Safety regulators, insurance companies and technologists have turned to an incremental fix for distraction: monitoring the driver, not the vehicle.
The distracted-driving report by Zendrive, a traffic-data startup, makes it clearer each year that millions of Americans can’t stop themselves from talking, texting and livestreaming — even using FaceTime — while driving. The results have been increasingly unsettling, showing that drivers in the United States are becoming more likely to use their smartphones more often.
Zendrive now has its monitoring technology on 60 million phones, approximately one of every four U.S. drivers. TrueMotion, a Boston-based rival, is tracking distraction and other driving metrics for eight of the top 20 U.S. auto insurers, and an additional 30,000 drivers have voluntarily downloaded the TrueMotion system in attempt to self-regulate tendencies to talk and text at the wheel.
Early indicators suggest that simple awareness may be an effective antidote. Cambridge Mobile said distraction levels drop 35% among participants who check their data regularly. “Just seeing the results helps,” said Ryan McMahon, vice president of marketing. “It’s almost like going into a restaurant and being able to see calories on a menu.”
The early results point to a market triumph over bad behavior that lawmakers, police and advocacy groups have struggled to deter. Underwriters who are best able to identify distracted-driving tendencies are better able to price the accompanying risk. Most insurance companies still only offer discounts for good cellphone behavior, but a growing number are using the findings to raise rates on serial tap-and-swipers.
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