Uh-oh, Insurance Co offers in-car monitor | FerrariChat

Uh-oh, Insurance Co offers in-car monitor

Discussion in 'Other Off Topic Forum' started by toggie, Aug 4, 2008.

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  1. toggie

    toggie F1 World Champ
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    Nov 30, 2003
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    #1 toggie, Aug 4, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Progressive Insurance now offers a discount on car insurance if you are willing to install a real-time monitor of how & when you use your car.
    This could be the start of a bad thing for us sports car owners.
    I could see this type of thing catching on and might become a standard feature of all car insurance in the future.
    A picture of their in-car device is below.

    "Drivers now have a unique opportunity to save on car insurance thanks to an innovative program from Progressive. MyRate is an optional, behavior-based car insurance program that lets drivers pay based on how, how much and when their car is driven. Drivers who choose to participate simply plug a small wireless device into a port in their car that automatically sends driving data to Progressive. Cars driven less often, in less risky ways and at less risky times of day can receive a lower premium."
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  2. CornersWell

    CornersWell F1 Rookie

    Nov 24, 2004
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    Just troubling on many levels.

    CW
     
  3. smg2

    smg2 F1 World Champ
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    mmmm probably wouldn't work on my '48 ford or the Mondi, but then again both are insured with Hagerty.

    so who do we start saluting and lock stepping to?
     
  4. 62 250 GTO

    62 250 GTO F1 Veteran

    Jan 9, 2004
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    So say you drive on the highway/ freeway for 2 hours a day getting to work. Does this mean your rates are going up because you drive at "the maximum speed allowed in North America for your entire commute"? How about "Most road rage events start on freeways" thus higher rates? Perhaps "Merging causes instability in traffic flow and aggression" etc. Once this wedges it's way in there will be NO going back. Car makers will love this as it may cause slightly less accidents and that would mean less injuries meaning pictures of poorly built cars won't make the news as much. And when a car is totaled in what should have been a "walk-a-way" crash, the industry can point to "oh, he was doing 11 mph over the speed limit, the data shows the car wasn't built for racing purposes" etc. Let the castration of this industry continue.

    P.S. When the day comes that businesses go out of business because there are less cars being crashed I wonder who will say what?
     
  5. icanfly012

    icanfly012 Karting

    Nov 29, 2006
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    If this becomes a "standard", it will be hacked fairly quickly....
     
  6. Blackbird4life

    Blackbird4life Formula 3

    Jul 8, 2005
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    Wait till digital license plates come out....yeesshh
     
  7. SRT Mike

    SRT Mike Two Time F1 World Champ

    Oct 31, 2003
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    How awesome would it be to hack that box so it sends the most benign and boring data back to progressive, whilst you are tearing it up at a-buck-illegal at every opportunity?

    The part of it I hate is that it penalizes the things that add to the severity of an accident like speed or brisk acceleration, but it doesn't hit the root cause, which is usually inattention or failure to mentally comprehend the likely outcome of one's actions... like tailgating on the highway during rush hour, or failing to use signals, or driving slowly and constantly hitting the brakes to check if this is the sidestreet you're looking for.
     
  8. DrStranglove

    DrStranglove FChat Assassin
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    I wonder if I could put one on my lawn mower? That thing almost never moves.
     
  9. smg2

    smg2 F1 World Champ
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    it looks like it plugs in to your OBDII port, which can read out the engine speed, vehicle speed, etc... now based on that it would be simple I think to feed it data that is altered. although part of me wonders if a hack is easy enough and people jump on it to get the lower rates via a hack then it'll improve and due to the popularity it'll get worse much faster than if we just ignore it.
     
  10. SonomaRik

    SonomaRik F1 Veteran
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    Dec 15, 2006
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    I'll put it on my wifes Volvo, which is now terminally still: should generate a discount.
     
  11. Westworld

    Westworld Three Time F1 World Champ
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