In car black box thingie

[CupidStupid]

Some insurance companys are asking if you would like your premiums linked to the way you drive, this requires a "black box" monitor fitted to the car. This monitor will record not only when & where you drive but also your speed, cornering G forces, braking & acceleration forces etc. I believe this is relayed to the company in real time and your monthly premium is adjusted up or down acording to wether your data falls within, what they perceive as, "normal" driving. Could this be the future of car insurance ?

My questions are - Do any of you kind folks have any experience of these systems or in fact have one already fitted?
Would you have one fitted?
What are your thoughts on this ?

I recently renewed my car insurance but decided not to go with the black box system even though I would probably benefit from it ( very low mileage and for the most part I trundle along with the flow although I do have a "spirited" drive now and again ). I'm just not keen on being that monitored although I have fitted forward & rear facing cameras to the car but that is for my use should anything unforseen happen. I must admit though that since fitting the cameras my driving has changed and probably for the better !!

Any opinions on this would most appreciated.

Cheers gang.

[Lynnrose]

Sorry Cupid, I have no idea about them x

[CupidStupid]

Cheers LR

I probably didn't explain it very well in the post .

I was looking for anyone's thoughts of having a "black box/spy in the cab" monitoring their every move in their car.
A bit too much monitoring for my taste.. I may be more amiable to it if it only monitored my driving style and not the time and location of every journey... Gotta maintain my "man of mystery" persona (lol) not to mention my Street cred (do people still have Street Cred or has it been replaced by something new )

[vikingken]

I wouldn't have one of them in my car, even if I was the best driver in the world. No insurance company ever does anything to save you money. If you think they do, you had better come and see the fairies at the bottom of my garden.

[CupidStupid]

Oh Ken -- How could you do that to me ? You've just shattered all my illusions about insurance and financial institutions, not to mention politicians who certainly wouldn't allow things like that to happen - would they??
By the way have you any photos of your fairies as I do like flighty ladies..

p.s.
I notice that you haven't been too well of late. Hope your on the mend and soon back in fine feckle.

[vikingken]

I'm sure I have got some pictures of the fairies somewhere, but I will have to look for them.

Having a hole in your neck does make you feel a little bit down, but I am feeling a lot better than I was thanks.

 
This is not a picture of a fairy

[vikingken]

[johnnybee]

I remember having one of these gizzmoes in the driving school car when I did the advanced circuit racing course at Silverstone a few years back, Cupid.
I was in the black hole after Hilary died, so my Son-in Law decided that a day out was in order to take my mind off things for a while - and I do have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Basically it's a three-axis accelerometer that plots your progress round the course; nothing special about that, as we had 'em in F4's and A6's in the 60's, but it was a bit of a novelty to have one in a car.
The idea was that you compared the readouts from your best lap and compared it to the readout from the car/driver that held the lap record; from there you can tell where you were slower and by how much, and gives you an indication where you can improve on your times.
I can see why the insurance people want this device on all cars, and it's all about smooth driving with no jerking, no big wheel inputs and no sharp braking; if you can do a complete lap without sending any of the sensors over the 0.7G (normal driving!) you're less of a risk than someone who constantly goes over 1G!
The speed side of things is also important from a lawbreaking POV, but their main concern is the elements of control and anticipation.
Very good idea - it would get rid of hundreds of bloody idiots in a very short space of time!