Devices to track drivers
1/16/2006
Press-Enterprise - San Bernardino Bureau

Devices to track drivers TRIP SENSE An automotive insurer is offering volunteers cash to install the gadgets in their cars. 08 41 PM PST on Saturday, January 14, 2006 By PAUL HERRERA / The Press-Enterprise Traditionally, a driver's flirtations with high speed and hard cornering are a private matter. Insurers have been kept in the dark, unable to differentiate that aggressive blur from safer drivers, except when the former leaves a fender on the guardrail or gets nabbed by a police officer. An initiative by Progressive Insurance could change that.

The company is recruiting 15,000 customers to voluntarily install a gadget the size of a Tic Tac box that will collect data about when and how they drive. Using data from the TripSense device, the company can call up reports on whether customers are driving at high speeds, braking or accelerating aggressively, or spending more time driving at night. TripSense would also log mileage, meaning Progressive or any insurer using such a system would no longer rely on a driver's own estimate of his or her annual driving. Volunteers, who are offered $50 for participating in a six-month period, won't see their rates affected by what TripSense tells Progressive about them, said company spokesman William Perry.

He said the data will aid researchers, who will use the information to determine how devices could be used to set rates in the future. While the technology allowing companies to track drivers has been well-established for a decade, insurers have treaded lightly. Daniel Finnegan, president of Quality Planning Corp., a San Francisco-based consultant to the auto insurance industry, said Progressive has been a pioneering firm in vehicle data recording.

Where that work will lead remains uncertain. 'We just don't know what the average person does in their cars,' Finnegan said. 'We know some driving is risky. We know that at 2 a.m. on Saturday ... when the bars close, the accident rate is 200 times that of Sunday morning.' While researchers have extensive data showing that driving fast, aggressively or late at night leads to crashes and claims, insurers don't know who is guilty of that behavior until they either crash or get a ticket. Data recorders could provide the link, identifying who is on the road at 2 a.m. More sophisticated systems could tell an insurer if a driver is weaving at 2 a.m. or, if joined with GPS systems, whether they're blowing stop signs or speeding on local roads. The next question may be a judgment of how much information the public is willing to give up. Finnegan says he already sees widespread resistance and questioning from people concerned about privacy.

For most drivers, Big Brother as a passenger isn't anything to consider in the short term. While the technology exists, and fairly cheaply, Finnegan said widespread use isn't on the immediate horizon. 'My car is my sacred space,' said Albert Dolette, a Corona resident and car enthusiast who was attending the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show last week. 'How I drive is between me and the gas pedal.' Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said initiatives such as Progressive's TripSense program shouldn't raise alarms as long as they remain voluntary and transparent. Harper also runs privacilla.org, a Web site devoted to privacy and technology. 'The key quality of this is choice,' said Harper, who has worked to raise public awareness of so-called black boxes installed in most of today's passenger cars that collect basic data useful in crash investigations. 'People should be aware of the risks and issues that could come into play.' On the privacy front, Harper points out that any data collected could easily become a tool of the courts.

The data could be subpoenaed for any case. 'The law puts privacy aside when disputes come to courts of law,' Harper said. For now, the potential of data chips is more theory than reality in standard passenger cars. However, GPS-equipped devices already help companies track their fleets and parents can install gadgets that use cell-phone technology to track their teens and how they drive. Progressive Insurance's TripSense will create charts showing customers driving habits.

In Minnesota, the insurer offers discounts to customers who use the devices to prove they are safe drivers. Customers upload data at least once a month through their home computers. Progressive calculates discounts based on the data.

Similarly, GMAC Auto Insurance offers discounts for low- mileage customers who agree to have their odometers read electronically through OnStar, a satellite-based system owned by a General Motors subsidiary. The Minnesota program is completely voluntary -- to the point that customers may view the data and choose not to send it in. 'If it means bad drivers pay their fair share, I'm all for it,' said Julian Gutierrez, a Riverside resident attending the Los Angeles auto show. 'I drive safely. Anything that lowers my rates is good.' Finnegan said research suggests monitoring technology could lead to safer roads overall. Prior tests show insurance losses fall by 20 percent to 50 percent when drivers know such devices are tracking their habits.

Ray Durbin, a Long Beach resident at the auto show, said data-gathering devices would seem similar to having a police car driving nearby at all times. 'When there's a cop in traffic, everyone's driving 65 and using their turn signal until he's gone,' Durbin said. 'I think anything that's watching how you drive could make people do the same thing.' Reach Paul Herrera at (909) 806-3074 or pherrera@pe.com More headlines... Auto showoffs Devices to track drivers Stocks getting second look Vineyard profits choke out citrus Owners could be stuck with pricey homes.