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To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

money.com

71–80 of 414 posts

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#71
post #22

This reads like an article from /r/ABoringDystopia that showcases, among other things, technology that was suppose to improve people’s lives is actively weaponized against them. What worries about this from a consumer level is that the insurance companies are not required to disregard old data. If you got a speeding ticket or other minor infraction, it will eventually drop off of your driving record as far as your in…

Massachusetts has a concept of "managed competition" to avoid exactly this: http://www.mass.gov/doc/autoinsuranceexecsummarypdf/download

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#72
It's starting to feel like Europe.

In Belgium you couldn't drive a miles without being recorded on some ALPR camera.

Speed cameras everywhere. And the current rage is average speed cameras. So they take your photo on an on-ramp and when you take the exit they'll calculate the average. Above the speed limit: ticket. With no way of facing your accuser in court. The machine said so...

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#73
post #24
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pay an exorbitant registration fee (hundreds more than other vehicles) By which you mean $130 (equating to ~13,000 miles driven under the 1 cent-per-mile pricing)? https://roadusagecharge.utah.gov/faq.php#fees I agree it should be easier and more privacy-preserving to measure real usage (e.g., an odometer read once a year or something like that).

No, mine was over $340. The fee for my Civic was ~$100.

If your EV is worth ~2.1x the Civic, that would track (~$210 in value-scaled registration + $130 EV tax). Given how much EVs cost, that ratio wouldn’t be terribly surprising.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#74
Is this considered new? In Canada I had an app on my phone for 100 days which tracked accelerations/break/speed. Sure it felt intrusive-ish, but the program was not mandatory so seems like a win-win. I got a 22% discount (got 96/100!) and now the app is off my phone.

I would not recommend it if you don't live in the suburbs though. Slow and steady is the name of the game, ideally you want light traffic and mostly empty roads.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#75
post #40
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Gas taxes are a relatively small fraction of roads funding, for what it's worth.)

I'd be interested in seeing the numbers, and how they slice it up (whether they're completely treating federal roads separately or using it for the total, etc), as at $0.364 per gallon in Utah, it seems like it results in a large amount to put towards funding something , so it would be interesting to track where it's going.

Utah’s cent per mile program treats all roads the same, including roads outside of the state.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#76
hypothetically it’s pretty easy to fake the odb reader versions of these. Just buy a male to 2 female odb splitter, strip one and hook a 9 volt battery and usb charger to the power wires.

Plug your device into your car and turn it on, wait for device to blink green, attach 9 volt and unplug, carry inside and plug in usb charger to the wall.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#77
post #6

Utah views EV drivers as tax evaders because they don't buy gas. So they have a "deal" for EV drivers: pay an exorbitant registration fee (hundreds more than other vehicles) or install an OBD device in your car and carry a surveillance app to be charged for how much your vehicle is driven [0]. The measurement route requires 2 separate accounts with 3rd parties, one of which has your payment information on file. Given…

It’s not just Utah. Oregon has been talking for the better part of a decade about the best way to have EV owners help pay for road maintenance. Both the things you mention are things they have tried in large scale tests. I imagine most states are trying to figure out the same thing and coming up with solutions similar to Utah (or, more likely, Utah got the ideas from other states).

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#78

This is one of the least bad invasions of privacy I've seen. It shifts the burden of insurance premiums more towards those likely to cause accidents, and incentivizes people to minimize dangerous behavior behind the wheel. There are actual benefits to responsible people, and to society at large, which is not something you frequently see with invasion of privacy.

> and incentivizes people to minimize dangerous behavior behind the wheel.

Going 55 mph when everyone else is going 70 mph is extremely dangerous but the insurance company will give you good marks for obeying the speed limit.

I refuse to use one of these monitoring devices, it’s extremely intrusive and patronizing. Insurance companies are not going bankrupt due to pricing risk incorrectly.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#79
post #76

hypothetically it’s pretty easy to fake the odb reader versions of these. Just buy a male to 2 female odb splitter, strip one and hook a 9 volt battery and usb charger to the power wires. Plug your device into your car and turn it on, wait for device to blink green, attach 9 volt and unplug, carry inside and plug in usb charger to the wall.

Might want to rethink posting about committing insurance fraud.

Re: To save money on insurance, drivers agree to intrusive monitoring technology

#80
post #38
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try living in California. My $42K EV was closer to $600 for the registration.

Seattle suburbs here. I pay about $500 a year to register my (gas) car so someday I can ride the train they broke ground on 25 years ago.

My gas car registration fees in Seattle are $160/year total. Of that either $80 or $120 is flat by weight and the remainder scales by value. If your fees are $500/year, your vehicle is extremely heavy, expensive, or both.
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