How technology is having an impact on your car insurance.

Certain technological advances, like collision avoidance systems, rear-view cameras, blind-spot monitoring and airbags, have helped reduce car-related fatalities by more than 30% over the last 20 years. What technology hasn’t lowered is your insurance rates. Technology-loaded car parts, like bumpers or wing mirrors, are more expensive to repair when damaged than their regular equivalents.

What about automated cars?

Since the arrival of automated driving features like Tesla’s Autopilot, we can observe their impact on the road. Researchers estimate that more than 90% of all car accidents are caused by human error, so we can assume that a world with fully autonomous vehicles wouldn’t have as many crashes and accidents. Plus, since the driving programs used by autonomous cars will constantly generate data while being used, they might lead to personalized insurance policies and rates that are exactly tailored to your needs and driving style. Sounds great, right?

Well, technology has its challenges, too. Until self-driving cars become the norm, our roads will be filled with regular cars and, according to our president of Canadian operations Louis Gagnon, “a diverse mix of vehicles—both personal and shared—that may also include some autonomous features, which will create greater complexity in the market.” Will self-driving cars prompt people who didn’t previously own cars to become drivers, thus increasing traffic, road usage and potential accidents? Or, will the rise of car-sharing services lead to a reduction in individual car ownership and a reduction in city traffic by normalizing the practice of sharing a vehicle with strangers? Either way, autonomous cars’ complex operating systems will be expensive to repair in case of damage, which will likely have an impact on insurance premiums.

Technology is changing you, too

How does this surge in distracted driving affect car insurance? The most cynical of you are probably thinking that auto insurers would jump at the chance of bumping up rates due to this increased risk factor. But that wouldn’t exactly be fair.

Our primary objective is to make sure you’re protected—and by that we don’t just mean “covered”. That’s why we focus so much on road safety and good driving habits. We’d much rather have everyone safe than charge a few extra bucks a month.

So how can insurers get their customers to improve their habits? Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. In an effort to use smartphones to their advantage, most auto insurers, including yours truly, now use apps to personalize their customers’ policies according to their driving habits.

For example, the my Drive^TM program considers several aspects of your driving such as speed, focus and smoothness to personalize your insurance premium. Good driving habits are rewarded and help you save money on your auto insurance, while riskier habits could increase your premium.

In addition to finding out if your driving is safer or more risky than other drivers, you can benefit from a set of practical tools to help you in case of a problem on the road, get tips and tricks to adopt an eco-responsible driving style and focus on better fuel efficiency.

Ultimately, adopting good driving habits improves road safety for all drivers. Isn’t that what we all want in the end?
If there’s one thing to remember, it’s that the best way to make our roads safer and reduce your insurance rates is by putting your phone away while you’re driving. Your notifications, texts and most important emails, such as Intact Insurance’s newsletter, will still be there when you take the keys out of the ignition.