Honda Wants You to Be a Better Driver With Driver Feedback Feature

There are a lot of incentives to becoming a better driver, chief among them your own  safety, of course, but also discounted premiums through insurance companies that monitor driving behavior. Honda wants to help drivers of its vehicles drive more safely and efficiently with the new Driver Feedback feature of the HondaLink and AcuraLink connected-vehicle apps. It sends participating owners feedback about their driving behavior, which can potentially be used to earn discounts on vehicle insurance rates.

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Driver Feedback uses in-vehicle sensors to measure five driving components that determine a driver’s score. The components are: Smooth Driving, Speed Responsibility, Consistent Driving, Driving Time and Time Behind the Wheel. The data is shared with Verisk Analytics, a data analytics company, which analyzes the data and provides feedback through the app as well as an overall driving score. According to the company, the lowest-scoring drivers are seven times more likely to be involved in a crash or have an insurance claim than those with the highest scores.

Smooth Driving measures how much driving is done without hard acceleration and hard braking at different speeds. Smoother acceleration and braking, which are indicative of less aggressive driving, raise this score.

Speed Responsibility monitors the driver’s speed, which impacts safety and fuel economy. A driver who routinely exceeds speeds in excess of 80 mph won’t score well in this component.

The Consistent Driving component calculates the consistency of repeated driving patterns. Honda says drivers who regularly commute at the same time are less likely to experience a crash.

The last two, Driving Time and Time Behind the Wheel, look at when you’re driving and how much driving you do. Drivers who avoid or minimize driving during risky hours such as at night and early morning will score well in the Driving Time component. Drivers who spend a long time behind the wheel without breaks won’t score well in the Time Behind the Wheel component.

Honda says participation in the program is optional at all times and your information isn’t shared with third parties, including insurance providers, without authorization from the subscriber. Participants may be eligible for insurance discounts in 42 U.S. states based on the information.

The feature is available to Honda and Acura vehicle owners who have enrolled in any HondaLink or AcuraLink package. Eligible Acura vehicles include the model-year 2020 ILX, TLX, RLX and MDX vehicles equipped with the Technology Package and above, as well as all versions of the RDX from model-year 2019 to present.

For Honda, vehicles and trims include model-year 2018 to present Accord (Touring) and Odyssey (Touring, Elite) as well as the model-year 2019 to present Insight (Touring), Passport (Touring, Elite) and Pilot Touring, Elite, Black Edition).

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