or can’t tell you are in a golf cart.
* while a passenger in a friends car, he better be a good driver because every brake slam, speeding, it goes against you!!

So I tried to explain all of these problems of the app to the insurance company. They agreed to every problem, so hear is what they told me I had to do EVERY day:
Both my wife and I had to log into the app each night and tell it: I was a passenger, I was in a golf cart, I was in a friends car, etc.. I’m not going to do this. So I let it go. I had triple the miles, I had my golf cart driving on the golf course go against our driving, we were driving while using or talking on the phone while driving, etc..

I used to be a cop (deputy sheriff) and still drive like one so no discount for me. Rates would probably double. :-)