Smart phone apps may make us better drivers

智能手机应用软件帮助人们安全驾驶

Smartphones could end speeding.

New apps show it’s possible, and the payoff for individuals would be phenomenal*. Roads would be far safer because about one-third of traffic deaths involve speeding. Each person could save hundreds of dollars a year on car insurance and avoid ever worrying about speeding tickets. But it’s up to the insurance companies to make this happen, if they can think creatively enough.

No law is broken by more people worldwide more often than speed limits. One in six drivers in the United States will get a speeding ticket over the course of a year and more than 41 million tickets are issued annually. Yet drive on any highway and almost everyone is going over the speed limit. There are even several smart phone apps designed to actually help people speed.

Conclusion: something is wrong with society’s approach to speeding. It’s all about catching people who speed, and since so many people speed, it’s like a reverse* lottery — you lose only if you’re unlucky enough to get caught.

So maybe there’s a better way — a way to encourage people not to speed in the first place. How? With financial incentives* based on monitoring by smart phone.

For a few years now, Progressive (PGR) has experimented with an offering called Snapshot. If you sign up, Progressive sends you a little wireless device that you plug into your car.

It measures just a few things: how fast the car speeds up and slows down (if you constantly slam on the brakes, you’re probably driving like a maniac), miles driven, and time of day those miles are logged. The device sends that data to Progressive.

Safe drivers who stay within certain parameters can see their car insurance drop by 25 percent. Progressive’s goal is for customers to view this as an incentive to drive well. (SD-Agencies)