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The transparent motorist
Spying on people is not a thing of the past yet, not by a long way. Insurance companies are now even planning to monitor motorists, and they're offering good reasons for doing this. Specifically, it's all about
documentation about the motorist's driving manner and a possible premium reduction for particularly moderate driving.
Now hold on, before you rush to the phone to call your insurance company, it must be pointed out, that the insurance companies in Germany haven't got that far yet. One group maintains, the statistical data already
gathered, is suffucient to classify the car-owners.
Of course, the insurance companies are well aware of the fact that Germany is very sensible as far as the protection of data is concerned. Other countries, e.g., The Netherlands, have gone a lot further. The system
there, will go into effect around mid 2013, at that point, the Technocon Company, who specialise in telematics, will have the respective App ready.
Different from a box that receives data from the vehicle and which must be adapted to the respective vehicle, the App determines, from the acceleration- and braking values and in which direction it is travelling, the way
the car is being driven. In this manner, the cornering can also be analysed. The comparison with the GPS-data, which are, in a smartphone, accurate to about 10 meters, is very important. The device thus knows, where
possible reckless driving has taken place.
Something similar is already available as a "health-App". One is informed as to the amount of calories burnt during ones daily walking-distance. However, if the phone is held in one's hand, any larger movements will
also be registered. In the car it will probably have a more or less secure place so that the values are hopefully, a bit more realistic.
It's probably very important as far as your insurance rate is concerned, if the reckless driving has taken place at night, since the time of day and asumingly, what time the sun rises and goes down again, also play a
certain role. If the device were also connected to the rain-sensor, the weather conditions could be taken into consideration. What the insurance companies don't explain quite so clearly, is that the insurance premium
can also rise.
By the way, the Dutch, who are probably the first ones to have introduced the system, are only considering drivers up to the age of 30. Let's hope that the system will stay in their minds, even after driving for a longer
period. In the beginning, a moderating effect can certainly be expected. Indeed, the youthful traffic-rowdies will definitely avoid this insurance like the plague.
So, is it all peace and harmony? By no means. Although, in Germany, one gives out one's data quite freely, indeed, only to those people who are personally known to them. If the data is tapped, scepticism creeps in,
even then, when one is given the choice beforehand. The is probably the reason why countries like Great Britain and Belgium will be next to introduce it and not Germany.
One of the questions being asked, is how much can be saved? In the Netherlands, one speaks of €220, in other countries, of 50%. It has now come to light, that in Germany, the premiums are, on an average, lower.
This means that the savings will also be lower. Apart from that, the Germans have a tendency towards fixed installation, which poses the question of who is actually being monitored, the person who uses the car most
of the time or the registered owner.
There are indeed, a number of points to be cleared up, the Dutch are not contesting this, they simply get on with it. It's a rather strange thought, that basically, all our trips and journeys can be recorded. Whereby, this is
already possible today, if your cell-phone is constantly switched on. The fact that systems like this always have a positive side to them, does complicate matters. It was largely due to data-collecting, that e.g, just this
week a truck driver was arrested, apparently he had fired more than 700 shots at other trucks on the road, thus placing the lives of innocent people in danger. 06/13
| Will the box be coming, how much effort will it take? |
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