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Thread: Fuel economy versus tracking driving behavior

  1. #1
    Senior Member Donut's Avatar
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    Question Fuel economy versus tracking driving behavior

    Hello,

    my colleague told me about a tracking device from progressive (snapshot) that recorded his driving behavior and rewards "good" and punishes "bad" driving with variable insurance rates.

    Putting the privacy issues aside:
    Would such a device be compatible with fuel efficient driving, i.e., with engine off coasting and alike.

    I am curious about your thoughts.

    All the best


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.8 mpg (US) ... 20.3 km/L ... 4.9 L/100 km ... 57.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member IchabodCrane's Avatar
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    No.
    it tracks things like obedience to speed limits, full stops at stop signs, etc.
    It has no bearing on anything that matters to fuel economy. It may even find your drive/coast methods to be bad driving habit and penalize you.
    Will weld for beer.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)


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    I'd guess that part of what the Progressive system looks at is where you drive. Every insurance company uses territories for the basis of their car insurance rates. Their theory is that your territory is where you leave the car at night and where you do most of your driving.

    If they know exactly where you are driving, they could add a charge if you spend a significant part of your driving time in a higher rated territory.

    I don't know if they do this at this point in time, but I'm sure they track your speed vs posted limit and mileage driven in a policy period.

  4. #4
    Unless they equip the plug-in device with GPS, they don't know where you're driving.

    And if it does have GPS, you wouldn't need to plug it in to the OBD-II port, because it'd already be able to determine speed/distance.

    I imagine they're mostly looking at speed (max., avg., rate of change) and distance.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  5. #5
    Senior Member IchabodCrane's Avatar
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    It likely does have gps as well as tie in to vehicle computer. With this setup they can actually tell if you slow down in reduced speed zones. Using google street maps they can place your vehicle at a limit sign and track your speed in real time to see if you comply. The OBD III hookup shows hard braking, jackrabbit starts, full stop vs rolling stop etc.
    When I was driving transport with dangerous goods we had a similar system in our trucks. Ours was so advanced that it would send email notifications to the company for each violation.
    Will weld for beer.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)


  6. #6
    Curious, I did a bit of searching.

    Some conflicting info...

    Wikipedia:

    Drivers plug a device the size of a garage door opener into the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port of their car. The device records and sends the driving data to Progressive, and Progressive uses that information to calculate the rate. After 30 days, customers find out if they’re eligible for a discount – up to 30 percent – based on that 30-day “snapshot” of their driving habits. At the end of a six-month policy period, Progressive calculates the customer’s renewal discount and customers return the device to Progressive. Drivers’ rates can’t go up with Snapshot. And the discount is not based on location or speed. The device does not have GPS and the company doesn’t take into account how fast the car goes although it does take into account how fast and frequently the vehicle operator brakes. Snapshot is voluntary and customers can opt out at any time. Snapshot will also not increase the customers' premium should they not be eligible for any level of the discount. The customer is charged up to $75.00 if they do not return the snapshot device to Progressive should they decide not to engage in the program after receiving it.



    While Progressive claims Snapshot does not have GPS nor does it take into account how fast the car goes, Progressive's patent filing clearly outlines GPS as well as cellular usage (see Figure 4 of the drawings portion of their filing).
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Corporation

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 63.2 mpg (US) ... 26.9 km/L ... 3.7 L/100 km ... 75.9 mpg (Imp)


  7. #7
    Senior Member IchabodCrane's Avatar
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    That sounds pretty benign and offers not much in the way of safe driving data. According to "wikipedia" LOL.. the only thing the ins. company sees is how much you brake.
    I guess you lose your discount every time you brake tap your cruise off..?
    Regardless... as far as the initial question; NO the device offers nothing regarding driving habits re. fuel economy
    .
    Note: considering what electrical utility companies told us their smart meters kept track of and what data is actually being mined, I would not plug one of these into my car.
    P.S. Wikipedia is not real information.... I could have written what you see there.
    Will weld for beer.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 automatic: 45.3 mpg (US) ... 19.3 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Member Yttrium's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IchabodCrane View Post
    That sounds pretty benign and offers not much in the way of safe driving data. According to "wikipedia" LOL.. the only thing the ins. company sees is how much you brake.
    I wouldn't be too sure about that. You can tell a lot about driving habits from braking. Hard braking is often associated with distracted driving. If you're doing a lot of soft braking at high speeds it means you are likely tailgating and more likely to rear end someone.

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    One advantage of this type of system would be that it enables a "pay as you go" insurance rate.

    Many people drive very few miles but get charged whatever low mileage rate the insurance company offers. I'm with State Farm and the lowest category they offer is 7500 miles a year.

    For someone in a city, or just driving around town, their annual mileage could be much less. Tracking the mileage driven would enable an insurer to just charge for the actual miles driven, or, offer more specific mileage classifications.

    I'm not sure this will happen, as it is to the insurer's advantage to over charge low mileage customers.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Donut's Avatar
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    thx for your replies.

    I was more wondering about the possible penalties that fuel economic driving included because it may be labelled unsafe driving. When one switches off the engine to roll to the red light, does the data logger think this is bad driving? Is it then still working, when the engine is off?


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.8 mpg (US) ... 20.3 km/L ... 4.9 L/100 km ... 57.3 mpg (Imp)


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