The Auto Writer

Progressive Insurance wants to offer you a discount, but there is just one little catch.

You’re driving down the middle lane of the interstate when a car passes you to the left then suddenly pulls directly in front of your car before swerving off the road to make a nearby exit.

You take evasive action by slamming on your brakes and quickly shifting lanes to avoid being rear-ended, an action that has you cursing under your breath while be shaken to the very core of your soul. A slower reaction on your part could have proven deadly for either you or some other driver, but the fool who started it all is nowhere to be found.

Oregon, Michigan, and Alabama are three states offering MyRate with New Jersey next in line. By the end of 2009, Progressive Insurance expects to have the program implemented nationwide.

One week later you tear open a notice from your car insurer informing you that your rates have been bumped up due to hazardous driving. It seems that the insurance company discovered certain “erratic maneuvering” on your part, for what you know was the incident that saved you from certain injury, perhaps death.

You make a call to the insurance company to explain what happened, but you hang up frustrated when the agent tells you that your information is “under review” and that an answer to your appeal is one or two weeks away. You don’t want to pay the $150 auto insurance surcharge and wonder if anyone will accept your account of what happened.

Though the story is fictitious it could provide the type of scenario that some drivers will be facing in thanks to a black box in their car which monitors driving. Progressive Insurance plans on being the first auto insurer to offer the device, a move which could cut insurance premiums for motorists who agree to be monitored.

Under the company’s MyRate program, drivers could save a whopping 60% on their insurance plans, but the catch is that Progressive Insurance will be able to log your driving habits. If you pull out too quickly when the light turns green or have a habit of slamming on your brakes, then you could find your insurance rates suddenly jacked up.

Progressive says that the information gathered will be encrypted to avoid mischief from hackers. In addition, the company says that they will not share or sell those details with other insurers…yet.

In Minnesota, which is one of the state’s currently offering the MyRate program, the local chapter of the ACLU warns that drivers who participate in Progressive’s program are essentially offering a private record about themselves which the insurance company will own.

Photo Credit: John Boyer