JB in AZ

The back up camera my not be useful to all drivers, and is now mandated by federal law to be on all new vehicles.

DriverOne

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I could be more wide-ranging, but let me stick to the automotive world to keep this relevant. One example would be seatbelts. Now, if I say that seatbelts should be optional, I know that 99.9% of people would say that I was insane. And I'm not disagreeing that seatbelts save lives, if you get into an accident. However, it's also true that you could drive without a seatbelt and most people would have absolutely no issue for their entire driving life. People refuse to acknowledge that, which is because of the way it's beaten into us. You can literally drive on the highway and not wear a seatbelt and you'll live because almost nobody gets hit on a daily basis while driving on the highway.

That's also true with helmets for bikes and motorcycles. When some people hear that they're not mandatory in some states, they go "are they insane??" But people ride their motorcycles all the time in those states without a problem. Or, you'll see a news story where a car hits a child on a bicycle and it will say that the child was killed even though they were wearing a helmet and that's noteworthy to some people. Like if they weren't wearing the helmet and died, it would be terrible, but since they were wearing the helmet, at least they were doing the right thing. Again, I'm not opposed to wearing helmets, but I also don't care if it's optional and someone else says they don't want to wear one.

As far as warnings for "your child is in the back seat," I know that manufacturers are moving towards making those industry standard. And while I realize and agree that it's terrible that even one child dies because they're left in a hot car, I also point out that almost no child dies because of that. If you ask most people, they think that there's a big epidemic of hot car deaths and there isn't. A lot of this is driven by advocacy groups that make it into a big deal, where now everyone thinks it happens literally on a daily basis.

JB in AZ

FYI, just googled "children die from being left in hot car" and found this the first result:

"On average, 39 children under the age of 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle. Nearly every state has experienced at least one death since 1998, and in 2018, a record number of 53 children died after being left in a hot vehicle, closely followed in 2019 with 52 deaths."

Whoa! I had no idea!

I honestly don't know if advocacy groups are making this a big deal. After reading this, it wouldn't surprise me. I NEVER watch any news on TV, and only skim headlines on the web. And granted, it has been a while since I remember having read about a child being left in the back seat, but the numbers don't seem to lie. As I said earlier, I have no issue with manufacturers including this kind of warning system in their vehicles. Will it add to real world prices? I doubt it. Prices mostly go up on new cars every year, even without new or additional features. I never in my life thought I would ever pay well over $40,000 for a car.

DriverOne

52 children may have died in a hot car, but that also means that several hundred thousand lived. That's what I mean when I say that we always go by the argument "if it saves even one life." The human race isn't going extinct because all of our kids are dying in hot cars, I just want everyone to know that.

DriverOne

It's also funny to me that the more society becomes aware of the "hot cars kill kids" issue, the more the issue becomes a problem. Like in 1997, for example, the issue was a non-issue. I think we can all agree that nobody was worrying about kids dying in hot cars in 1997. In 2018, 2019, and 2020, everyone is worried about it and aware of the issue. It's a big deal. Everyone knows it's happening. But supposedly more and more kids are dying in hot cars every year. Doesn't that strike you as odd, regardless of where you stand on the issue?

amcobra

Anyone using the “drive safe” apps for fictional discounts from the major insurers is automatically giving up their data. While insurer specific, the data is collected by one source and shared with the insurer of your choice. BTW Honda/Acura link is managed by OnStar!

Madd Dog

The insurance apps generally require a physical plug. Don’t plug in and they don’t get the data.

This app just takes the data, and then they promise to not use it without permission. I don’t want them collecting it in the first place.

amcobra

I cannot speak for all apps but the ones I am familiar with use your smartphone to collect and send the data. Does not require a plug, just Bluetooth connection

itsardx

No, it is not.

sonyfever

Got my first score - 60!

NooYawkuh

What does that mean?

Vince D

NooYawkuh:

50-100 is considered great driving
25-49 is considered OK driving
0-24 means you need driver training.

OK so maybe not driver training but this score in Acuralink Land means you could use improvement.

Vince D

Mine's at 67! I assumed it would be lower because of the "hard acceleration and hard braking" demerit points...

amcobra

I use the State Farm drive safe and save which uses a Bluetooth beacon sending data to my phone. Credibility is lacking as the actual $ discount decreases as the renewal premium increases. Achieving 100% discount is almost impossible thanks to their rating calculations.

Also the app does not account for rush hour traffic (not congestion) where speed limits are never observed. Try driving the posted limit during rush hour!

anoop

Thanks for posting but this is expected. Any information you provide them in exchange for a few bucks can and will be used to your disadvantage eventually. My philosophy is to never give up privacy in exchange for a few bucks because I will likely end up with neither. I don't care if they gather the information illegally and without consent, but I will never consent to allowing them to gather info.