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

  • It’s official: 20 (or 30) really is plenty
    April 30, 2025
    A study has looked at what 20mph (30 km/h) speed limits mean in terms of road safety – and the answers are encouraging. Alan Dron speaks to transport researcher Aud Tennøy…
  • Motorists want roads repaired before smart motorways, says survey
    December 5, 2014
    According to research by Bury-based online car supermarket JamJar Direct, which indicates that 47 per cent of Greater Manchester motorists claim to have been affected by the construction works, communications around the M60 smart motorway improvements are sorely lacking. Almost two thirds of Greater Manchester motorists (62 per cent) are aware that the M60 is being turned into a smart motorway, but over 40 per cent, equivalent to 81,000 vehicles per day using affected stretch of M60 between junctions 8 a
  • Connected offers free I2V connectivity
    November 1, 2016
    A new system could reduce the cost of implementing I2V communications across a city to less than that for a single intersection, as Colin Sowman hears. It may seem too good to be true but US company Connected Signals is offering city authorities the equipment to provide infrastructure to vehicle (I2V) communications for free. The system enables drivers to receive information about the timing of signals they are approaching via the EnLighten smartphone app (or connected in-vehicle display).
  • Airborne traffic monitoring - the future?
    March 1, 2013
    A new frontier in the quest to monitor road traffic is opening up… but using airborne drones to reduce the jams comes with some thorny issues. Chris Tindall reports. Imagine if you could rely on a system that provided all the data you needed to regulate traffic flow, route vehicles and respond swiftly to emergencies for a fraction of the cost of piloting a helicopter. That system exists, but as engineers and traffic managers start to explore the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – more commonly k