Good drivers to be given better insurance rates with monitored driving

5 Jan 2015

Drivers in the US will soon be availing of a service that will monitor their every driving action over a 90-day period, offering the possibility of a reduced insurance rate for good behaviour.

The service being offered by General Motors (GM) known as OnStar will, from this summer, begin appearing in cars produced by the car manufacturer that will link every component of the car with an online connection.

This will give the insurance company working with GM, Progressive Insurance, a detailed view of the driver’s behaviour.

Giving a whole new meaning to the idea of a ‘backseat driver’, the driver will need to opt into the scheme in order for the data to be accessed by the insurance company which will take their data and compare it with an aggregate of other users’ data giving an indication of how they fared in their driving.

The inter-connected service will also give drivers access to the condition of the car itself giving them warning of a potential upcoming fault somewhere in the vehicle.

While the roll-out begins this summer, only one or two vehicles are expected to include the technology from this year with the majority of 2015 model GM cars to receive the technology while it will be mandatory on all 2015 models.

“The driver assessment is meant to help people better understand how they drive and give them feedback on how to be better, smarter drivers,” said Greg Ross of GM.

“This is the first time we can use actual driving behaviour to deliver valuable important feedback to customers who want this information. This new service truly shows the power of the connected car.”

Car driving image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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