Insurance companies have started offering drivers "roadside assistance" digital devices that can track and locate cars when drivers are in need of help. As Wired notes, State Farm's On-Star competitor, In-Drive, can do more than just call a tow truck for a stranded driver or locate a stolen vehicle, it can also track driving habits, including "speed, time of day [driven], miles driven, acceleration, braking and the number of left and right turns." Drivers who subscribe — for $5 to $15 per month — will see their premiums go down if they prove to be safe drivers.
Keith Barry describes State Farm's In-Drive and Progressive's similar Snapshot as trading "perks for privacy" — as drivers offer insurance companies greater insight into what they're up to on the roads in exchange for lower rates. State Farm, for one, sends participating drivers a " report card" at the end of each month, rating drivers' practices, and says it hopes this will make people drive more safely. If it makes people less likely to tailgate me at 80 miles per hour, I , for one, am a big fan.
AAA is currently offering a similar program for teen drivers in California and Texas, but it's going about it differently. Cletus Nunes, a group manager at AAA in charge of "ACE Teen Pilot Program," thinks that their competitors' offerings are overly-invasive. "We're sensitive to the concerns of our members," says Nunes. "They're using this data to rate drivers. They're collecting information about how you drive. We're not."
How is AAA doing it differently?
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Like its competitors, AAA offers a device that plugs into a car's OBD diagnostic port. AAA collaborated with Delphi Electronics to create its AAA OnBoard device. AAA members in California and Texas (only states offering the program for now) can choose between two programs: 1) Pay-as-you-drive insurance with roadside assistance, or 2) Teen safety with roadside assistance.
The first collects only mileage, says Nunes, to set insurance rates accordingly (lower for light drivers, higher for heavier ones), and can pinpoint a car's location when queried, though it doesn't collect ongoing location info.
"We don't collect where you are, how fast you're driving, acceleration, or anything like that," says Nunes.
The second program for teens, does collect that information, using the same device (it can be switched from one function to the other wirelessly). Nunes says the data is not sent to AAA; it's instead siloed on a server for parents to access. "Crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 21 year olds," says Nunes. "We're helping parents to coach their kids on safer driving. Kids will drive safer knowing they're being watched."
AAA is essentially leaving it up to parents to grade their kids' driving rather than doing it institutionally. AAA says it won't look at the data to set rates, nor use it in the event of a car accident. That's distinctly different from what competitors State Farm and Progressive are doing. Beyond not using the behavioral data for rate purposes, AAA's program has another key difference: it provides the $250 device for free and does not currently charge a subscription fee for it.
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