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Driving while invigorated: Assessing fitness for UBI savings

Can driving risks be reduced by conditioning policyholders to operate their vehicles more skillfully while also teaching drivers better lifestyle habits?

By Jim Weiss | Updated on April 13, 2016

Usage-based insurance (UBI) for autos potentially encourages responsible driving by providing discounts to policyholders who travel at safe speeds and also avoid dangerous vehicle maneuvers. While many accidents result from speeding or recklessness, these risky behaviors themselves can also be driven by ancillary causes such as daydreaming or “zoning out.” As a result, risk may possibly be reduced not only by conditioning policyholders to operate their vehicles more skillfully, but also by teaching them better lifestyle habits.

Recently, one life insurer began providing policyholders with free fitness tracking devices. Consumers who share their daily activity data with their insurer may earn discounts of up to 15% if the collected data can show such consumers are pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Along these lines, several auto insurers are considering technologies to monitor drivers’ heart rates or blood pressure while driving by applying, in part, UBI scoring algorithms. 

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