GPS technology to be used to determine car insurance payments

PANDA project to involve 1,000 cars next year

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Early next year, 1,000 cars on Finnish roads will have devices which use GPS satellite technology to record information on the vehicles’ movements.
      The information could be used to determine insurance premiums and road use fees to be charged the driver.
      The equipment involved is be installed beneath the car’s dashboard, and the driver would have access to three buttons.
      Companies involved in the project include Pohjola Insurance, Aplicom, Nokia, Destia, and Astarte. The initial letters of each of the companies give the project its acronym - PANDA.
     
The project is now looking for drivers who would volunteer for the project. Drivers would be charged EUR 349 for the first year, and EUR 13.90 a month from the beginning of 2011.
      The system includes a driving recorder, which automatically records where and when the car has been driven. The three buttons that the driver has access too are choose whether or not the trip is for work or leisure.
      The system records rapid accelerations and sudden use of the brakes. Also recorded is whether or not the car is being driven in the city or countryside and if the driving takes place on a motorway or a private road, for instance.
     
Information on the driver’s driving habits can be compared with that of other drivers.
      The information also makes it possible to offer individual drivers tips more fuel-efficient driving.
      The equipment has already been installed in about 20 cars.
     
If satellite tracking of driving becomes more common, insurance premiums could be staggered according to where and when the different cars are operating, ponders Kyösti Talsi of Pohjola Insurance.
      Such a system could also provide an incentive to drive at off-peak times and to discourage unnecessary trips. “When traffic is reduced by ten per cent, accidents are reduced by 20-25 per cent.”
      Reduced accidents would alleviate human suffering and the medical costs of dealing with the aftermath. Material damage and insurance premiums would decline, along with emissions from transport.
     
The aim is that the one-year project might continue, says Vesa Helkkula, CEO of Aplicom, which is responsible for coordinating the PANDA project.
      The aim is to develop various applications for the system.
      For instance, Jukka lintusaari of Nokia says that the company is studying the possible new applications the PANDA project for business.
     
PANDA is not the only project to use satellite positioning technology.
      For instance, the Suntio project of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) is to be spearheaded by the satellite based eCall system and the utilisation of the road-use fee system.
      Suntio is to be used on an experimental basis in 100 cars next year.
      In the eCall system, information about an accident is immediately relayed to an emergency response centre. The message indicates the location of the accident, and the type of vehicle involved.


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