Drivers whose car insurance rates are based on data of their driving habits and who then also got tips about improving them were less likely to speed, brake hard, or rapidly accelerate than those who didn't participate in the program, according to a recent test by a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their work was published in Accident Analysis & Prevention.
Speeding declined by up to 13 percent, and hard braking and rapid acceleration declined by up to 25 percent. In addition, drivers continued their improved habits after the incentives ended.
"Insurance companies are happy to give discounts to customers who drive safer because it means they will have fewer crash claims later on," said lead author Jeffrey Ebert, PhD, director of Behavioral Science in the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit.
In a nation with more than 6 million vehicle crashes leading to 2 million injuries each year, Ebert said that if everyone were to enroll in a program like what they tested, there could be 300,000 fewer crashes and 100,000 fewer injuries.
Testing a program informed by driver habits
Every major auto insurer offers a usage-based insurance (UBI) program, and one in four United States drivers opts in. These programs typically use a smartphone app to measure the amount of driving and risky behaviors like hard braking and handheld phone use. Insurers use this to estimate a driver's crash risk and then provide an insurance quote. Safer drivers get cheaper quotes.
In addition to the promise of saving money if they drive safer, drivers get feedback from the app on how they are doing and tips for improving even further.
"All of this should make usage-based insurance customers safer drivers-and earlier research found evidence that it does," said Ebert. "But we wanted to definitively test this and ways to strengthen programs."
Testing three alternative programs
Ebert and his colleagues wanted to see if the potential safety benefits of programs could be enhanced by helping drivers focus on one area for improvement at a time.
"Behavior change is difficult and takes time," Ebert said. "We were concerned that standard insurance apps overwhelm drivers with too much feedback, making it hard to even know where to start."
They set up a nationwide randomized trial of three programs, all of which offered up to $100 based on how safely participants drove overall:
