Car Gadgets

Insurance companies are using car gadgets to compare insurance rates and provide cheap car insurance.

These gadgets are telematic data recorders that are installed in your car to collect information about your driving habits.

The recorder is about the size of a smart phone and insurance companies install it under your dashboard or hood to wireless transmit information.

The recorder doesn't damage your car or affect your warranty but it can lower your insurance.

The information collected (telematics) allows an insurance company to monitor your driving behavior.

This data includes what distances and directions you travel, where and when you drive, what type of roads you travel, how fast or slow you drive, how you brake, how you corner or change lanes.

It's like having an insurance agent sitting beside you while driving.

This isn't good if you don't want to share your driving tendencies with anyone. If you like to roll through stop signs, speed, or follow too closely then these car gadgets aren't going to lower your insurance premiums.

But they could convince you to change your driving habits, make you more responsible, and help prevent getting yourself or someone else killed or injured.

Young drivers are statistically high-risk. If you're a young responsible driver you're unfortunately penalized just because of your age.

For example, figures indicate that young drivers are involved in 40% of all fatal accidents occurring late at night.

So if your a young driver, insurance companies are going to charge you a high premium regardless of whether you drive at night or not.

So these telematic car gadgets help to distinguish drivers from being statistically included into a group category.Cheap Car

Insurance

Although there are currently few insurance companies offering these car gadgets, they will become popular as insurance companies compete for clients.

In the United Kingdom, Co-operative Insurance offers telematic insurance. According to David Neave, a Director at Co-operative, young people are being priced out of owning a car because of the rising costs of insurance.

"To ensure we do not end up with an entire generation priced out of car ownership we are giving them a chance to prove themselves as responsible drivers, and dispel the assumption that all young drivers will drive badly and have accidents," says Neave.

In the United States, Exigen Insurance provides telematic car gadgets. Fazi Zand, the vice president of marketing and business development for Exigen says that competition for telematic-based insurance is heating up and insurance companies must provide this innovative service or risk losing their customers to competition.

Telematic insurance coverage varies depending on the policy. There is usually an initial premium payment. The recording device may also be included at no cost. It's removal may include an additional charge.

Your policy and telematics may limit information to only driving between 11 pm and 6 am with a penalty fee if you drive during that time period. There may be mileage rates added to your premium if you drive during rush hours or drive high-risk routes, exceed speed limits or have excessive hard braking.

Alternatively, if you drive fewer miles, don't speed, don't drive late at night and avoid rush hour traffic, you could get cash back , get a decrease in your monthly premium or receive a large discount upon renewal.

Compare Insurance Rates

These telematic car gadgets allow you to compare insurance rates in real-time based on how your driving.

On board dashboard displays allow you to view your information so you can see your rates increasing or decreasing based on your driving behavior. This allows you to calculate how your rates are affected by what you do with your car.

These car gadgets provide a statistical proven record of how you drive, which can lower your insurance each year. Other advantages include claims management and car theft recovery.

In the event that your involved in an accident the gadget could prove you were not responsible. If your car is stolen, the vehicle can be tracked and recovered.

These telematic car gadgets were designed to be driver oriented based upon individual driving habits rather than price oriented based upon group profiling.

Sources: co-operativeinsurance.co.uk;exigeninsurance.com

Car Gps Tracking

Car Gps Tracking is fairly common in new vehicles, providing drivers with tracking and navigation.

However, new technology has made car gps tracking systems more sophisticated, allowing for a wide range of additional uses.

Smartbox technology is one example of how car gps tracking systems are being used to lower car insurance.

A comprehensive recording of a driver's habits allows insurance companies to provide "pay-as-you-drive" car insurance.

City officials in New York City are considering how car gps tracking could be used as "Drive Smart" technology.

Most large cities have a limited capability to change the infrastructure of their roadways.

A car gps tracking system that integrates with traffic information would give drivers the ability to select routes in real time that were more fuel efficient, less congested, faster or shorter.

A driver's recorded routing selection could then be used to penalize or reward drivers by lowering or increasing their related licensing fees or by calculating mileage based "road-use" fees.

Eventually, such a system would replace gasoline tax since these revenues will decline as more vehicles become less dependent on fossil fuels.

Sources: reuters.com; nydailynews.com