Ubicar rewards safe driving with lower car insurance costs

Many people drive at reasonable speeds, gently break and go around corners with the smoothness of a Michael Bublé Christmas CD for the simple self satisfaction of knowing their carefulness will help them avoid an accident. But for some people, that’s not reward enough.

Well, now they can be rewarded with on their car insurance thanks to newcomer UbiCar’s new car insurance, a telematics technology which tracks user’s driving habits to determine how safely they drive and in turn, how much they should pay for their car insurance.

“Motorists simply download the free UbiCar app onto their smart phone which uses telematics technology to measure their phone distraction, speeding, cornering, acceleration and braking every time they drive,” said UbiCar Co-Founder, Carolyn Batterton.

Ubicar determines what premiums their customers should pay on a month to month basis. After drivers receive an initial rate, their premiums will drop or rise depending on driving performance.

Driving performance is measured through a points system, with the amount of points received depending on how well the driver performed in each of Ubicar’s categories: phone distraction, speeding, acceleration, braking and cornering.

Each trip is given a single score, which is registered in the app and can be viewed at any time. On top of this, drivers who consistently perform well will be given bonus points and will receive greater reductions of their premiums. 

Rewarding safe driving will not only be beneficial for more than just the drivers saving money on their car insurance, but it should make all Australian roads safer as a whole.

“It’s a win-win for motorists – they pay less on car insurance and our roads will be safer”. said Batterton. “US data shows this technology leads to improved driver behaviour with an average reduction of 35% in phone distraction, 20% in hard braking, and 20% in at-risk speeding all within 30 days of using the program.”

Related: Telematics technology in your car

Telematics as a concept has been gaining a foothold all around the world, taking advantage of the technological infusion that has been ushered into many of our everyday products, including cars.

Tracking motorists’ driving patterns so they can be rewarded for their safe driving isn’t the only way telematics could be used in the future; in fact, there is a wide scope of ways it could impact car ownership and usage.

One use beginning to see the light of day is the eCall technology, which can automatically call emergency services if the car detects a sudden impact. It also allows the driver to make a manual call with the simple press of a button if they require assistance.

Another such use is location tracking, a technology that can be used for many reasons, including making recovering stolen cars incredible easy - with the overarching goal of deterring theft altogether.

However, telematics is not without it’s concerns. Some have raised questions about what companies will do with the data collected and how this will affect the drivers themselves. The validity of these concerns will be determined by the ongoing policy discussion about how to, or how not to, regulate the technology.

If you’re insurance in changing up your car insurance, perhaps for a company a little more tech-savvy, then compare car insurance and find what works for you.