Auto Insurers' Devices to Pick Winners

choi

Todd Wallack, Privacy Is the Price for Lowering Car Insurance; Insurer test devices to monitor driving. Boston Globe, Sept 16, 2012 (front page).

(a) Quote:

"The [auto insurance] companies have signed up 1.5 million US customers [in 2012, rising from 150,000 in 2007], according to industry analysts

"Progressive Insurance is the only insurer to offer such technology in Massachusetts

"drive between midnight and 4 am, when it is harder to see and drivers are more likely to be fatigued or intoxicated. Drivers don't pay for thegadget, which costs the company [Progressive] roughly $75 to $100, and can try it for 30 days, even if they aren't customers.

(b) Graphic:

"Progressive's Snapshot

Snapshpt is an insurance program that gives drivers a personalized rate based on their behavior. How it works:
(1) Plug in   Snapshot device is plugged into your car's diagnostic port.
(2) Drive   You drive like you usually do for six months.
(3) Rate estimated    Driving data is cp;;ected to estimate your rate.

What is monitored
^ How often you make hard brakes
^ How many miles you drive each day
^ How often you drive between midnight and 4 am

Snapshot doen't * * *
^ Track your location
^ Track if you're speeding
^ Contain GPS technology

Source: Progressive Insurance"


(c) Note:
(i) The report says different auto insurance in US companies use different technology to collect various data. The graphic applies only to the device from Progressive.
(ii) There is no need to read the the rest of the report, unless you want to know the details, like what insurance companies collect what data.
(iii) Progressive Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Corporation
(co-founded in 1937 by Jack Green and Joe Lewis and is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio [a suburb of Cleveland])
(d) Snapshot. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, undated
http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspx
(up to 30% savings; $150 a year on average)