Allstate tracks, then rewards safe drivers In-car device records braking, speed and mileage figures. It's voluntary, but some worry about how data will be used December 27, 2010|By Becky Yerak, Tribune reporter
Slamming on the brakes? Doing 100 mph on the highway? Maybe you won't — if your car insurance company is watching you.
Allstate Corp. has launched a voluntary program that uses a device installed in a car to reward safe and low-mileage Illinois drivers with savings of up to 30 percent.
The Northbrook-based auto insurer plans to expand the program, called Drive Wise, to other states as early as the second quarter of 2011.
Drive Wise participants get a small, wireless gadget — about the size of a pack of cigarettes — that plugs into the vehicle's onboard computer through the diagnostic port, usually under the dashboard.
For consumers concerned about Big Brother, Allstate said the device tracks only factors used to calculate a driving score, including mileage, hard or extreme braking, and maximum speed. Speeds of more than 80 mph hurt the score.
Allstate policyholders get an immediate 10 percent discount for enrolling. Later policy periods use a performance rating, in which driving behavior and total mileage determine the discount.
Other insurers, including Progressive and Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm, have also begun using gizmos to help track driving, but the industry trend raises some longer-term questions and concerns.
Frederick Lane, author of "American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right," said he sees few problems with Allstate's program, provided that it's collecting only the information it says it's gathering and that the program remains voluntary and offers benefits to drivers.
But the program raises several potential longer-term questions, Lane said.
"In the event of an accident, who has access to this data? Could an attorney ask for it in discovery for a personal injury lawsuit? Could the police subpoena it as part of a criminal investigation? Could any of this information be useful to a government agency?" he wonders.
It's important for policyholders to remember that these are not anonymous driving statistics, but actual data about their behavior, Lane said.
"The question is whether the discount offered on insurance outweighs the other potential uses of the data down the road," he said.
Allstate said its rates won't go up based on the behavioral scores, but discounts of up to 30 percent can be earned by drivers with the safest driving and low mileage scores.
It will be voluntary as long as you can afford it when insurance companies(which are heavily regulated by the State) make insurance rates unaffordable for most without receiving the "discount" for using the device.
That's what some call government/private business working together...Others who know better call it fascism.
Some car manufacturers already have a computer that stores data like your speed or if you were over the rpm limit so when you go in for warranty work they know if you were the cause of the problem or the accident if police request the information. I know my Toyota has one.
Does anyone have a device from Progressive? On their website, they claim that they don't collect information on your speed. Also, they say that you use the device for a number of days, not comtinually. Does anyone have any personal experience with any of these devices?
It's voluntary until it becomes government accredidated.....voluntarily of course...hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Insurance companies use motorists’ driving records to determine their rates, so why not take into account the way they actually drive? As a wire story in Friday’s Gazette detailed, Allstate Corp. has been experimenting with a device that — with the policyholder’s consent — is attached to his car and relays information back to the company about how safe a driver he is. Motorists who don’t drive much, who pull away from stoplights nice and easy, keep it under 80 mph on the highway, and don’t slam their brakes on all the time score points that earn them discounts of up to 30 percent. The company says it won’t raise the rates of lesscareful drivers, though that seems inevitable if large numbers of policyholders go for the device, drive safely and wind up with large discounts. On the other hand, if that were to happen, the company might save a bundle on claims. .....................>>>>..................>>>>................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r02604&AppName=1
I wish some people would actually use this. I see a lot of careless drivers out there. I also think this would be a good idea to use for new drivers and teen drivers. I leave for work at about 730am and it can be crazy out there. Driving down Altamont Ave in the morning can be a little scary sometimes. Ive seen cars passing in the turning lanes just to get ahead.
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