car insurance and black box.

Teens, do you know that there is a spy living in your car?  Car insurance ….hm!. !

Your car’s “black box” knows how fast you’re going, whether you’re buckled up and if you’re on the gas or the brakes.

It remembers these things for only a few seconds at a time–until you hit something. Then, like the airplane black boxes we’ve read about for years, it stores the data and can spill some eye-opening secrets to safety investigators, attorneys and you car insurance company.

Called event data recorders (EDRs for short), these devices are already in many autos–the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in 2008 that 65 percent to 90 percent of all vehicles had them. Virtually all new cars, the agency adds, are equipped with EDRs.

They’re designed to gather information during an accident, much the same way a transponder helps aviation officials piece together why a jet goes down. The EDR is usually placed under the driver’s seat and is wired to other car components, like the air bag.

Starting with 2011 models, automakers are required to tell buyers that a recorder is installed on their cars. (The information usually is in the owner’s manual.) And while each automaker currently builds a box that fits its own needs and standards, NHTSA has recently decided that all vehicles built after 2013 must have standardized EDRs that record a trove of relevant, very specific details, such as:

Change in forward crash speedMaximum change in forward crash speedSpeed the vehicle was travelingHow far the accelerator pedal was pressed)Whether or not the brake was appliedIgnition cycle (number of power cycles applied to the EDR) at the time of the crashIgnition cycle (number of power cycles applied to the EDR) when the EDR data was downloadedWhether or not the driver was using a safety beltWhether or not the frontal air bag warning lamp was onNumber of crash eventsTime between the first two crash events, if applicableWhether or not the EDR completed recording

Officials stress that the information is valuable when compiling federal or state accident statistics and creating safer cars and roads.

“EDRs can provide information about a crash that can’t be obtained through more traditional investigation techniques,” says a statement on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) website. “Police, crash investigators, automakers, insurance adjusters, and highway safety researchers can use this information to analyze what occurred during a crash. The data may help automakers improve occupant restraint systems and vehicle structures.”

But an EDR is also an unblinking eyewitness to any incident that is recorded in its memory.

NHTSA has strict guidelines for EDR use, saying the gathered information belongs to the vehicle’s owner and can be used only with consent in most cases. However, it does note that data could be obtained in a criminal investigation through a court order. (EDRs have provided key evidence in an increasing number of manslaughter and reckless driving cases).

Your insurer needs your consent to access the EDR in your car. However, you may have given the insurer that permission when you accepted your policy and agreed to provide full cooperation in auto insurance claims investigations. Seven states prohibit insurance contracts from requiring policyholders to consent to access. They are:

ConnecticutNew HampshireNew YorkOregonVirginiaWashington

What could an auto insurance company with access to your EDR learn from it? A lot–like whether you really did swerve to miss a deer, or whether the accident was severe enough to cause the whiplash you’re claiming.

R. Brent Cooper, a Dallas attorney who has followed the use of “black boxes” for several years, says insurers often plumb EDR data in their accident investigations.

“They use them primarily to see if what the driver says happened during the accident actually happened,” he explains. “I wouldn’t say they do it across-the-board. It’s not worth it with a fender-bender, but it would probably be done with a major crash.”

Major national insurers have rolled out voluntary programs such as Progressive Snap shot  and  State Farms In- Drive to offer drivers a big discount–as much as 50 percent–for careful behavior that’s verified by data captured by devices installed in their customers’ cars.

But those devices aren’t linked to EDRs in any way.

“Our position on EDRs is that we would only use that data in a claims investigation with customer consent or if we’re required to do so by law,” says Progressive spokesperson Brittany Senary.

Attorney Cooper agrees. “Accident re-creation appears to be the main thrust,” he says.

But others worry that data, once gathered, can serve many ends besides safety research.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., wonders if insurers could try to use the information against policyholders, even drop them after analyzing data.

“Most critically, these data could be used in claims disputes by the insurer and others against you,” he warns. “Police could get access to your driving habits, as could state agencies.”

A forum at Wired.com’s Autopia site shows that some posters are suspicious of what the government and insurers can do with EDR records, while others point to improved safety and legal benefits.

“The problem here is not that the data is being recorded, but that the NHTSA–a governmental body–wants to make it both mandatory and force you to let them and whoever they deem fit get a look at it if they so desire,” writes “Vic83.” The poster adds: “It’s a governmental camel’s nose under the tent, and it’s not to be trusted.”

But “Just Sayin” had this to say: “Let the facts speak for themselves. You driving within the law, we don’t have a problem. You driving like a nut, I can submit the facts to a jury.”

Be careful drive safe for your own safety and to get cheap teen auto insurance. Yes, you are only a click away from Cheap car insurance get your teen auto insurance quote now.

Safe and happy driving during the holidays.

Kamlesh

 camila alves : What would be the cheapest car insurance compared to wages for a young driver or teenager.

Cheapest car insurance and wages for teenager or young driver

Response ; Camila and excellent question. When you are making a statement of how cheap car insurance is it has to be compared with something and what better than the wages- since this would definetly answer the question of whether you can afford to buy a car. Remember one thing, here the focus is only on car insurnce and not on any other cost which might be related with a car like car installments, maintaining the car and so forth.

The average cost of insurance for minimum requirements for a teen is not less than $1000 in most states of USA, irrespective of the type of car that he is driving. The second reality is that more than 4 million Americans are working a minimum wage job, he would be making $7.25 as per Department of Laborlaws and this means that he would have to work at least 138 hours a month, only to pay for the cost of insurance.
For the least expensive states of Insurance like Manie, where the average Premiums is $598. The rate for the teen would almost double and so he would be paying for an adult adding 50% for the teen extra since he would be paying higher than the normal rates he would be paying about $ 1198 /- which is about 165 hours of salary if he is paid $7.25/- there.
The states which have least auto insurance premiums are Idaho South Dakota, North Carolina, Ohia, Kansas, North Dakota, Nebraska and Maine.
On the other hand the most expensive states for auto insurance are New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Maryland, Louisiana, Florida, District of Columbia, Delware and Connecticut.
You need to remember that here, we are taking the minimum state limits liability insurance requirement. Most states have very low liability requirements like say Springfield IL the limits of liability are 20/40/15 ,Wyoming’s state minimum insurance requirements are 25/50/20 you will have to check for your state . Secondly, we are also assuming that there is a clean driving record. Also if it was taken with examples of different makes of car like the 1997 Ford Taurus, Corolla 2007,2007 hyundai santa fe or other popular teen cars the car insurance premium would be vary.
When speaking of only liability insurance the option of increasing your deductible to get a low car insurance rate would not be there, since there are no deductibles for liability insurance. This would be only if you are going to have a comprehensive or collision coverage.
Secondly, the other pitfall is that any traffic violation or claim is going to increase the premium, which makes getting cheapest car insurance difficult.
However, not all is lost – you can still get the cheapest car insurance for a teenager or young drivers :
a) By adding him/her on the parents car provided the parents have a good driving record. The increase in premium for the adult would only be 50% on the premium and not twice the rate.
b) Taking defensive driving or GDL would help since the auto insurance discounts are higher on this.

c) Pay as you go would be the cheapest car insurance option for young drivers or teens since they would be required to pay for the car insurance only for the usage. Besides they would be able to see their own driving mistakes and improve on them.

Compare young drivers car insurance quotes or teen insurance quotes or car insurance quotes and find out which insurance company is providing the cheapest car insurance.

Insurers do look at your car, and if it has a significantly higher rate of claims than most (because, say, it’s driven mostly by young drivers), your liability rates will reflect that risk.

Good luck and happy driving.

Kamlesh

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With the holiday season near, there would be more and more issues of speeding, parking, drunk driving ….. Remember the traffic police is also on the alert. They want to maintain safety and order and are there at the checkpost.

Different regulations prevail based on the state you live, but car insurance companies follow the same rules. Increase your car insurance based on the points on your license.

Think of it as working ahead for extra credit: In some states, you can soften the blow of your next ticket before the cop even pulls you over. Massachusetts, for instance, gives those with three years of clean driving a one-point break on their next violation. Virginia automatically cuts one demerit point for each year of ticket-free driving, and careful motorists can accrue points that may be applied to future tickets.

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles offers this scenario, starring the usually careful “Molly:”

“For five years Molly followed all the safe driving rules and always obeyed the speed limit. She accumulated a safe driving point each year, for a total of five points. But, one day Molly ran a red light. DMV assigned four demerit points to her driving record. However, since she had earned five safe driving points, she ended up with one safe driving point left on her record.”

“It rewards those who become better drivers and helps us find unsafe drivers in advance, before they cause serious problems. We want to make sure you’re a better driver and our highways are safer for everyone,” says Virginia DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes. “It’s really about as simple as that.”

Authorities assess points as a negative indicator of your worthiness to drive, which is seen as a privilege. Based on a point total, a driver’s license can be suspended or revoked. The amount of points given for each violation varies from state to state; reckless driving, for instance, will saddle you with five points in New York, while Wisconsin adds six points for the same infraction.

Of course, most motorists don’t think about points until they’ve racked up a few, and then they worry as much about their  car insurance rates  as they do about their driver’s licenses. There are only two ways to take the sting out of a ticket: a long period of violation-free driving and traffic school.

If you’ve already got a few points, traffic school can keep you from racking up a license suspension or veering into “driver responsibility fees”–where states ;evy huge fees  on bad drivers.

Virginia and a few other states offer “driver improvement clinics.” Bad motorists take these courses either voluntarily or under orders from the DMV or a traffic judge. Stokes points out that the Virginia DMV will trim as many as five demerits for completing the eight-hour class provided by private, DMV-approved firms. You can take the class and qualify for point reduction once every two years.

Here are a few examples of how other states approach points:

In North Carolina, you’re assigned to a driver improvement clinic by the court or a “driver license hearing officer” after accumulating seven points. Three points are deducted after completing the course. Drivers can also voluntarily participate in a clinic once every five years to drop the three points. A driver license hearing officer reviews class results and determines if the points are cut.In Pennsylvania, drivers must take an approved training course after hitting six points on their record. But the good news is that two points are stripped from their record after course completion. Beyond the class, three points are removed for every 12 consecutive months (from the date of the last violation) a motorist is violation-free.Utah subtracts half of your accumulated points if you drive safely for a full year. If you drive without a moving violation for two straight years, all points are removed. Points are automatically removed three years after the violation.In New York, you can take a Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) course to subtract four points from your record. Points associated with a violation are automatically removed after 18 months.California automatically subtracts the demerit points for a violation after three years of safe driving. As with many states, driver classes are offered to remove a specific violation from your record shortly after receiving a ticket, but the state does not have a catch-all program similar to Virginia’s driver improvement clinics.

But it’s not the points that erase your opportunity for the cheapest car insurance , really; it’s the conviction itself.

Even in places that allow drivers to remove points from their driver’s license records, the conviction can remain for your insurer to see and base its rates on. The key is to use your traffic-school options to keep a conviction off your record in the first place.

The point system is a good one, says Pete Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California, because it gives auto insurers insight into who would be a risk. Higher premiums, insurers note, simply reflect the risks they must take on to provide coverage for motorists with problem records.

“In California, the fact that the point from a violation is removed after three years is a good incentive for people to be better drivers,” he says, adding that the option to take a driver improvement course is an additional positive.

Stokes also notes that Virginia’s point-reduction program helps guarantee motorists are insured when they take to its highways. The logic is simple: Some drivers may drop coverage, even though it’s illegal to do so, when faced with sky-high premiums. If they can lower their points, they lower their car insurance rates.

“You could argue that this keeps more insured drivers on the road,” she says. “You brush up your skills, drop points, show that you’re responsible and insurance companies are going to look quite favorably on that.”

Yes, your driving record is the key to getting cheap car insurance. Get your car insurance or auto insurance quote now.

Barbara walters : Snapshot car insurance form Progressive – what is the catch here? I would like to know about this for my teenager. I read your article on comparison of these sort of programs for teenagers  and thought I would ask you this…

 Snapshot Car insurance from Progressive: what is the catch?

Response : Barbara a lot of programs similar to snapshot have been started by insurance companies for teen driving discounts, teen drving monitoring, mileage montoring and they do contribute to teen saftey. As a parent of a teenager personally also I do approve of these progrmas- more from the point of their safety and picking up driving skills faster and snap shot is for all of us any age. Of course most of us are still not mature drivers.

Yes, Progressive almost tells you” Ready, have your auto insurance, to ride shotgun for a chance at a discount?” That’s the idea behind the progressive snapshot program.

“This is a new concept for car insurance.” “Allows you, the consumer, to share your trip around a discount”, says Richard Hutchinson progressive of the general manager of the usage-based insurance. “And it is a purely voluntary program.” “So you have to do it, if you don’t want.”

After he has connected to the mains in the computer system the snapshot transmitter device (most of the vehicles since 1996 have the required diagnostic port), monitors time day and speed, and the frequency of hard braking as many kilometres are driven. It also reports if the device is disconnected.

The idea is simple: drive carefully and save. Drive less save more. And if you travel during the peak hours accident (progressive says, which is between midnight and 04) avoid, save some more. The device must be to leave at least 30 days, with the option for a broader profile and perhaps installed a larger discount in more. The company claims that it is possible to have up to 30 percent.

Consumer ‘Snapshot’ concerns

Progressive says that the worst result of snapshot installation for an additional car insurance discount to qualify would become.

But some skeptics questions what is progressive with the information, which collects the electronic eavesdropper. They make to ensure that interest rates can actually rise if they are not good or that compromised their privacy can be, if the information is shared with others.

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director for the electronic privacy information center (EPIC), says his group has still no specifically saw the snapshot program, but it has reservations, if gathered information for the consumers.

“We would be concerned that (collected information) could be passed on to third parties”, which could endanger the driver says Rothenberg. Another concern of privacy with these programs is that the information in advertising home or together with the police in connection with driving studies might be used.

Some potential customers share the suspicion that blind quest to could backfire the cheapest car insurance after.

Here is a typical comment from “Wildblueflyingbear” on SlashGear snapshot Forum: “() the program had probably relatively benign intentions.” But how large companies and the Government might change? There is much opportunity for mischief, if we give blind, up privacy rights, only, to a rebate check. It might work now, but later you could (sorry) the day that the progressive saw for the first time advertising. “

Progressive website addresses directly they ensure.

“No, snapshot will not increase your rate,” the company says, adding that “we parts snapshot data with a third party will not, if it, to the use your insurance policy is required to comply with fraud protection, performing searches, or the law.” “We will use not snapshot data to resolve a claim, unless you or the registered owner of the car gives us permission.”

Hutchinson adds that progressive can track where you go, because the device is not using GPS technology. The worst that can happen what he claims qualification is not for a discount.

A snapshot snapshot

These assurances were enough for William Parsons, recently took part and came immediately with almost 15 percent rate cut. “I have problems,” says Parsons, lives in New York. “After a week or so I forgot kind of, that it was there.”

Parsons, who in 2005 has a Honda Accord, says he is optimistic about what would qualify the results because he fits the profile of a driver for a premium cut. “I’m pretty anal, when I’m driving.” Slow and steady, 10 k miles per year. “

Parsons adds that he does not “very concerned” about the company, the a detailed report about him.

“When I was with a bad driver, I probably different would feel,” says Parsons. “But I would not sign up if this was the case.”

Progressive recommends that only cautious customers that much, or at least avoid the peak hours, should log accident.

Easy on the brakes

Although generally met, says Parsons, the brake monitoring seemed incompatible. “There were trips where I know I have not hard braking, but it showed that I’m not.” (Other times) I think I made them a little difficult, but I’m not sure whether she are registered. “Not really a big deal, at the end”, because he still got the discount.

“Linda FOSS,” a poster on SlashGear, had to brake issues. “I connected it to 2 days and was shocked by the number of brakes, hard it recorded,” she wrote. “Apparently they use your brakes my by ‘hard braking’.” I coast, most stops. But I tap the brakes from potholes and road patches the size of the Bremsschwellen. “I’m still hoping for a good discount, I will be going not much / far.”

Progressive, behind snapshot, say all the monitoring information, including statistics, braking is however exactly.

Snapshot in 39 States, with plans to offer it in more in the coming months currently is available, the company said. Here for a list of the participating States on progressive website.

Hutchinson establishes that has been the progressive fine-tuning the program for a few years; It is considered an improvement in the company’s MyRate program, which is a six-month registration may qualify for a discount.

“Snapshot easier to understand is as MyRate,” says Hutchinson. “We know from our research that this version will be more attractive because drivers, can… save money after 30 days” “Plus, only to us customers provide an overview of their drive for a contract, then they don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

These are just views on this and each of us has to decide what is right for us. Become a good driver and get good discount or you are a good driver and get you car insurance discount.

Compare auto insurance quotes here.