Now you can track your teen driver from a distance
A week after Nicholas Hong got his driver's license, his parents broke the news: They were watching him.
Using a special GPS device installed in the car, they were monitoring where he was going, how fast he was driving, and when he turned his car on or off.
"I was initially shocked," said Hong, 18, who began driving in 2010.
Hong's parents sat him down to explain. They were using the device to encourage safer driving, said Mike McCrackin , 53, his father. No matter that they could see how long it took Hong to drive from his home in Spring to school, or whether he deviated from his plans to go to a friend's house. The point was safety, McCrackin said. And it seemed to work.
The device, which McCrackin was using as part of a pilot program for his employer, AAA Texas, is one of many options ranging from smartphone apps to devices attached to cars that are marketed for parents trying to monitor their teens' driving habits. They can send text-message alerts and display travel information on online maps.
TomTom GPS watches you drive, sets your insurance rate accordingly
The next portable navigation device on your dash could watch your driving habits and provide you with a lower insurance rate, but it could also rat you out (too fast! too hard on the brakes!) and have you paying more. The next step in usage-based insurance comes courtesy of Dutch firm TomTom and UK insurer Motaquote , who are teaming to offer a form of Carrot-and-Stick Auto Insurance. That’s not the real title but it’s close enough because it penalizes aggressive drivers at the same time it rewards good ones. TomTom’s technology can be viewed as Big Brother (if you’re paranoid) while it could be a godsend for good drivers or for those that really need low-cost insurance and are willing to reprogram their driving habits to get it.
TomTom and Motaquote call it Fair Pay Insurance. A driver in the UK gets a modified TomTom Pro 3100 portable GPS with Active Driver Feedback and Live Services, and a Link tracking unit “allowing driver behaviour and habits to be monitored.” The feedback on “driving events” covers speeding, sharp cornering, and heavy braking. Since it’s location-based, the service might be able to tell if you’re driving the speed limit on on a high-speed road or 20 mph over on a local road.
