This blog tracks Australian news and research relating to speeding, speed cameras, road safety and related technologies including; insurance telematics and intelligent speed adaptation (ISA).

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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Social media key to road safety

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 » 05:34p
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Technology/2011/03/30/Social_media_key_to_road_safety_595314.html

Social media should be used more to communicate road safety messages to young drivers, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says

Excessive speed is being blamed for a smash that killed two naval recruits and seriously injured three others after their car hit a power pole south of Melbourne.

The men involved in the crash were aged 18 to 26 years and were undergoing technical training at the Navy's HMAS Cerberus base.

Mr Baillieu says the road safety message communicated through traditional media is not resonating with young people.

'A lot of young people don't watch television anymore, they don't listen to the radio perhaps in the way that probably previous generations did,' he told reporters on Wednesday.

'That's a challenge - to use social messaging, to use other sorts of messaging to get through to those (people), particularly those with new licences.'

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Even gun toting civil libertarians seem to like UBI benefits

posting on
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=1167523

Switched recently, cut our rates 50% from our old company. Wife signed up 3 of our cars for the "Snapshot" program, where they plug a data recorder thing into the car that tracks mileage, time of day you drive, and the number of hard braking. It sends the data to Progressive. After 30 days, you can get an initial discount, after 6 months, the discount is updated with the additional data, you return the little spy boxes, and the discount becomes permanent.

I wasn't a fan of the concept, and was skeptical about what it would take to qualify for a discount, particularly with the vehicle I use for work. Maybe I drive like a granny, but I got another 30% (max for program) discount on 2 vehicles, and 25% on my work vehicle. I hate the big brother shit, but that's a free case of ammo every year for "proving" that I'm a good risk.

A new era of insurance for young drivers gets into gear.

A new era of insurance for young drivers gets into gear.

Just days after MPs called for an overhaul of the insurance industry to cut costs and use advanced technology, Co-operative Financial Services has launched its pay-how-you-drive scheme.

Unlike previous pay-as-you-drive schemes which merely varied premiums by time of day and distance, the new pay-how-you-drive policy uses an in-car Smartbox with sophisticated accelerometers to analyse the behaviour of a driver. It monitors braking and acceleration, cornering, speed and time of day and works in conjunction with a comprehensive database of UK roads.

The data is downloaded daily by a radio-link and the driver and insurance company can judge if the vehicle is being driven well or badly and premiums will be accordingly reduced or increased, but some may even be cancelled in the very worst case.

Drivers can view the downloaded recorded data on a computer programme which gives them a ‘dashboard’ display of their recorded history and shows if they are safe or need to switch driving styles, all backed up by helpful advice from the Brake charity.

Good driving can bring an almost immediate 11pc reduction in monthly premium but risky driving pushes it up 15pc, and anything which would have led to an immediate disqualification by a court will result in policy cancellation after nine days once it’s reviewed.

The technology has been trialled by CFS using 10,000 drivers and with premiums for a 17-25 year old male topping £3,500 it believes it can reduce the cost for genuinely careful young drivers.

“It will create a highly personal policy specific to a particular driver,” said Cooperative Insurance director David Neave. “It is a fact that many young people are simply being priced out of owning a car due to the escalation of premiums and we want to dispel the assumption that all young people will drive badly and have accidents. With this technology we can see how safe or risky a driver is behaving.”

The technology also sweeps away the conventional way of assessing premiums by gender, which is now being outlawed from 2012, and replaces it with timely and accurate method based on an individual. It could ultimately be extended to all drivers and may bring premium reductions for the elderly motorist as well.

TUESDAY, 29 MARCH 2011 13:18
http://www.girlracer.co.uk/motoring/news/9188-new-insurance-scheme-for-young-drivers.html

Nick Ansley, product manager for CFS, said once a policy holder agreed to the scheme the Smartbox would be fitted inside 21 days and took just 35mins to connect up. It also doubles up as a tracker if the car is stolen and can send police to locate it and the thieves, which also helps keep down costs and premiums.

Brake campaigns director Julie Townsend said an 18 year old driver was three times more likely to be involved in a crash as a 48 year old and road accidents are the biggest cause of death among teenagers so it was calling on the Government reduce young driver casualties as Britain joined the UN Year of Global Action on Road Safety.

She added, “The CI product makes complete sense and shows people how risky or safe they are driving and how it can affect their premiums.”

Car crash victim Nick Bennett, of London, who is confined to a wheelchair following brain and physical injuries in an accident, added that he wished he had been able to use a scheme such as the Smartbox to assess his driving before the life-changing accident he sustained as a teenager in July 2002.

Motoring journalist Quentin Wilson said he believed the Smartbox was the start of a motoring revolution which would stop young drivers being priced out of the market and either prevented from driving or driving without insurance, which would impact on their ability to work and contribute to society and added, “This scheme uses the science of data to assess risk and produce a premium and that’s a good thing.” Robin Roberts Miles Better Automotive News Agency

Saturday, March 26, 2011

RateCity\’s Bi-annual Comprehensive Car Insurance Results

21st March 2011
RateCity\’s Bi-annual Comprehensive Car Insurance Results
Spread between highest and lowest car insurance costs widens.
Some larger car providers lifted rates by as much as $376 in 6 months.
Sydney remains the most expensive city in Australia to insure your car with an average cost of $1,142.55 – one-third more than the national average cost of $735.60. S


Overall lowest comprehensive car insurance premiums for RateCity’s nominated
car/driver profile
1. Bingle
2. Progressive Direct
3. QBE
4. AAMI
5. Coles Car Insuranc


The RateCity Bi-annual Comprehensive Car Insurance Comparison revealed that several of
Australia‟s biggest car insurance providers including Westpac, St George Bank, Suncorp
Insurance, ANZ, GIO and ING Insurance, lifted their rates – some by as much as $376 –
compared to the same quotes compiled six months ago.
RateCity compared 27 car insurance providers‟ premiums using the same driver profile across
four different suburbs in eight cities across Australia. The driver profile used to generate
consistent and comparable results is of a 30 year-old single male who drives a 2005 model
Toyota Corolla, an excellent driving record and he retains his Rating 1 no claim bonus discount

Speed camera tolerances reduced to zero

Speed camera tolerances reduced to zero
Speed camera tolerances reduced to zero
By Brett Davis | March 25th, 2011

According to a recent Fairfax report, the State Debt Recovery Office and the RTA are looking to reduce speed camera tolerances from the current 3km/h margin of error to a zero tolerance. This could mean drivers could be fined for travelling just 1km/h over the limit. If the public needs further proof that speeding fines are enforced simply for revenue raising then this should be seen as the final straw.

A government report from December last year, apparently leaked from the budget committee, says it will remove the specific tolerance – a figure not disclosed – saying it will eliminate the “internal and undisclosed tolerance as applied by the State Debt Recovery Office to digitally captured infringements as notified by the RTA”.

We’re sure loads of motorists will be distressed by the move. A senior police officer even expressed concerns in the Fairfax report, saying that motorists who simply changed their tyres to a larger tread depth – putting off the original speedo calibration – might start getting fined for speeding just a few kilometres over the limit even though the speedo appears to be displaying a legal speed.

This not only puts pressure on motorists to keep their cars as original as possible, but manufacturers will have to start developing extremely accurate speedo readouts. Manufacturers may also have to start supplying specific instructions to owners stating that the car must remain in its standard trim throughout its entire life, even going as far as supplying a very specific tyre brand and size.

What happened to the Australian Design Rules (ADR) specifications that allowed a 10 percent margin for error on speedo readouts from the factory? Well, apparently the RTA and the State Debt Recovery Office aren’t interested in manufacturer tolerances either. Luckily, the ADR standards have since changed so that all vehicles from the factory must readout a speed on or above the actual speed of the car.

So far no date has been announced when this tolerance change will take place – if any announcement will even be made.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/111979/speed-camera-tolerances-reduced-to-zero/

Friday, March 25, 2011

Road speed limits reduced on back roads

Road speed limits reduced on back roads
24 Mar, 2011 01:00 AM
SPEED limits on a number of 'back roads' currently being used as alternative routes around the Princes Freeway closure at Morwell have been temporarily reduced this week.
VicRoads and Victoria Police reduced limits on selected roads to increase safety following significant increases in traffic volumes, a VicRoads spokesperson said.

The changes affect Brown Coal Mine Road (Moe-Glengarry Road) between Yallourn North and Maryvale Road and will be reduced by 20 km/h.

This means the existing 100 km/h will be reduced to 80 km/h and the existing 80 km/h section east of Quarry Road (nearby houses) will be reduced to 60 km/h.

Old Melbourne Road from Traralgon to west of Scrubby Lane will be reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h and Traralgon West Road from Traralgon to west of Scrubby Lane will be reduced from 100 km/h to 80 km/h.

VicRoads said new signs had been installed to display the reduced speed limits.

Temporary speed zone reductions are already in place on the eastern and western sides of Morwell.

These include 80 km/h on the Morwell-Traralgon Road eastbound and westbound between Alexanders Road and the Latrobe Regional Hospital; 80 km/h on the Princes Freeway eastbound and westbound between the Eastern Interchange and Monash Way; 80 km/h on the Princes Freeway eastbound between the first and second off-ramps (including second off-ramp); and 80 km/h on the Princes Freeway approach to the eastbound first off-ramp and first off-ramp.

VicRoads urged all motorists to be aware of, and obey, the temporary restrictions.



http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/news/local/news/general/road-speed-limits-reduced-on-back-roads/2113051.aspx?src=rss

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Insurance telematics will be “an alternative product for motor insurance

Interview by:Emily Watson with Tony Lovick, Senior Consultant, Towers Watson

Insurance telematics will be “an alternative product for motor insurance”

TU talks to Tony Lovick, senior consultant with Towers Watson, about the growth of insurance telematics and the impact of the European Court of Justice’s gender ruling
What does your company do?

Towers Watson is a leading global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, risk, and financial management.

What is your role in the insurance telematics market?

I led the pricing analytics and database architecture design for the Norwich Union (now Aviva) pilot from 2003 to 2007. During this time, we accumulated a database of billions of rows and used this to produce telematics-specific insurance factors for rating. We also purchased the Progressive Corp. patent for the UK and began a partnership with them to share insights. Within Towers Watson we have continued this work, and are currently working with a number of insurers on an insurance pilot. We help to evaluate devices, host the telematics data, and perform the pricing analysis.

How important is telematics throughout the insurance market?

In the US, insurers can see Progressive making a success of the technology, with their announcement that they intend to conduct a national rollout of the product. Vehicles and GPS data are clearly global constants, however, and this success will be translated to other territories in due course. Many other companies around the world are doing evaluations of the technology to prepare for this advance.

What is needed for the large-scale success of PAYD/usage-based insurance?

Retail insurance is a thin margin business that needs to bridge a tight cost/benefit case to be viable in the mass market. Unlike commercial vehicles, where there are sufficient non-insurance benefits, the retail market has seen consumers using their own (satnav) gadgets to provide non-insurance benefits, leaving the insurance device to pay its own way. Rapidly moving technology is changing this landscape, however, and the availability of 2mm sim chips, Bluetooth, public wifi, smartphone apps, and even the mass production of GPS chips for applications such as photo tagging in digital cameras will all move to convergence in these markets. In a few years time, we will wonder why forging these links was ever a challenge.

How do you view the role of auto OEMs in insurance telematics?

Vehicle manufacturers have a much longer development cycle than telecom handset manufacturers; the difference is months compared to years. They have also had a torrid time financially, both leading up to the financial crisis and during it. I suspect that line fit capability will most likely be fulfilled by third party outsourcing from the vehicle manufacturer to device manufacturers who can meet the timescales and price.

Where do you see the insurance telematics industry heading in the next five years?

I think it will become known as an alternative product for motor insurance by consumers, much as the telecom market has moved from monthly subscription to PAYG rates and consumers can choose between them. I do believe that the European Court of Justice’s ruling to prevent general insurers from using gender as a basis for pricing from December 2012 opens a wider window of opportunity. Those groups of society that are inevitably going to see an increase in their insurance costs won’t want to feel they are subsidizing others, and telematics provides an opportunity to avoid that.

For all the latest on insurance telematics, join the industry’s key players at Insurance Telematics Europe 2011 on May 4 and 5 in London.


Emily Savage | Conference Producer
Telematics Update | 7-9 Fashion Street, London, E1 6PX, UK
esavage@telematicsupdate.com | +44 (0)20 7375 7532 | (USA Toll Free) 1 800 814 3459 ext 7585
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Time to rope in the power of RTA
There are reports the number of mobile speed cameras across NSW is set to soar, with the RTA secretly planning 3,000 more. Jason Morrison says it's about fairness in enforcement, ...
2UE - 6:51 a.m. 23rd March 2011

http://www.2ue.com.au/blogs/2ue-blog/time-to-rope-in-the-power-of-rta/20110323-1c5i3.html
Beware speed camera ambush hours
THE RTA's mobile speed cameras are so focused on peak-hour traffic there is almost no chance of being caught by one between 8pm and 8am.
News.com.au NSW/ACT - 11:00 p.m. 23rd March 2011
http://www.news.com.au/beware-speed-camera-ambush-hours/story-e6freuzi-1226027027316?from=public_rss