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Insurance Companies Try Out Auto Black Boxes 669

tekiegreg writes "It looks like the first black box test for auto insurance companies is underway. While this may be a privacy issue, it can also make better drivers out of everyone if insurance rates are adjustable based on the way everyone drives. This was covered on Slashdot before however this seems to be one of the first workups, that can even include tests on speed and braking, not just location."
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Insurance Companies Try Out Auto Black Boxes

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  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:48PM (#10146000)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Grant29 ( 701796 ) * on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:56PM (#10146052) Homepage
      Yeah, people bitch about high insurance rates, but when an acceptable(?) solution comes around they seem to balk at it. After all, if you want a low rate, why not prove it? Is Big Brother/privacy concerns worth the $?
      --
      Play the free Gmail game. 35 invites availiable. Best odds on the net. [retailretreat.com]
      • Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by saden1 ( 581102 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:08AM (#10146131)
        The car insurance industry needs some serious tweaking. There is absolutely no justification for an insurance company to sit on 8 billion dollars while at the same time raising the rates on their customers. What we really need is cooperative insurance where everyone adds to the pool and the unused pool money gets returned to the contributors.
        • Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Nos. ( 179609 ) <andrewNO@SPAMthekerrs.ca> on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:34AM (#10146283) Homepage
          Welcome to socialism :)
          Okay kidding, I live in Canada, Saskatchewan to be specific. Our mandatory (auto) insurance comes from Saskatchewan Government Insurance. Its a regulated body. If they want to raise rates, they have to justify it. The most I have ever paid for insurance is $1000/year (for a '99 Sunfire GT in 99). There is a flat rate per car, not per driver. If you have a good driving record over the last few years, you get a small reduction up to I believe 7%. However, if you have a bad driving record, it can go over the base rate. It might not be perfect, but it does let safer drivers (or at least lucky ones) pay less than bad drivers.
          • Re:No. (Score:3, Interesting)

            by MachDelta ( 704883 )
            Yeah, I woulda loved Sask insurance had I not moved to Alberta before I could drive.

            Picture this: Me (17) and my cousin (18) drove nearly identical cars (1G DSMs). I'm in Alberta, I payed $3200 a year. He's in Sask, he payed $800 or so. I was like "WTF?! Mom, Dad, can we move BACK!?" Ok, maybe not that last part... :P
            Since then though, my insurance has gone as high as $4200, and is just now (that i'm 21!) dropping back down to around $2800, even though i've got a spotless record. My cousin wrote off his
            • Re:No. (Score:4, Insightful)

              by Kombat ( 93720 ) <kevin@swanweddingphotography.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @08:36AM (#10147996)
              I'm in Alberta, I payed $3200 a year. He's in Sask, he payed $800 or so.

              The simple explanation here is that the Saskatchewan taxpayers are picking up the difference. Sheeple are actually pretty dumb. Ontario has been grappling with this issue for a little over a year. We've got drivers crying for lower rates, and pointing to New Brunswick and Saskatchewan as examples. However, they ignore the benefit caps that have been instituted in those provinces. If you have a car accident that paralyzes you for life, the insurance providers in those provinces only have to pay out a certain, capped amount. The government can't require them to lower rates while keeping the same high payouts. However, in Ontario, if you were to require such a catastrophic claim, the payout would be much higher.

              But people don't see that. They only see the short-term benefits. "Yes, your rates would drop $800/year, but if you were to be seriously injured, the insurance company would only have to pay for the first $100,000 of health care. After that, you'd be on your own." Most people tune out after, "drop $800/year."

              Since then though, my insurance has gone as high as $4200, and is just now (that i'm 21!) dropping back down to around $2800,

              Didn't it occur to you to perhaps consider trading in your pocket rocket for a less conspicuous, more practical car?
          • Re:No. (Score:3, Informative)

            by StarOwl ( 131464 )
            If you actually want to hear about the program from the horse's mouth, the program's website is https://tripsense.progressive.com/.

            Poking around the site, it looks like you can get sample driving reports, a listing of the data they capture, and a (simplified) discount calculator.
          • Re:No. (Score:3, Informative)

            by can56 ( 698639 )
            Hi, I also live in Canada, SK., and my main vehicle is an 1983 V65 Honda motorcycle. Care to guess what tags cost for this beast? (and yes, I have been driving for over 25 years without a single accident, and have the 7% discount). $800 CAD per year, which is more than the bike is worth. Saskatchewan Government Insurance changed the rules a few years ago for motorbike insurance, which is now based entirely on the engine size. So, tags for a 1100 cc, 20 year Honda now cost the same as those for a tricke
        • Re:No. (Score:5, Informative)

          by Rude Turnip ( 49495 ) <valuation.gmail@com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:34AM (#10146285)
          In New Jersey, we have New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance. They give back a "dividend" at the end of the year of unused money, so to speak. I always get a couple hundred back.

          If you want cooperative insurance, in the real sense of the word "co-op," there's NJ CURE, which stands for something that has the words "reciprocal exchange" in it. It's like a credit union for car insurance...the policyholders own the company, which is a non-profit group.

          In NJ, you need your head examined if you don't get your car insurance through one of these two companies.
          • Re:No. (Score:3, Funny)

            So what you're saying is, in a conservative state like New Jersey, you have 2 kinds of socialist insurance, whereas here in the People's Republic of Southern California I can't even find one? Where is the justice??!!
          • by Algan ( 20532 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @08:02AM (#10147820)
            As a matter of fact, since my insurance is up for renewall, I got quotes from these two along with a few others. NJM makes it a pain to obtain a quote, you have to call, leave a message with your address and they will send you the application (maybe). You fill it in and after a (good) while you might get a response. For me, their quote wasn't very interesting. NJ Cure was better, you fill a form online and they contact you in 2-3 days with a quote (which is quite good).



            Then Geico started doing business in NJ. I filled a form online, got a computer generated quote automatically, I followed up with a call that was answered immediatelly and in about 30 minutes I had a new policy that was $500/year lower than NJ Cure and approx $1000 lower than my previous insurance. So I guess I really did "save a bunch of money by switching to Geico" :)



            I guess the rest of the country is already used to this, but for us, insurance handicapped NJersians, this kind of service is like the Second Coming...

        • Re:No. (Score:3, Interesting)

          by plastik55 ( 218435 )
          You just described State Farm (and every other mutual insurance company). Policyholders are part owners of the company. Everyone gets an annual financial statement to see where their money is going, and can vote in the annual meeting.
          • Re:No. (Score:3, Interesting)

            by elmegil ( 12001 )
            Ah fuck that. After the '93 flood, State Farm went to bail on as many people as they could. I moved from one state to another in '95, and they canned my policy. Why? Because 1) in '94 they had to pay for a total on a 10 year old PoS Honda that only cost them less than $5000 and Wasn't My Fault (was hit in my driveway while I was not within 100 miles--hardly reckless driving) and 2) I had a minor fender bender 4 years previously 10 days after my license expired and I hadn't realized it. Now, if those th
            • Re:No. (Score:5, Informative)

              by mrscorpio ( 265337 ) <twoheadedboyNO@SPAMstonepool.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @02:27AM (#10146773)
              He didn't say it did.

              State Farm is the largest insurance company in the country with something like 15 million policy holders. I worked for a company that wasn't even half as big, and they didn't do up-to-the-minute underwriting. In fact, they can't - your policy is a contract that, barring certain exceptions, can't be cancelled or changed until renewal.

              When an insurance company is losing money, they tighten up the underwriting and raise the rates. The bottom line is that any claim is an instance where they had to pay money to you - that's what insurance is for, but obviously the company is going to prefer customers that don't file claims, or file less claims. In hard times, the definiton of "less claims" gets much stricter.

              They didn't "screw" you any more than you'd be "screwing" them if you chose to take your business elsewhere. Insurance companies have the choice (within set guidelines) to do business with a customer or not.

              I am no longer an active insurance man. Even when I was, I'd recommend all family and friends to rate-shop at least once a year, if not every six months. The reason is because while State Farm could be having bad times in one area, Progressive could be having a favorable claims climate and GEICO could be doing even better, or maybe there's some local upstart agent with a lot of cash in the bank trying to build a book of business. The principle of insurance is the exact opposite of that of the stock market, but the fundamentals are the same - know the strength of your company and factors that affect it. If your company is in the red for a quarter or a year, it's probably a good sign that rate increases or tigher underwriting coming soon.
        • Re:No. (Score:3, Interesting)

          They exist already. Sign up with a mutual insurance company. I'm with Amica. Once a year for the past couple years I've gotten a dividend check equal to about twice my monthly rate.
        • Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)

          by erick99 ( 743982 ) <homerun@gmail.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @01:00AM (#10146441)
          Insurance companies typically get away with "poor mouthing" by demonstrating that claims damn near exceed premiums. They do not, however, show the income from investing the premiums. The next time an insurance industry person tries that, ask him/her what their company's ROI was for premiums invested in equities, real estate, re-insurance, etc.

          Cheers,

          Erick

        • Re:No. (Score:3, Insightful)

          by mrscorpio ( 265337 )
          Ridiculous. IAAIA, but you don't need to be to understand that what you've said totally misinterprets the economics of an insurance company.

          What you've said would be like telling a 45-year old man, living a comfortable middle-class lifestyle with $1 million in an IRA or 401k that he should cash it out and blow it on a big house, car, and vacation because he obviously doesn't need the money - he's living well now. Fact is, he IS going to need that money someday when he retires. And that money in the bank fo
        • Re:No. (Score:3, Informative)

          by stephanruby ( 542433 )
          The insurance company that is doing this study, Progressive, is one of the more expensive ones out there. If you want to save money, try http://insweb.com [insweb.com], they're an online insurance broker -- but they were recommended as a top choice by Consumer Reports a couple of years ago.
      • Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by erick99 ( 743982 ) <homerun@gmail.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:22AM (#10146216)
        I don't believe that insurance companies are motivated to lower rates, but, rather, will use this technology to demonstrate what they would view as proof to raise rates on a large scale yet case-by-case basis.

        Cheers,

        Erick

      • Re:No. (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Fnkmaster ( 89084 )
        Prove it how? I've never been in an accident, that's proof enough for me. I don't have a problem with fast driving as much as I do with reckless, careless driving.

        And no, big brother isn't worth the dollars. Besides which, I don't understand how people can even imagine bitching about auto insurance rates. I pay 1200 bucks a year for car insurance, it's nothing. Decent health insurance costs me over 5000 a year by comparison, and I'm a healthy, single 25 year old male. At least that's the ratio in Ma

        • Speed vs Stupidity (Score:5, Insightful)

          by MachDelta ( 704883 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @03:15AM (#10146946)
          Prove it how? I've never been in an accident, that's proof enough for me. I don't have a problem with fast driving as much as I do with reckless, careless driving.
          Amen to that. Why don't they invent a box that records how often people use their turn signals or shoulder check or something? I mean, how many near-accidents do you see in a day that are because someone was going 'too fast'? Now how many near-accidents do you see in a day that are because some dipshit didn't look around them before changing lanes or were too busy yakking on their cellphone? Going 5 or 10 over the limit isn't what causes accidents - its people not fucking paying attention. We should be more concerned about getting the inattentive morons off our roads than the people with a heavy right foot.
      • Re:No. (Score:3, Insightful)

        by LuxFX ( 220822 )
        What makes you think this kind of thing will lower insurance rates? The cost of producing DVDs is down to practically nothing, but are they any cheaper (for the consumer) than when they first came out? Only if you count used DVDs! I wouldn't be surprised if in the long run rates went up to "cover cost of equipment".

        But there has to be some value to the consumer to counter the privacy concerns, right? (so the insurance mega-corporations will have time to get this implemented to such a wide degree that it
      • Re:No. (Score:3, Insightful)

        by gnovos ( 447128 )
        Yeah, people bitch about high insurance rates, but when an acceptable(?) solution comes around they seem to balk at it. After all, if you want a low rate, why not prove it? Is Big Brother/privacy concerns worth the $?

        Have you no experience in the real world?

        The most likely outcome is that the rates will stay the same and the payouts will be reduced as they find you don't "deserve" a payout becuase when you were hit by a drunk driver you were going two miles over the speed limit.
    • Re:No. (Score:2, Insightful)

      It could be great news for you though. Right now, the insurance companies assume you drive a certain way just because of your age and what kind of car you drive. If you don't fit the typical pattern, i.e. if you drive the speed limit, don't run red lights, etc., your insurance rates will go down, possibly way down, because now the insurance company has a way of knowing the truth about how you drive.
      • It's how you drive your Camaro that matters here. Right now they assume that since you're in your 20's and drive a Camaro you suck as a driver (generally, that's not nearly as bad an assumption as you might think).

        Prove them wrong. Get your insurance cheap by driving right. Sounds good to me and it's not something I had a chance to do at 18 when I drove a Firebird.
      • except the speed limit rarely makes sense....

        And how can they prove that their software is accurate to what you are doing?
    • Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by erick99 ( 743982 ) <homerun@gmail.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:10AM (#10146140)
      Ideas like this strike me as disingenuous at best. It starts out as a way to monitor for good behavior but I believe it rapidly dumps that and focuses on bad bad behavior to raise rates.

      I had a psyc prof point out one time that if the various motor vehicle admins out there sent out a notice to everyone each year who did not get any points, the recognition alone was likely to cause some good. But, as a society, we are far more focused on pathology than what is good.

      Cheers,

      Erick

      http://www.brainglass.com

      • The Sad Black Box. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Mulletproof ( 513805 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @01:11AM (#10146493) Homepage Journal
        A very good point. The blackbox assumes bad behavior from the very start. After all, they're not going to give you the good rates unless you can prove you've been good. So if you can't prove you've been good-- the lack of a speeding ticket or screwed up fender will should tell you that. Isn't that why your damn rates go up? --then your aren't entitled to the "special" rate. I tend to agree with the parent here... This is either a very flawed study in human psychology or nothing more than a sad profit tool, probably a bit of both.

        I mean one person is monitored being good, the other one is not monitored being good, but penalized. Kinda ironic in a society of presumed innocense. Frankly, I'll drop any insurance company that pulls this crap.
        • by pen ( 7191 )

          You have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. However, this is only in respect to the government, as you have no choice over what it does.

          When it comes to your insurance company, you have entered into that relationship voluntarily.

          --
          OT: I already have all the FreeIpods referrals that I need, but I'm running a FreeIpods.com link pool [digdug.cx].
          Also, there are now FreeDesktopPC.com [qdb.us] and FreeFlatScreens.com [qdb.us]

          • by winwar ( 114053 )
            "When it comes to your insurance company, you have entered into that relationship voluntarily."

            With a particular insurance company, yes. But if all of them do it, is it voluntary any longer? (currently a what-if scenario)

            "However, this is only in respect to the government..."

            Ah, yes. But the government mandates insurance (or proof of financial responsibility). If the government mandates something, implemented by corporations/private companies, are they not acting on behalf of the government? If so (a
    • Agreed. Yet, by owning a Camaro you have, more or less, already told your insurance company a) you don't like to drive slow, and b) you like ac/dc a LOT. ;)

  • Safety first? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by notanatheist ( 581086 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:49PM (#10146010) Homepage
    I wouldn't mind if my driving safety was monitored for lower rates but I wouldn't want my speed watched ;)
  • by DAldredge ( 2353 ) <SlashdotEmail@GMail.Com> on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:50PM (#10146013) Journal
    http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/10/16 49252&tid=158&tid=126 [slashdot.org]

    This is why I didn't renew my /. subscription. This exact same insurance company and program has been covered before (past 30 days).
  • discounts? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by thebdj ( 768618 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:50PM (#10146017) Journal
    Who are you kidding...this is going to turn into another way for them to raise rates and drop people. Sort of like health insurance won't cover some people unless they can pass a physical or charge inordinate amounts of money if you are a bit overweight.

    The first time they clock you doing anything over 75 or 80 mph they'll probably be sending you notices. They start sensing sharp breaking and wild turns you may just find yourself without insurance. Chris Rock once said it should be called "in case shit" because you have in case shit happens. And you don't exactly get your money back if you don't. Now they'll see the shit coming and drop you before they have to make a payoff.
    • Re:discounts? (Score:2, Interesting)

      by elmegil ( 12001 )
      And what's really irritating? Lots of us speed, and lots of us brake hard, and how many of us actually are habitually in accidents? If you know the capabilities of your vehicle, there should be no cause for alarm. I drive way more aggressively than my wife, and she's been in more accidents in the last 4 years than I have in the last 10--only one of her own fault, BTW.
      • The one possible positive that could come out of this plan is that it could be proven with statistical evidence that many people do the things you mention and don't have accidents. And that many people who drive like little old ladies do in fact have accidents. Would this result in cheaper insurance for people who know the capabilities of their vehicles really well?

        On second thought, probably not. Insurance companies will do what they continue to do now and manufacture statistics to make sure they can disc
    • Chris Rock once said it should be called "in case shit" because you have in case shit happens. And you don't exactly get your money back if you don't.

      Isn't that the whole point of insurance? "I'll pay you x-amount of dollars per month so that I don't have to pay xxx-amount of dollars when the shit hits the fan. If the shit doesn't hit the fan, well, thanks for betting on me." What's so hard about this concept?

  • Yeh, right. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NoMoreNicksLeft ( 516230 ) <john.oyler@ c o m c a st.net> on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:50PM (#10146022) Journal
    What it can do, is force everyone into driving with a black box. Driving without one will become prohibitively expensive, even though the statistics will show that with/without doesn't really affect the actual numbers.

    Insurance is about getting you to pay for something that won't ever likely happen... want me to prove it? Keep having stupid accidents, and see if they don't drop you.
    • What is really scary is most (all?) states require you to have insurance if you want to partake in the "priviledge" of using the public road with a motor vehicle. Once these boxes become mandatory, your only choice if you don't want to be monitored is not to drive.
  • by JudgeFurious ( 455868 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:53PM (#10146029)
    ...then I say hell yeah. Sign me up. Put one in my car. Put two of them in there if you want (and in everyone elses of course) and may the actual safe drivers win. The ones who can't drive within reason can pay more for their insurance or lose their legal ability to operate a motor vehicle. Good for them. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of asshats.

    • Okay, lets install cameras in your house just to make sure that you aren't doing anything illegal in there. If you aren't, we'll lower your property taxes. If you are we can arrest you or ticket you. Couldn't happen to a nice bunch of asshats.

      It's about a reasonable level of privacy. These black boxes don't give it, and I'm sure then can/will be abused.
      • You're wrong. It's not about a reasonable level of privacy. It's about how you and I and everyone else out there operates a motor vehicle. I'm generally wary of things along these lines but the one area I welcome it just happens to be on the road.

        There is a percentage of the population in the United States that seems to think there are no laws at all relating to how you drive a car. They're driving around paying almost no attention at all to what they're doing and they're wrong. The people who can't obe
        • Putting a camera in your house is not a violation of your rights if you agree to it. And it's not a violation of your rights for any insurance company refuse to cover you if you don't have one. Considering how crappy it would be not to have home insurance, such a refusal would almost make it a requirement to have a camera in your house, recording all your actions without any explicit violation of your rights.

          All that would be necessary to make this situation just like the car insurance/black box case

      • it's not like they protect the "concealed" Onstar phones from being tapped RIGHT NOW...let's give them MORE ammo!!!
      • by grozzie2 ( 698656 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @03:27AM (#10146974)
        This is not a privacy issue, there is no expectation of privacy when you are on the public road system. You are operating a deadly weapon in a public place, the expectation is of responsibility, not privacy.

        Every time I go to work, once I settle into the flight deck, there's one black box recording every movement of the controls, and another recording every scrap of conversation. In the event of incidents, this data is available to investigators for analysis. That's the way it is in aviation, and now techology has made it economical to apply this principle to cars on the road. It's long overdue. btw, the 'black boxes' are actually flourescent orange, makes it a lot easier to find them in a wrecked vehicle.

        If you want privacy, go take your vehicle and drive it on private roads. The history in aviation shows, data recorders are a GOOD THING. When there are incidents, the recorders have records of what happened. People learn from that data, it reduces accident rates, and helps designers make safer vehicles. Sometimes it can be used to identify liability and responsibility. Race cars are the same, much knowledge has been gained from post race data analysis, especially with regards to incidents.

        If your data recorder shows you are not safe on the public roads, and that results in loss of insurance, hence ability to use the public road system, couldn't happen to a more appropriate person. This would take less than 1% of drivers off the road, but would increase road safety by orders of magnitude. Most people are responsible drivers on the road, but there's a very small number that seem to think the 'rules of the road' are there to be broken. They account for many thousands of fatalities yearly.

        There is a time and a place to 'pick the fight' on privacy, this is not one of them. The public road system is a public resource, with zero expectation of privacy, and a very large expectation of responsibility. Data recorders are a good way to enforce that responsibility, because one look at accident statistics will confirm, there are way to many drivers on the road that just dont understand the concept of responsibility.

    • by SimplyCosmic ( 15296 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:05AM (#10146116) Homepage
      Problem is, the most annoying driving habits wouldn't be detected by this device. Backing up traffic by driving 25 in a 35 MPH zone, for example, will only look like someone driving an acceptable speed, despite the fact that such situations are just as likely to cause an accident as driving too fast. Not using a turn-signal probably won't be detected by the device either. Nor would people who pull into the right hand turn only lane even when they intend to go straight, preventing you from making a legal right-on-red turn. As well, the device wouldn't watch for knuckle-heads who never turn on their lights after dark, or when it's raining severely.

      • Backing up traffic by driving 25 in a 35 MPH zone, for example, will only look like someone driving an acceptable speed, despite the fact that such situations are just as likely to cause an accident as driving too fast

        I don't see how you assume that driving well below posted speed limits and impeeding the flow of traffic would not be detected by this device (plus it is illegal to do so in most places.)

        Also, accidents involving cars going 25 mph usually result in a lot less damage to property and people t
      • I disagree with you. The major cause of accidents is people passing only on the left. Here in the US, everyone rigidly stays in the right hand lane, except to pass. And after they have passed, the move over to the right again.

        It's a hazard, because to get around a car, you have to always switch a lane. If I'm in the right hand lane, and I'm going 30 MPH faster than another car, it's dangerous to have to change lanes to get around him. If drivers here in the states would just ignore the rules about staying in the right hand lane except to pass, then when I overtake a slow driver on the right, 50% of the time I wouldn't have to change a lane at all.

        Our highways would be much safer with less lane changing, and we can only accomplish that by making drivers in the US comfortable with driving continuously in the left hand lane. God knows they never do that now.

    • by xixax ( 44677 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:18AM (#10146198)
      If this is all they do, yeah, great. But can you really see insurance companies resisting the urge progressively lower the bar and use this as an excuse to avoid paying out?
      " 2005 "I'm sorry, the black box says you were doing 60 in a 55 zone"

      2006 I'm sorry, the black box says you violated the TandC that said you would not drive for more than 2.5 hours without a 30 minute rest break"

      2007 "I'm sorry, the black-box says you were doing 55.0001 in a 55 zone. Haha!"

      Viz, "acceptable" behaviour would be socially engineered.

      Xix.

  • by base3 ( 539820 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:53PM (#10146030)
    Company spokesman William Perry says use of the auto data recorder will not be mandatory for Progressive customers.

    At least not the ones who will be able to afford the extra $1,000 or so every six months that will be eventually charged to drivers who don't get the "discount" for turning over the data.

  • by abischof ( 255 ) * <alex&spamcop,net> on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:53PM (#10146032) Homepage

    "[...] this seems to be one of the first workups, that can even include tests on speed and braking, not just location."

    Why must the poster, include commas, all over, the place? (Kidding aside, his latter comma is justified though the former is out of place.)
  • by z3021017 ( 806883 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:54PM (#10146043)
    Company spokesman William Perry says use of the auto data recorder will not be mandatory for Progressive customers.

    "The key thing for us regarding the privacy aspect is the program is completely voluntary. It's not imposed on anybody," he said.

    Ha... How much longer will it take before it becomes compulsory?

    Regardless, this is still not as bad as Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), where we could one day see full control of speed on our vehicles:
    ISA info [leeds.ac.uk]

    As a 21 year old male who loves cars and driving, the future looks bleak.

    • That ISA thing is scary, especially if it would get into the hands of the "won't somebody please think of the children" people.

      Then how long before some asshat hacks the wireless transmitters and sets a road's "speed limit" to 15? With mandatory ISA, that would make for quite a few pissed off drivers.

  • Christ. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Gannoc ( 210256 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:57PM (#10146060)
    it can also make better drivers out of everyone if insurance rates are adjustable based on the way everyone drives.

    Is that a troll?

    Also, if there was a microchip in my tongue that raised our medical insurance rates when ate a burrito, we'd also be healthier. Or perhaps some sort of camera system in the kitchen that the insurance companies could randomly monitor to verify our mandatory meal plans.

    Now whoa, i'm not saying that you HAVE to put the microchip in your tongue, i'm just saying that you don't qualify for the $4000/year TongueChip(tm) discount unless you do it. Also, in completely unrelated news, trial lawyers have forced us to raise your insurance rates by exactly $4000\year.
    • Want to see The Future? Go to the UK, where radar cameras are just about EVERYWHERE.

      Top Gear, a BBC motoring show(I highly recommend watching it, it's great fun even for non-motorheads) has been having a field day with them.

      They pointed out that:

      • The idiot doing her makeup on the wrong side of the road is not caught by the speed camera
      • The mass-murder with the body sticking out of the trunk isn't caught by the speed camera
      • The 18 year old hopped up on pot and drinking a can of beer, so incapacitated
  • OBD-II Port (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Igmuth ( 146229 ) on Thursday September 02, 2004 @11:58PM (#10146071)
    It sound like the box just plugs in to the stardart OBD-II port found on all new (1996+) cars. If these things take off, I wonder how long until someone makes a box to spoof the signals? Though I am pretty sure that would count as insurance fraud.
  • by doormat ( 63648 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:01AM (#10146088) Homepage Journal
    If you're doing 65 in a 35 without some sort of GPS unit and a GIS system where it knows the roads and the speed limits? Yea sure, I went 65mph on this day and time, but if you dont know whether I was on a highway or a residential street, piss off! How does it know when you run a red light (if you dont speed up for the little bit)? It cant. Unless it has some GPS system incorporated. And at that rate, they'll know where I was going, where I parked my car, for how long - in other words, big brother will be a corporation and not the government.
  • No "penalties"? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zymurgy_cat ( 627260 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:02AM (#10146103) Homepage
    From TFA: " Progressive says it will use the data only for potential discounts and not to penalize customers whose devices reveal risky driving habits."

    Of course, when they do their modelling for the next year, they'll take into account the predicted number of "safe" drivers and "risky" drivers. Given their desired profit levels and the discounts for safe drivers, they'll just adjust rates accordingly for everyone else. Guess which way rates will go to compensate for the discounts?

    I'm not saying this is a bad thing (hey, it's capitalism), but to phrase it as "no penalty" for bad drivers (and good drivers who refuse to enter the program) is a bit of a misnomer.
  • by Anonymous Coward
    My friend's parents put a black box into his car to monitor his driving. Good thing they did, if it wasn't there he wouldn't think twice about going 80mph down a 30mph road.

    It also gets annoying though, he can't accelerate too quickly otherwise the box makes this clicking noise warning you that you are going too fast. If he goes over 65mph, or breaks too hard, it will beep and record it; his parents can take the box out and see how he drives. We've looked all over the car and we still can't find that damn
  • by waterwheel ( 599833 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:09AM (#10146134) Homepage

    I've posted this to a forum I run for actuaries - the mathematical types who price insurance. I won't post a link as I'd rather not have the fame. But it will be interesting to see what they have to say

    However, in the article, Charles Samuelson makes a point that is well known when it comes to pricing insurance. Progressive is basically selecting the cream of the crop for their clients. That means more money for them (less claims probably), and less for other insurance companies. So the other insurance companies are forced to start underwriting for this as well. Pretty soon, you're screwed because all the insurance companies have to take it into account to remain competitive.

    Think that's only a vague thing? At one point nobody priced life insurance by whether or not you smoked. In fact, it was probably only about 30 years ago they started doing that. Now of course, they have two sets of prices - those that smoke and those that don't.

    In short, you'd better get used to the idea of having black boxes installed in your car, and having it taken into account on your insurance. It's profitable for the insurance companies, so it's coming to a policy near you.

  • by Anonymous Luddite ( 808273 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:09AM (#10146137)
    Most new cars already already have a black box. It records things like acceleration level, braking inputs and vehicle speed.

    So far as I know, it only holds data for a short time, but if you are involved in an accident, the data can (and has been) [www.cbc.ca] accessed by law enforcement.

    something to think about?

  • Awesome... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Duncan3 ( 10537 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:21AM (#10146213) Homepage
    That means the little old lady driving 35 in the left lane on the highway will save a ton of money as she nearly (or really) kills dozens of people a day.

    The black box will think she's the perfect driver.
  • by Merovign ( 557032 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:55AM (#10146405)
    Will require GPS to be effective, and that means they know where you're driving. If your work happens to be near a "bad" intersection for accidents, your rate goes up, even if you have a perfect record.

    Now, that's good for the insurance company, as they charge more for higher risk areas (or drivers). But it's bad for the pool, i.e. us.

    It will be encouraged, it will be used, it will create profit and reduce "losses" (i.e. compensation), and it will spread like wildfire until it is effectively or actually mandatory.

    In addition, how many minutes do you figure it will be before "recorded speed and GPS data" becomes "remotely reported speed and GPS data" becomes "transmitted directly to the nearest CHP car," without, of course, the context that a police officer observing the scene would see. Just numbers.

    You know, swerving and accelerating to avoid an accident becomes a speeding ticket. Running a red light to avoid an accident could cost you your license. Running a broken red light at 4am with no traffic could do the same. No one will care about your story, the computer shows just what you did. Heck, it probably won't even require (allow) a court appearance.

    I'm getting tired of even debating these points, which is why the bad guys always seem to win. They have an inexhaustible drive to control everyone else all the time that keeps them awake at night. They never seem to run out of energy and they never seem to run out of recruits.

    And its always the same argument, over and over, every time. You can win the argument ("know your customer" banking laws) and while you're sleeping off the effort they pass the same damned thing again.

    The utility argument is a loss, you can justify ANY incursion for that one. Mandatory diet and exercise, 24-hour monitoring, there can be no dividing line from the POV of utility.

    The "license" argument isn't an argument for monitoring, it's an argument against public roads.

    Just remember, those of you who think it can't hurt you, when it's your turn, the rest of us sure as heck aren't going to speak up for you.
  • the worse of two (Score:3, Interesting)

    by aggieben ( 620937 ) <aggiebenNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Friday September 03, 2004 @12:56AM (#10146410) Homepage Journal
    It's interesting to me how people react to the idea of a city putting up cameras to catch people speeding (which could easily be done in such a way that there is no loss of privacy over the amount of privacy we now have on the road) versus the reaction that people have to the idea of car insurance companies putting black boxes in their cars. There is *far* more privacy loss involved in the black boxes than there would be with traffic cameras, and the traffic cameras would probably actually do more to "encourage" safe driving.
  • by vijayiyer ( 728590 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @01:27AM (#10146576)
    I would have no problem with this - if insurance wasn't government mandated. The problem is that insurance companies could now refuse to insure people who don't put the black box in their car, preventing them from driving and in effect assuming government powers. If insurance wasn't mandatory, we would see insurance rates plummet. As for the argument about people who are too irresponsible to pay up after an accident, those same people are driving around illegally uninsured anyway.
  • by Ralph Spoilsport ( 673134 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @01:46AM (#10146639) Journal
    it drives the damn thing for me.

    Seriously - if the corporate nanny state insists on penalising me for driving then they can just as well DRIVE THE DAMN CAR FOR ME.

    In which case, it might as well be a bus, because that's as fast as I'll be getting across town.

    I drive like a complete nutcase, but I NEVER have had an accident, nor have I ever caused an accident. I get speeding tickets about once every three - four years. The difference is: I get there fast, if not first.

    I pay VERY close attention when I am driving. I don't zone out listening to Rush Fartbag. I don't twitch myself into a state of road rage - I just look ahead, find the empty lanes, and go for it.

    My nemeses are middle aged asian women who invariably drive a big Lexus. It's not racist or sexist - it's just that they weren't raised in a car culture - they were raised in a bicycle culture and slapped into submission. Consequently, they're petrified behind the wheel. Perfectly nice decent people, but TOTALLY in the way on the road. The black box will, of course, give them good ratings while they clog up the highways.

    I wonder how these black boxes will go over in Italy...

    RS

  • by DaveJay ( 133437 ) on Friday September 03, 2004 @02:20AM (#10146749)
    Here's my immediate reaction: if it can say how fast I was going, and how I was using the controls, and where I am, it can know if I'm speeding or working the controls in a piss-poor fashion.

    However, how can it identify the person who is speeding through traffic, whipping in and out of different lanes and driving right up on other cars (very dangerous on a crowded freeway, and very common here in LA) versus the person who is speeding along in a single lane of a winding road with no other traffic within sight?

    In other words, without proximity data (as is, your proximity to other cars) -- and let's be honest, even with that data -- it's always going to come down to a judgement call based on less than perfect knowledge of the circumstances.

    Or maybe I'm full of crap. It's hard to tell some days.
    • it's always going to come down to a judgement call based on less than perfect knowledge of the circumstances.

      And that's exactly why only a human, either an eyewitness or an expert, may be allowed as a witness against you; and you must be allowed to defend yourself in proper legal manner. That's how it is today - the police officer is a trained specialist, but if you disagree you can take the dispute to the court and argue there.

      A primitive computer may not be allowed to be a witness against you. If some

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