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Posted By: elkmtb car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Got one of those trackers from the insurance company to monitor your driving habits. It supposed to lower your insurance a minimum of 6% and up to 32%. I have an 18 year old so i got it before all this Covid stuff hit cause its costing me a fortune. supposed to be on for 90 days then send it back.

The son had shoulder surgery a week before Covid (football and wrestling injury) and now Covid, so we ain't driving squat. Sure hope I get a big discount.

you can login online and see how many miles you drive and how many acceleration and braking "events" you've had.

The wife is always saying I drive too aggressively, but guess who has the most "events" on their car. laugh
Posted By: High_Noon Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Get another insurance company. No way in hell I'm letting anyone track me or my driving habits. Info. goes directly to your State's Dept. of Public Safety and they can & will use that information against you, should it ever be necessary.

Absolutely no reason in the world to help .gov persecute you.

Posted By: Tuco Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by High_Noon
Get another insurance company. No way in hell I'm letting anyone track me or my driving habits. Info. goes directly to your State's Dept. of Public Safety and they can & will use that information against you, should it ever be necessary.

Absolutely no reason in the world to help .gov persecute you.


This. In addition, I have a friend who's a mechanic. He tells me those gizmos eventually screw up the electrical system in your car, necessitating expensive repairs. Don't know whether this is, in fact, true, but he has no reason to lie about it.

I just don't see any upside to using one of those gimmicks.
Posted By: High_Noon Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
It never ceases to amaze me how many people willingly give up their private information (DNA, driving habits, fingerprints, medical information, browsing history, etc.) to .gov in the belief that they're receiving some perceived benefits. Now the robotic vacuums are mapping your home's interior, these infernal Alexa gizmos are recording everything you say and Smart Refrigerators keep track of your food intake. Who the Hell needs this crap? This is all about controlling YOU.

THIS DOES NOT BENEFIT YOU - IT ONLY SERVES TO UNDERMINE YOUR LIBERTY!

This is nothing less than Big Brother compiling a dossier on you, which is filed and saved in order to use against you.

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
Posted By: k22hornet Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by High_Noon
Get another insurance company. No way in hell I'm letting anyone track me or my driving habits. Info. goes directly to your State's Dept. of Public Safety and they can & will use that information against you, should it ever be necessary.

Absolutely no reason in the world to help .gov persecute you.



First off, participation with the gizmo is voluntary, keep it installed for the 90 days, or don't, your choice.

2nd, the info does not go to your State's DMV. Government is not involved with this.

High Noon, where did you get your information?
Posted By: Dillonbuck Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Let me get this right.
I put this on my car, drive 80 mph everywhere.
Take off like Bob Glisten, lock down the brakes every
two miles, and they are going to cut my rates 6%?


Call me skeptical.

They will drop my ass.

And I would love to know what % gets 32%.

If you believe an insurance company,
call me.

I can fix you up with some investment bridges, or a nice waterfront
vacation spot.
Posted By: High_Noon Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by k22hornet
First off, participation with the gizmo is voluntary, keep it installed for the 90 days, or don't, your choice.

2nd, the info does not go to your State's DMV. Government is not involved with this.

High Noon, where did you get your information?


Yep, and you voluntarily participated.

I guarantee you that if something happens and you are at fault, once the prosecutor learns your insurance company offers the tracking/recording device, he will compel your insurance company to divulge that information, provided it wasn't already forwarded to them as a matter of course. The information that gizmo compiles will be used against you.

I don't need a source. It's really common sense (no insult meant or implied). DNA from the "Ancestry" services have already been used to prosecute certain individuals. Medical records have already been compromised, etc. We simply cannot trust that companies will safeguard this information, nor can we be assured that the Fed will not abuse their power. There are many, many examples of the Gov't compelling companies, under threat of "law," to release information they had promised to safeguard.

You're obviously capable of making your own decisions, just do so with the knowledge that your private information will not be safeguarded in the manner you expect and it can and will be used against you.
Posted By: MtnBoomer Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by k22hornet
Originally Posted by High_Noon
Get another insurance company. No way in hell I'm letting anyone track me or my driving habits. Info. goes directly to your State's Dept. of Public Safety and they can & will use that information against you, should it ever be necessary.

Absolutely no reason in the world to help .gov persecute you.



First off, participation with the gizmo is voluntary, keep it installed for the 90 days, or don't, your choice.

2nd, the info does not go to your State's DMV. Government is not involved with this.

High Noon, where did you get your information?

Don't let facts get in the way...
Posted By: Redneck Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by High_Noon
Get another insurance company. No way in hell I'm letting anyone track me or my driving habits. Info. goes directly to your State's Dept. of Public Safety and they can & will use that information against you, should it ever be necessary.

Absolutely no reason in the world to help .gov persecute you.

I couldn't possibly agree more.... NO WAY JOSE!!
Posted By: auk1124 Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
When those first came out, Flo sent me one of those trackers and promised me I would save a big wad o' cash for safe driving habits. Plugged it in my daily commute vehicle and deliberately babied around for three months.

My daily commute is about three miles total, both ways. Two stoplights. Not exactly the Indy 500.

At the end of three months, Flo told me I qualified for 1% savings.

I mailed Flo her gizmo back and cancelled my policy.
Posted By: butchlambert1 Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Certainly nothing about it is good for you. Mechanic friend says it causes expensive repairs, he probably read that on Accuratereloading political forum.
Posted By: k22hornet Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Some insurance companies will give you an up-front discount for installing the gizmo, anywhere from 5-10%, and that is just for installing it and keeping it for, usually, 90 days.

Then, the information recorded will be used to calculate a final discount. Most companies will retain at least the initial discount, even if you drive like an Indy racer and don't qualify for better rates.

One company wants you to keep it installed and they use it to review your rates at every renewal, and they will adjust your rates, up or down, based in part, on the gizmo information.

Another company wants the 90 day period, but your rates could go up, or down, based on the gizmo information.

The gizmo records how we drive, i.e. how fast do we take off from stop, how hard, and how often, do we brake, time of day driven, miles, average speeds, etc.

The gizmo does not record a diabetic stopping at the doughnut shop, or your weekly visit to a house of ill repute.

I am not a fan of the gizmo's, but let's not break out the tin foil for this.

However, if you are the parent of a new driver, having a gizmo in their car might be beneficial. If they know, or think, they are being tracked, might they just drive a little bit more carefully?

By the way, do any of you own a smartphone? Do you use the GPS in it?

HighNoon quote"We simply cannot trust that companies will safeguard this information, nor can we be assured that the Fed will not abuse their power."

On that, we can agree!

Posted By: Whiptail Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20

I did it but instead of 90 days they made me keep it on for 6 months. I'm all about saving money but I was really skeptical of it. I seemed to have more breaking beeps in my commuter car than I did with my good car which was kind of suspicious but it could have been real. Anyway, I think it does make you a better driver as you get good at avoiding any beeps and my insurance did drop a bunch after I sent it back in.

FYI, it monitors how fast you drive, time of day you drive, plus hard breaking. If you drive fast a long ways at night then I wouldn't bother with it.
Posted By: Hotrod_Lincoln Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by auk1124
When those first came out, Flo sent me one of those trackers .


What are you doing dealing with Flo in the first place? Got any idea what the name "Progressive" stands for? It might be very informative to d a little research on where that company's political contributions go. If you were a chicken, I'll bet you'd vote for Col. Sanders!
Jerry
Posted By: auk1124 Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/06/20
Originally Posted by Hotrod_Lincoln
Originally Posted by auk1124
When those first came out, Flo sent me one of those trackers .


What are you doing dealing with Flo in the first place? Got any idea what the name "Progressive" stands for? It might be very informative to d a little research on where that company's political contributions go. If you were a chicken, I'll bet you'd vote for Col. Sanders!
Jerry



I ditched Flo years ago, went with the lizard for a long time. Now I'm with the emu.

Flo was actually pretty cheap until she screwed me on the gizmo.

I shop at Walmart too.
Posted By: Dillonbuck Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
I don't need this to share info on my kid driver with the insurance co.
We use an app that tracks her, and her speed. It was her idea.

Sure, someone probably gets the data for some use.
But it's not directly to my in$urance co.
Posted By: wyowinchester Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Lets look at it from the other side.
You can lower you "rates" if you drive, smart.
Lets say you drive like you did when you were a teenager.
This gives them grounds and evident s to raise your rates, or drop you all together.
Posted By: luv2safari Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Originally Posted by Hotrod_Lincoln
Originally Posted by auk1124
When those first came out, Flo sent me one of those trackers .


What are you doing dealing with Flo in the first place? Got any idea what the name "Progressive" stands for? It might be very informative to d a little research on where that company's political contributions go. If you were a chicken, I'll bet you'd vote for Col. Sanders!
Jerry




Years ago I handled claims for Progressive when it was a 10% premium, non-standard company. They insured bad guys and strange vehicles for 10% of the coverage amount. The company was started and owned by a Seattle leftist commie-lib, thus the name "Progressive".

Don't be a chump and pay these commies one "red" cent! mad
Posted By: High_Noon Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Originally Posted by luv2safari
Don't be a chump and pay these commies one "red" cent! mad

Good advice.
Posted By: 1minute Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Yes. I've always dreamed of paying some company to monitor my habits (Sarcasm font). Maybe the data will stay within corporate grounds, but I bet they'll eventually sell such to other entities.
Posted By: mtnsnake Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Mark of the beast is 666.....
Posted By: elkmtb Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Not from Flo for sure.

90 days and I'm done. I figure its about behavioral modification as much as anything. If you can make some people drive safer for 90 days it might stick for longer.
Posted By: RJL53 Re: car insurance gizmo - 04/07/20
Got news for you, every vehicle built since about 2000 has a event data recorder installed by the auto makers that records all information if you have an accident, speed, braking, if you were wearing a seat belt and other information. They were made mandatory for all new vehicles as of September 2014.
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