April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

April 28, 2022

Distracted driving isn’t limited to teens and includes eating, texting, reaching to adjust the radio and calming fussy children in the back seat. It seems that at every stage of life there’s a reason why drivers lose focus which can lead to serious mistakes.

RideWell, our vehicle telematics app, can help increase your clients awareness of their driving habits and monitor the driving behavior of their teen drivers, all without the worry of increased rates as a result. In fact, in most states, drivers who sign up for RideWell receive an initial sign-up discount and have the opportunity for discounts on their renewals if they demonstrate good driving habits based on their driving scores.

“This scoring model is a common-sense approach,” says Mike Salerno, vice president, Personal Lines Product Management. “Drivers who follow posted speed limits, brake responsibly and stay off of their phones while driving are far less likely to have an accident”.

Drivers with qualifying scores can lock in their discount for the life of the policy, or try for a better score and discount by continuing to use the app.

“The idea isn’t to spy on our policyholders; it’s to empower them. The app gives them an opportunity to review their driving from an unbiased source. They can use that information to improve their skills with the hope of saving money in the process. And it gives parents a chance to see how their teen is driving and to correct bad habits which could avoid accidents.”

Those who do not have qualifying scores aren’t penalized. They may delete the app with no premium increase or choose to continue using the app and try to improve their scores. And not all drivers have to sign up. Therefore, parents who don’t see a need to use it themselves can still take advantage of the information they receive for youthful drivers on their policies.

Accidents can’t completely be avoided, but awareness helps reduce accidents and injuries and can even help save lives.