The Automobile Association has launched Drivesafe, a telematics product designed to reward safe drivers with lower premiums. www.theaadrivesafe.com. The Drivesafe box, installed in the car, uses GPS to send information about speed, cornering, braking and when the car is driven on different types of road. It collects data on how the vehicle is being driven. This data is sent to the online DriveSafe Dashboard, where the user is able to see his driving reports.
This information is used to give the user a score, based on how he drives.
The premium is reviewed throughout the year to ensure it accurately reflects
the user's driving behaviour. According to the company, Drivesafe
is capable of saving any driver money but is especially designed to assist
young drivers, new drivers, and drivers with driving convictions. Simon
Douglas, director of AA insurance said: "It is likely to appeal to
inexperienced drivers as well as parents, whose youngsters have their
first car. Parents know driving behavior is being tracked by a system
that also provides crash, breakdown and theft alerts."
Progressive Insurance Company and Allstate Insurance Company have adopted
the program for their customers. Progressive calls the program "Snapshot"
and Allstate labeled their program as " Drive Wise".