Skip to main content

Telematics devices ‘prompt changes in driving behaviour’

More than half (56 per cent) of the drivers participating in an Insurance Research Council (IRC) online public opinion survey have made changes in how they drive since installing a telematics device provided by their insurance company in their primary vehicle. The report, Auto Insurance Telematics: Consumer Attitudes and Opinions, also claims that 36 per cent of respondents said they have made small changes in how they drive and 18 per cent said they have made significant changes. Thirty-eight per cent s
November 23, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
More than half (56 per cent) of the drivers participating in an Insurance Research Council (IRC) online public opinion survey have made changes in how they drive since installing a telematics device provided by their insurance company in their primary vehicle.

The report, Auto Insurance Telematics: Consumer Attitudes and Opinions, also claims that 36 per cent of respondents said they have made small changes in how they drive and 18 per cent said they have made significant changes. Thirty-eight per cent said they have made no changes in their driving practices since having a device installed. Drivers aged 65 and above were significantly less likely than other drivers to report making changes in how they drive.

A substantial majority (82 per cent) of survey respondents with telematics devices provided by their auto insurance company reported receiving information from their insurance company about their driving behaviour after having a device installed. Eighty-one percent of those receiving information said they reviewed the information and 88 percent of those reviewing the information said they found the information to be helpful.

“These findings suggest that having telematics devices installed in vehicles can play a beneficial role in promoting safe driving and reducing the frequency of auto accidents and their associated costs,” said Elizabeth Sprinkel, senior vice president of the IRC. “While we can’t say with certainty that the changes drivers make are always for the better, or whether beneficial changes that are made become permanent, we can confidently say that the introduction and use of telematics technology is a move in the right direction,” said Sprinkel.

Related Content

  • ITS needs to talk the talk as well as walk the walk
    March 24, 2014
    The US automated enforcement market is in rude health as the number of systems and applications continues to grow and broaden. Jason Barnes reports. Blessed and cursed – arguably, in equal measure – with a constitution which stresses the right to self-expression and determination, the US has had a harder journey than most to the more widespread use of automated traffic enforcement systems. In some cases, opposition to the concept has been extreme – including the murder of a roadside civil enforcement offici
  • Women feel 'unsafe' on e-scooters: report
    May 17, 2022
    Research from Women in Transport & Voi Technology lays out issues and suggests ways forward
  • Road user charging – change the name to change public perceptions
    February 2, 2012
    Jack Opiola explores the oft-underestimated effect that a charging scheme's name can have on public acceptability and ultimate success. The Bard of Avon wrote: "What's in a name?" For transport, especially Road User Charging, that is an especially relevant question.
  • Roadside monitoring used to target non-compliant trucks
    March 9, 2016
    The UK’s DVSA is utilising existing technology to identify non-compliant commercial vehicles and target repeat offenders while avoiding law-abiding companies. Enforcing the compliance of commercial vehicles (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and vehicles with eight or more passenger seats) on the UK’s roads is the responsibility of the DVSA (the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). The Department for Transport created the executive agency about 18 months ago by merging the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and t