Big Brother is watching your teen driver.
Teens may not like it much, but it could save their lives.
American Family Insurance introduced a program this month in Colorado to monitor teen drivers with a car-mounted video camera that records erratic or dangerous driving behavior.
In a limited national rollout of the surveillance program since last year, teenagers have reduced their incidents of risky driving by at least 70 percent, according to the Madison, Wis.-based insurer.
The cameras – provided and installed at no charge – run continuously and record audio and video during incidents of rapid acceleration, swerving, abrupt braking and collisions.
Mounted on interior rear-view mirrors, the dual-sided cameras take images looking straight ahead and also toward the driver and interior of the car.
If motion sensors detect erratic driving, the cameras record and save 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after the incident occurs. They then wirelessly transmit the footage to driving analysts who grade the behavior and write reports to parents.
“We clearly know that how teens drive without a parent is very different from how they drive with a parent,” said Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.
Video monitoring “is like having a parent in the car with a teen,” she said.
Predictably, teenage drivers are not wildly enthusiastic about the technology.
When Chatfield High School student Bradley Antonio learned that the video camera would be installed in his car, he responded with an emotional diatribe that included, “I can’t believe you’re putting this in the car,” “You don’t trust me” and “I’m a good driver,” said his mother, Laura Antonio.
But two days after the camera was mounted last week, 17-year- old Antonio was in a collision that left his car damaged and caused minor injuries to occupants in the other car after he made a left turn in front of the other vehicle.
Now, after watching images of the accident, Antonio agrees that video monitoring is a good idea, his mother said.
“It was frightening, really frightening, to see that,” Laura Antonio said. “He is really learning a lot from this.”
American Family Insurance launched the video program last year and now offers it in 18 states.
“We’re definitely seeing a reduction in risky driving behavior,” said Steve Witmer, a spokesman for the insurance company.
Despite an undisclosed drop in insurance claims for cars equipped with cameras, American Family is not offering discounts on premiums. Witmer said not enough data have been collected to determine if price breaks will be offered.
Other monitoring programs, including use of Global Positioning Systems to show where teens go and how fast they drive, are being used by insurance firms Safeco and AIG.
“It’s a trend in the industry,” Walker said. “Insurance companies see this as a value-added service.”
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
How it works
American Family Insurance provides a free video camera and free installation in vehicles of policyholders with teen drivers.
The cameras record episodes of erratic or dangerous driving, including sudden braking, swerving, rapid acceleration and collisions.
Images are transmitted wirelessly to DriveCam Inc., where analysts grade the driving behavior and write a brief report.
Parents can access the driving reports and video footage of the incidents at a DriveCam website.
