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Insurance Companies Try Out Auto Black Boxes
tekiegreg writes "It looks like the first black box test for auto insurance companies is underway. While this may be a privacy issue, it can also make better drivers out of everyone if insurance rates are adjustable based on the way everyone drives. This was covered on Slashdot before however this seems to be one of the first workups, that can even include tests on speed and braking, not just location."
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/10/16 49252&tid=158&tid=126
/. subscription. This exact same insurance company and program has been covered before (past 30 days).
This is why I didn't renew my
My friend's parents put a black box into his car to monitor his driving. Good thing they did, if it wasn't there he wouldn't think twice about going 80mph down a 30mph road.
It also gets annoying though, he can't accelerate too quickly otherwise the box makes this clicking noise warning you that you are going too fast. If he goes over 65mph, or breaks too hard, it will beep and record it; his parents can take the box out and see how he drives. We've looked all over the car and we still can't find that damn box though.
Most new cars already already have a black box. It records things like acceleration level, braking inputs and vehicle speed.
So far as I know, it only holds data for a short time, but if you are involved in an accident, the data can (and has been) accessed by law enforcement.
something to think about?
http://request-header.info
"This is a different story. The "original" says they're thinking of using the boxes. This one says they're starting trials."
Upcoming "dupe".
"Trials are complete. All your cars belong to us!"
In New Jersey, we have New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance. They give back a "dividend" at the end of the year of unused money, so to speak. I always get a couple hundred back.
If you want cooperative insurance, in the real sense of the word "co-op," there's NJ CURE, which stands for something that has the words "reciprocal exchange" in it. It's like a credit union for car insurance...the policyholders own the company, which is a non-profit group.
In NJ, you need your head examined if you don't get your car insurance through one of these two companies.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Well, this really isn't all that different from the way it is now. I had a physics professor my freshman year of college who would be called out several times a year to do post-accident investigations. From skid marks, impact directions, etc. he could put together all the pieces of data that the police (and the court) cared about. He could tell within a 5% certainty (he was proud of that figure) how fast both cars were going prior to the accident and any other phyiscally evident factors which led to the accident.
So what if the black box records my speed for accident investigation? It might mean no more consulting for my former professor, but it's not like the data isn't available right now anyway without black boxes.
"Kinda ironic in a society of presumed innocense."
Nitpicking time. That's the government that's suppose to persume you innocent. There's little that says that private companies or individuals for that matter have to persume you any particular way.
He didn't say it did.
State Farm is the largest insurance company in the country with something like 15 million policy holders. I worked for a company that wasn't even half as big, and they didn't do up-to-the-minute underwriting. In fact, they can't - your policy is a contract that, barring certain exceptions, can't be cancelled or changed until renewal.
When an insurance company is losing money, they tighten up the underwriting and raise the rates. The bottom line is that any claim is an instance where they had to pay money to you - that's what insurance is for, but obviously the company is going to prefer customers that don't file claims, or file less claims. In hard times, the definiton of "less claims" gets much stricter.
They didn't "screw" you any more than you'd be "screwing" them if you chose to take your business elsewhere. Insurance companies have the choice (within set guidelines) to do business with a customer or not.
I am no longer an active insurance man. Even when I was, I'd recommend all family and friends to rate-shop at least once a year, if not every six months. The reason is because while State Farm could be having bad times in one area, Progressive could be having a favorable claims climate and GEICO could be doing even better, or maybe there's some local upstart agent with a lot of cash in the bank trying to build a book of business. The principle of insurance is the exact opposite of that of the stock market, but the fundamentals are the same - know the strength of your company and factors that affect it. If your company is in the red for a quarter or a year, it's probably a good sign that rate increases or tigher underwriting coming soon.
You have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. However, this is only in respect to the government, as you have no choice over what it does.
When it comes to your insurance company, you have entered into that relationship voluntarily.
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Also, there are now FreeDesktopPC.com and FreeFlatScreens.com
The insurance company that is doing this study, Progressive, is one of the more expensive ones out there. If you want to save money, try http://insweb.com, they're an online insurance broker -- but they were recommended as a top choice by Consumer Reports a couple of years ago.
If you actually want to hear about the program from the horse's mouth, the program's website is https://tripsense.progressive.com/.
Poking around the site, it looks like you can get sample driving reports, a listing of the data they capture, and a (simplified) discount calculator.
*sigh*....hit "submit" instead of "preview".
The hyperlink is actually https://tripsense.progressive.com/, if you don't want to copy/paste the link.
Then Geico started doing business in NJ. I filled a form online, got a computer generated quote automatically, I followed up with a call that was answered immediatelly and in about 30 minutes I had a new policy that was $500/year lower than NJ Cure and approx $1000 lower than my previous insurance. So I guess I really did "save a bunch of money by switching to Geico"
I guess the rest of the country is already used to this, but for us, insurance handicapped NJersians, this kind of service is like the Second Coming...
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
Hi, I also live in Canada, SK., and my main vehicle is an 1983 V65 Honda motorcycle. Care to guess what tags cost for this beast? (and yes, I have been driving for over 25 years without a single accident, and have the 7% discount). $800 CAD per year, which is more than the bike is worth. Saskatchewan Government Insurance changed the rules a few years ago for motorbike insurance, which is now based entirely on the engine size. So, tags for a 1100 cc, 20 year Honda now cost the same as those for a tricked- out 2004 Harley with the same engine size. Is life fair?