Progressive insurance has been testing out the MyRate driving monitoring system for a few years now (it used to be called TripSense), but it's finally taking the system national, bringing pay-as-you-drive insurance into the mainstream. The little blue box plugs into your car's ODB II diagnostic port (all cars made after 1996 have one), and studiously records your driving habits, wirelessly sending the data back to Progressive HQ (it's not clear exactly how). Every six months, Progressive will crunch the numbers and issue a new rate for you based on how you drive -- savings of up to 40 percent are possible. That's pretty tempting, depending on your current rates and driving habits, but we're not so sure we're willing to share that much data for an unspecified discount -- especially since we're confident the MyRate box will get cracked almost immediately.
[Thanks, Mike; image courtesy of
Aaron Landry]
Read - MyRate press release
Read - MyRate video
Read - How MyRate works
posted June 28th 2008 8:35AM
How long until it's mandatory?
That's what I was wondering...
This seems like a slippery slope to me, before you know it all insurance companies will be using devices like this, the next logical step being GPS monitoring of your location. (they gotta know if you're in the risky part of town)
Next we'll have devices that monitor our eating and exercise habits, to “help us” get better rates on health insurance, then maybe cameras in our living rooms to set home owners rates.
Count me out!!!
It logs speed , acceleration , distance drove, push of brakes and how hard you pushed those brakes basically any thing that can be monitored in your car can be sent back to progressive they have very similar thing to monitor your teens when they drive. the newest one are wirerless the some of the test ones had to pc connect.
The My-rate does not monitor where you are by gps or any other way
Given the fact that my neighborhood state inspection site can't even read my car's OBD II port, I have little faith this will work.
(My car is a 2004 Mazda 3, so it ain't some exotic or old car...)
Heh, they must have some crappy old ODB reader.
I too have a 2004 Mazda3 and my ScanGauge II is fully supported with the 04 Mazda 3.
I'd love to see something like this monitor turn signal usage. Seems like very few people use them. I like to know what the other guy or gal is going to do as it's safer for me when I do. So, if I use mine, then it's safer for the other guy or gal too. If we all used them I believe there would be fewer accidents! After all, it's the one way we have of communicating our intentions to other drivers!!
Or people who speed up with their foot one the brake. Man, do I hate that!
That, and hand signals. ;P
blinkers are just for Cristmas, didn't you get the memo?
Big brother is slowly trying to creep up into all of my belongings. I don't like this one bit.
An earlier version without cellular capabilities had to be manually connected to a PC for periodic upload. Understandably, this was an undeisreable hassle for the consumer, so the periodic uploads are now handled automatically by the device and cellular coverage.
Without GPS, MyRate cannot know the local speed limit. So MyRate focuses on objectively safe driving patters (e.g. consistent speed, infrequent dramatic breaking, etc.) and the whole speeding thing is addressed when you get a ticket and the points get reported. Now if you can go 15 over, drive safe, and not get a ticket, it's reasonable to relatively label you as a safe driver worthy of lower rates.
If you're going 15MPH over the speed limit, chances are, you're going to hit the grandma driver or the pedestrian jaywalking. Or, more likely, tailgating someone and when they brake-check you, you're going to eat your dashboard.
If a pedestrian is crossing any road where 15MPH over isn't glaringly stupid, they _are_ jaywalking and _deserve_ to be hit.
40 in a 25 is quite different from 90 in a 75.
Why do we drive so fast on freeways anyway? They would be safer if we dropped the limit to 25MPH. Do it for the kids! OR something! What the hell is wrong with you people!?
*rolls eyes*
Seriously, though, what gives a cop the divine right to risk the lives of everyone on the road by going over the speed limit to respond to a call or catch a criminal? They drive heavy cars, aren't well trained for high speeds and badges don't make them superhuman. Why can they speed while Danica Patrick or Dale Earnhardt Jr. would get thrown in jail for it?
Heh. I was trying to be sarcastic, but now I'm actually interested in knowing.
I wouldn't mind doing this. I don't drive like an asshat, so my insurance might actually be lower... that is, if I weren't on my parents insurance plan. I think that saves me more money than actually driving like a reasonable human being.
Makes a lot of sense, right?
This thing is not thought out right. Really, insurance companies should just give you money back and lower your rates each consecutive 6/12 months for not having an accident. Oh wait, Allstate does that now, even though their premiums are higher anyway so they're not loosing any money.
Apparently "goes national" means "available in 4 states". I think a more accurate title would be "going national" as the press release says the roll out has just started, and might be available in your state sometime this year or next.
Dude... its just a 'carchip' made by Davis: http://www.carchip.com/ ... they probably have a slightly customized one so someone can not just plug it in and look at the results themselves. The picture above looks like their older serial. The 'wireless' probably means there is a base station that you plug it into and it will use your internet connection to talk directly to progressive.
post's pic looks like a carchip but from the linked video device has built in wireless and no usb port visible and carchip doesn't seem to offer a device like that. could be their next gen though i guess.
An insurance company here in the UK have been doing a trial of this technology for the past 2 years, it was aims at high risk drivers (ie youngsters), you got charges different rates per mile traveled depending on the location and time of day. Well two weeks ago the canned the trial as a complete failure as they stuggled to get the customers to make it a long term goer.
So, all i have to do is put this in my grandmothers car and attach it to my account and they'll think I drive like an old woman....
Damn.....My car is a 1995.
hrmm i can save 40% on m premium and i get monitered 24/7 sounds like some commi stuff to me! But hey 40% percent is alot. SIGN ME UP!
I'm waiting for the anal-probe edition...
For 40% I think I'll give it a shot. I think I drive reasonably safe. According to the info on progressives site even if your rates go up you can cancel and the next policy renewal your rates will go back to normal.
@athousandleaves...
The OBD port outputs a specific code for each make and model, so unless your grandma has an identical car to yours I think Progressive would catch on the first time your data is sent.
Perhaps they should rename it to Atmos.
I trust big insurance companies as far as I can throw them. If I had Progressive, I would drop them just on principle - but I would still date that smarmy Progressive checkout girl! purrrrr!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183960/
I trust big insurance companies as far as I can throw them. If I had Progressive, I would drop them just on principle - but I would still date that smarmy Progressive checkout girl! purrrrr!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0183960/
From the progressive site:
"MyRate data may be useful in determining the cause of an automobile accident. If you are in an accident, you may have a legal obligation to preserve the information on the device. This information may be sought by opposing parties in a civil lawsuit or by police when investigating the cause of an accident, or we may be legally obligated to provide such information in response to a subpoena or as otherwise required by law."
I have one of these devices installed on my car(s) for about three years. I've had the original serial port version and the new mini-usb version. The device is a Davis Car-Chip.
I think I should clear up a few things.
1. It does not transmit through a wireless means. There is no wireless radio of any kind (802.11, Cellular, etc) in the device.
2. There is no GPS tracking device in the device.
3. It does measure trips, but only basic data. It records a trip as being from key on to key off. The information recorded is distance, speed, brake input and throttle input. Nothing else is recorded.
4. Your information is not automatically given to Progressive. You have to connect the device to your computer through USB, and then after reviewing the information, you have a choice to upload it or not. If you don't decided to upload, you get the basic 5% discount. If you do upload, you are eligible for the bonus discounts based on the information. I've received as low as the base 5% to as much as 17%. Every little bit does help.
TehKing,
If it is from Progressive, it sounds like the TripSense device.
1. The new one - "MyRate" actually does transmit data wirelessly to Progressive. (It does not require connection to a personal computer in order to upload the data).
2. There is also no GPS tracking device in new (MyRate) device.
This could be a boon for electric vehicles and single people who own multiple cars. Most people who own EVs also own gas cars, and pay insurance on both. If these devices could show the insurance company that only one vehicle is being driven at a time, then they could theoretically qualify to pay one car's insurance rather than two car's insurance, which knocks a big chunk off the total cost of ownership for an EV.
You guys all are niggling about security and personal freedom or techy wanderings or whatever, and are missing the possibly most significant point regarding PAY AS YOU DRIVE INSURANCE - Which is - If you drive less, you pay less, and if that becomes apparent to you, you may tend then to actually drive a little less. Over a large population a little less driving means a hell of a lot less CO2 into global warming flywheel thing that for the most part it seems, we are all more or less ignoring.
Also, it means that that SUV you have, that you drive to work alone in every day but you bought because you go skiing six times a year, or pick up the kids at soccer on Saturday can be left in the driveway (with no further clock ticking yearly insurance fee) while you drive most of your miles on your second fuel efficient car. The SUV will last you twenty years because you only drive it 4000 miles a year. You drive less over all and burn way less gas. PAYD saves money and the planet - GET IT!
PAYD is a really GREAT idea, implementing it is relatively easy, (I will leave the details to the engineers, but this is not rocket science) Not implementing it is fiddling while Rome burns
I have an ODB reader linked to my PDA by Bluetooth on my car and I use it to monitor the engine status and my driving habits.
I think is a bit useless... it's just for fun!
I doesn't monitor my brakes because there are no brake sensors on my car.
I used this for one six month insurance contract. I drove to much to get more than the 5% discount everyone (I believe) get just for agreeing to use it. The data is not sent wirelessly, you have to hook it up to a USB port on your computer when the end of your Monitoring period is up. The unit comes with software and cord.
The progressive Tripsense unit is made by Davis Instruments and you can go to their website and download software to read the unit yourself - apparently davis sells the same unit under the name CarChip.
who makes the new MyRate device that has a cell chip in it to xmit the data?