telematics insurance (black box tracking)

[Wortho]

Talking to my Sister the other day regarding the high cost of insurance in the UK for young drivers. She said many insurers are offering Black box trackers to reward careful drivers
that agree to have there driving style monitored. Seems they start with 100 points but lose them for driving during certain hours, speeding, taking corners to fast etc. If they drop below 60 points they have to pay the full insurance premium which can be very expensive.
Seems to be catching on anyway so may be the way all insurers will go in the future, reward good drivers and punish the careless drivers.
Not sure i'd like anyone monitoring my driving style but if I was 18 and could save a few hundred pounds I might agree to it!


Telematics insurance uses a small device fitted to the car (out of sight) to record information about how the driver is performing on the road. Statistics such as miles driven, speed, the type of road, the time of day and more are recorded.

Insurance companies can then assess this information to ascertain whether the person applying for insurance can be regarded as a safe driver or not.

A number of insurance companies regard telematics insurance to be the future of the industry, as it allows them to calculate accurate premiums based on specific individuals, and not how others on the road drive.

Drive IQ believes that one in four drivers will have a telematics insurance policy by 2020 as more drivers are made aware of the potential savings that can be made.

Citroen has a car that has it factory fitted.
http://www.motortorque.com/car-news/citroen-first-to-fit-telematics-black-box-as-standard-21374.aspx

[HEM19X]

Sounds fine until you have to go 120ks to get past some numb nut who speeds up on overtaking lanes. Also, even the latest GPS can't keep up with changes to speed limits so that could run off the points real quick.

[Nomad]

Definately not getting ones for my wifes bumper car.....ooops I mean Astra.

[markg66]

hmmmm, I think it's still illegal to go faster than the speed limit even if you are overtaking............

[sablesoft]

hmmmm, I think it's still illegal to go faster than the speed limit even if you are overtaking............

   
   X2
   Thats what the words speed limit would seem to indicate, but to many they appear to drive by their own speed limit!  If someone is traveling at the speed limit then there is no need to overtake them!

Ray

[chester ver2.0]

We have them on out work vehicles usually a % overspeed limit is built in to allow for overtaking manouvers.

The main data we are interested in is yaw rate and G force movement, what it can tell us is that for example when you compare it to a street map it picks up hooning as you can look at the corner (even street view it now) and then look at the yaw rate involved.

So say for example the corner is your typical 90 degree side street corner if the yaw rate goes off the chart it indicates that the dirver took a corner at 50kph that should have been taken at 15kph

I also measures acelleration and braking rates

I use this data at my work mainly to assist in accident investigation as it is like a black box on a plane so i am  looking for

Can the data help me determine who was at fault if statements are ambiguous

Can the data help me determine even if our driver was not at fault was their behaviours that may have contributed to the incident. Meaning if the driver was driving more defensivly would the incident have been avoided

But like anything it is a tool and should be part of your toolbox not the be all and end all

[dazzler]

   
   X2
   Thats what the words speed limit would seem to indicate, but to many they appear to drive by their own speed limit!  If someone is traveling at the speed limit then there is no need to overtake them!

Ray

Thats a bit black and white.  The poster actually states when they speed up on an overtaking lane.  This does happen a lot when numb nuts sits on 80 then speeds up to 100 or more on the overtaking lanes.  This can go on for miles and miles.