Progressive Insurance How to add stress to your driving...... Tampa, , Florida

I have 7 years of experiance working with accelerometers and other force measuring devices which are used in several types of guidance systems and with a very mature level of development and implementation. I did not have the same experiance as this person describes nor do I believe they are an actual consumer/user. My belief after driving with the snap shot device was that this was simply a marketing tool for Progressive to provide them with a reason to raise prices for insurance on their customers. I had to drive much slower than overly cautious drivers and had to stop at a rate less than 1/5th g meaning that the acceleration (there is no such thing as deceleration in physics) or stopping was so gradual that it encouraged me to run red lights. In the Souther California area around vista the speed limits are 60 MPH and some of the lights turn from green to red quickly. With this device at it's toleratnce for acceleration (stopping) being so low it would beep consistatntly if I was obeying the law and being a good driver. I was encouraged by the device to either drive much slower than traffic (a hazard) or run red lights. Either of these would give me a ticket or get into a wreck which is far more serious than beeping from a snap shot device. This device cannot tell if you are driving any better. It cannot determine if you are weaving through traffic,  if you are paying attention, or driving too close to the driver in front of you. It is a marketing tool only... And it is used to encourage drivers to either drive worse and become a hazard and recieve tickets or ... pay more for insurance. If anyone wants to support a comparitive study on snap shot devices please contact me. I can establish a study (forinsic) that will hold in court against Progressive's Snap Shot device and thier marketing tactics using leading engineers and scientists from aerospace companies. This device holds no water to encourage better driving habits or to determine if anyone is a higher risk of an accident. It's marketing only.

 

 

the real problem is when they raise your rates  due to the Snapshot device   info, if  you cancel with them,  they make the info collected avalable to other insurance companies.

I have used the progressive snapshot in 3 different vehicles. You can read a review I created on it here: (((linkn redacted)))

We have not had any issues with it at all. I have saved 30% on both my vehicles and my wife saves about 7%. As long as you don't slam on the brakes, you will probably get some savings. I'm not sure why everyone is so freaked out about trying this new technology...

Before I would come on to a site and make a statement such as the 0P did,  I would ask myself if there was any chance of the device being correct.  I too took the test drive and qualified for the full 30%. Did I encounter hard stops?  Yes! Every one does.  Mine averaged less than 1 per 100 miles.  You mentioned that your device did not beep. Did you attempt to get them to replace it with one that did?  The device not only measures your driving but your driving conditions.  

Someone in a position to make numerous hard stops (if you can feel the G-Forces,  it's most likely to be a good estimate) would be a greater risk for an accident.  When I experienced my one instance of a hard stop,  it was due to the idiot in front of me deciding he didn't want to get onto the freeway at the last moment and slamming HIS breaks at a yellow light on a 50 MPH road. My device clearly beeped twice so it counted as two hard stops. If I were on a road full of idiots like this one,  I can definitely understand being considered an insurance risk.

Another poster commented about the left turn with oncoming highway speed traffic.  I experienced one rapid acceleration due to a similar situation,  except this was a blind hill,  after missing my intended turn.  Could I have gone to the next light and made a more safe decision?  My defensive driver course says I could and should have.  I decided to take that turn and the device was watching. 

Testing wet brakes need not be stomp stomp stomp, but they are not looking for isolated instances,  they are looking for patterns in your driving behavior. 

I drove over 60 miles on a 65 MPH 4 lane with traffic lights and did not get one hard stop.  If you see the light turn yellow and you are not within10 seconds of crossing the intersection, take your foot off the gas and prepare to stop.  Since my brakes are pricey,  I preserve them whenever I can. For goodness sake don't get on the tail of the car in front of you, hoping to convince them to take the light. You can only drive one car at a time.

If you look at it as I do,  progressive not only gets a good idea of your driving behaviors but of the conditions you are dealing with as well.  If you need to make a lot of hard stops (even legitimately),  coupled with rush hour driving, like it or not, you are at higher risk of being involved in an accident,  whether through your fault,  or the idiot that swerves back into traffic and then slams his brakes at a yellow light.  Did I mention that we both could have made the light otherwise? 

For his /her information, US 19 in Florida South  of Crystal River

for many miles has a 60 MPH speed limit on a non-limited access

highway with MULTIPLE traffic control lights. This is quite common

in Florida. "55 MPH" indeed". WRONG!

 

You seem to know the local laws, so why are you doing 80 MPH or even 70 MPH on 60 MPH speed limit?

 

Meaning if one comes to a (just turning)   red light in a 70 MPH zone

Could you please show me where would the 70 MPH zone with traffic lights be (watch out, 'zone' should be the same as speed limit)? Would love to know.

By the way, just because others do not agree with certain parts of your report does not mean they disagree with you that the company program is a ripped off. Reducing speed less than 7 mph in a second is unreasonable in many cases. Given one is driving 63 mph and want to stop when see the light turning yellow, it would take 9 seconds to a complete stop while maintaining the 7 mph per second reduction. The distance needed for this stop would be around 744 feet. Or even driving 56 mph would take at least 8 seconds and 580 feet to a complete stop. Their rule is rediculeous.

Cretin: Go back and read my rebuttal from 5-27-12. I've already responded to the league of idiots (of which you're no doubt a charter member) which pretty well covers your dumbass, inaccutrate ramblings.

Alas, I must confess to being one of the poor sad-sack simpleton suckers who has fallen for the Progressive Insurance Company's very slick snake-oil peddling campaign that has become the now legendary colossal "snap-shot" program scam.  Being an historic optimum life-long driver with an impeccable driving record of 40+ years, I truly believed -- at first -- that enrollment into the "snap-shot" program coupled with my aforementioned good driver rating would surely qualify me for maximum discount status.  I've since learned -- to my disappointment and chagrin -- that quite sadly this is all just simply not true .... at least not in my case.

In-terms of "hard-braking" and/or "hard-stops" (call it what you will), I have experienced numerous electronic interpretational inaccuracies and false infraction registrations, all of which have led me to experientially conclude that the Progressive "snap-shot" program is presently flawed and should be recalled and suspended until such time as "the-bugs-can-be-worked-out" and the technology/application perfected prior to unleashing it upon the unsuspecting and ill-informed innocent public at large.  At this juncture -- and in my experience -- it has become my sincere belief that Progressive has anxiously jumped-the-gun and released their proudly-touted "snap-shot" program in premature fashion -- perhaps driven by their blinding profit-generating corporate mentality and subsequent salivating eagerness to get-it-to-market much too quickly, sans the proper degree of research and development required for a responsible "roll-out" introduction of a new service program to the consumer public.

When one considers that "hard-braking" penalty-infractions can register on the "snap-shot" device -- and thus improperly, unfairly, and unjustly penalize drivers -- when common plentiful pot-holes in the road are encountered, when certain types of common speed-bumps are negotiated, or when brakes are tapped and/or "pumped" in order to test them for proper function & safety after going through deep water puddles in a rainstorm situation.  I have also come to know that in addition to "hard-brake" penalty-infractions being registered for sudden-speed DECREASING and stopping activities, the "snap-shot" device will ALSO register a penalty-infraction when speed is suddenly INCREASED at the 7mph/sec rate.  Case-in-point:  whenever a driver has occasion to come to a full-stop in a left-hand-turn lane facing a heavy volume of speeding oncoming highway traffic, and then quickly accelerates -- when there is finally a break in the oncoming traffic -- in order to successfully negotiate a left-hand turn from the highway onto a side-road.  Such a common driving maneuver can trigger a "snap-shot" penalty-infraction for which the driver will most-certainly be unfairly "dinged", and thus penalized.

Upon conducting a fair amount of personal research into the raging "snap-shot" program debacle, I had come across a few articles and reports which advanced a suspicion that utilizing a "snap-shot" device can possibly cause some types of electronic damage in certain vehicles.  At first I didn't give such claims much credence, but since that time I have been re-thinking my position because my Electronic/Ignition Control Module has prematurely failed and my car will not start ..... and only a few short weeks after having installed the demon "snap-shot" module ..... just simple coincidence?  Hmmmm, strange days indeed !!!!!!

...to the dolt that posted this misinformation:(QUOTE)

"The OP is in Florida...Maximum speed for a traffic light is 50mph"

For his /her information, US 19 in Florida South  of Crystal River

for many miles has a 60 MPH speed limit on a non-limited access

highway with MULTIPLE traffic control lights. This is quite common

in Florida. "55 MPH" indeed". WRONG! 

(QUOTE):"Anything 55mph or over is treated like a freeway and has an on/off ramp, etc."....WRONG again, cretin. 

Although I had a few typo's in my last message let me say this once more!! Their is no way if you are driving and encounter a yellow lite that you can stop without receving hard stops !!! I don't care how well you drive or think you do !! The math just tells you no matter what you will receive a hard stop and more than likely several !! It is impossable !!!!! This is true regardless of the posted speed ! Time any yellow lite in your town and divide it into your posted speed and you will see!! For example the yellow lite is 2.5 sec. long and the posted speed is 45mph. so 45mph divided by 2.3sec.= 18mph per second drop in speed so in this case figure at least 2 or 3 hard stops for sure !! Just do it in your town at any trafic lite you want . It is impossable ! Not only that but several other rules are impossable as well and could cause accidents by people trying to do the impossable !!

When will someone do what I have done ?? Take any yellow lite in your town and time it . Then divide posted speed by the time of the yellow lite. I did this in my town and their is no way that  you can stop without receiving had stops and in most cases several !! This program is a fraud !! Their are other rules involved that are impossible as well !! It ha nothing to do with how well you drive !! I also checked federal yellow lite laws and every state would find the same results !! So of those who think hard stops are a bad thing according to snapshot they are without a doubt unable to do simple math !!

You clearly described what progressive determined was a "hard brake" which was slowing 7mph or more in 1 second!

That IS a "hard brake" which is considered unsafe driving!

A safe, professional driver looks at least 500ft down the road at all times and drives with the "what if" scenario running the entire time driving.

A safe driver would never brake that fast. Ever. You admitted to doing that on several occasions in just an 80 mile trip! ( Quote: "6 or 7 hard brakes").  That's just crazy!

I don't EVER brake that hard. (But I am a professional driver).

Furthermore, anyone stupid enough to put such a device in their car to begin with is too stupid to reason with.

Just common sense would tell you this is a con game and the only winner in the use of this device would be the insurance company.

Common sense would tell you it is only for their benefit.

After all, they could just give you that 30% discount for your 30 years of "safe" driving, right?

Just plain old fashioned common sense here.

The problem here is that you are too old and too stubborn to see the light.

This will be my final reply to all the know-it-alls referring to my slamming on the brakes. That is not an issue. If you  dolts would take the time to research Progressives interpretation of  Hard Brakes youd realize how uninformed you really are.  Hard Brakes is the definitive term and is time related over successive one second intervals. To wit: slowing rapidly.

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I never slam on my brakes. Quit putting words in my mouth and ascribing actions to my driving which dont exist. To repeat, I have NEVER had an accident (of any kind)  in my entire driving life. Its highly unlikely that can be honestly stated by most of the dolts mouthing off about my driving habits. My record reflects defensive, careful driving, dummies!

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Thats it! Carry on, drink your beer. Relax and shut up. Nawww..Im sure you can carry on with your totally inaccurate, disgusting  palaver. Im outa here

The OP is defineatly a bad driver. I agree. I would not want to be behind him at any intersections. People that slam on their brakes for no reason annoy me. Yellow means proceed with caution not slam on the brakes and cause an accident. PERIOD

First of all, I don't find that hard to believe with a traffic light in CA in a 65mph zone, as everything stupid in the USA started in CA.

However, the OP is in Florida, like me, and the highest speed limit I have seen where traffic lights are used is 50mph. Anything 55mph or over is treated like a freeway and has an on/off ramp, etc.

The OP was talking about doing "hard brakes" which he then explained the criteria Progressive uses in determining hard brake occurences as slowing more than 7mph in 1 second! Think about that. That is an example of an inattentive driver, and/or someone driving too fast for conditions and/or following too close.

Either way, the OP is a road hazard.

Highway 75 in San Diego is 65mph with two traffic lights. Just an FYI.

If you are actually trying to make a case for big trucks being a safety hazard, you just failed!

Your own post of statistics show that big truck accidents are the MINORITY!

The fact of the matter is, you identified in your original post what a horrible driver you really are and Progressive agrees!

Fact: Anyone who approaches a traffic light at 70mph is a moron...**.. "Meaning if one comes to a (just turning)   red light in a 70 MPH zone" .....* Meaning if one comes to a (just turning)   red light in a 70 MPH zone"...... ***(NOTE: 70mph zones DO NOT have traffic lights).

Fact: Anyone who does multiple hard stops such as you posted should not be driving anything. You are an accident waiting to happen. **.."My wife and I drove somewhere around 80 miles and racked up 6 or 7 Hard Brakes"...**

My entry 5-27 pretty well summed up the inane, inaccurate reply from Southern Chemical (well assume this represents a trucker) about whom Ill not waste any time addressing his extraneous, assumptive totally inane ramblings. Actually spoken like a true trucker. 10- 4 good buddy and all that trucker C.D. profanity and nonsense.

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Well assume hes a professional trucker.    I will also assume with all the lot lizards hes entertained in his sleeper cab and the STDs to  which hes  been exposed and infected have had a serious detrimental effect on his brain. Syphilis is hell when its untreated.

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This trucker should get some help investigating others claims on this site without the ludicrous statements and assumptions with which he exposes his profound ignorance.  

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Here are some statistics you can attempt to wrap whats left of your brain around, Mr. trucker:

• Nearly one-quarter of occupant deaths in passenger vehicles that had multi-vehicle collisions were the result of crashes involving large trucks. (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).
• Large trucks make up just 4 percent of all registered vehicles and 7 percent of all vehicle miles traveled, but are involved in 11 percent of all crash fatalities. (NHTSA).
• The annual death toll from truck-related crashes is the equivalent of twenty-six major airplane crashes every year.
• The large number of truck-related deaths and injuries carries an enormous personal and financial price tag. The costs of large truck crashes in a year exceed $19 billion.
  
  
  (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)).

 

Freight belongs on the railroads as much as possible, and off the surface roads on which the trucks pay a disproportional amount of taxes. Yeah-I know. Trucks DO pay more than passenger cars, but create 10X+ more damage to even the 16 thick reinforced concrete interstates.

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Take that hit of methamphetamine and keep on truckin.

The OP is most likely on of the most dangerous drivers on the road, based on his own post.

The statement about approaching a traffic light at 70mph was enough for me to conclude this "adolf" character is totally reckless, as there are no traffic lights anywhere in the United States in a 70mph zone.

Fact.

Furthermore, the OP statement about his number of "hard brake" situations tells me that he drives too fast for conditions, and follows too close.

Fact.

In all of my YEARs and MILLIONS of miles of Professional, COMMERCIAL DRIVING, I have not had as many hard stops as this joker had in one day!

This tells me that this old geezer needs some new glasses, or is just too old to be driving at all.

These are not just assumptions, these are factual statements based on the OP own words, and in my millions of miles of professional commercial driving.

I currently maintain a CLEAN Class A CDL with Hazmat and Tanker endorsements, and on my last job, I pulled oversize and overweight tankers out of the various ports. Just one "hard stop" ding that and people die. So, we can all count our blessings that Adolf is not a truck driver!

Adolf...turn in your license before you kill someone. You are too stubborn to see that you are the problem in this equasion, NOT Geico.

All crook insurance companies do the opposite. From what they advertise.

Wow at least he did not call you employees of the company

Wow!  I have  never  seen such a plethora of unintelligent, totally  assumptive downright stupid replies to a post on Ripoff Report.  I guess its the folly of some slow individuals to sit back in the shadows only to emerge and make asinine replies to reports of vastly  more substance than their ludicrously uninformed, totally inaccurate  blather.
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If these mentally devoid detractors would actually educate themselves before immediately enunciating their profound ignorance and mouthing their totally inaccurate accusations, it would be to their advantage.
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As a matter of fact, Im 76 years old, have NEVER had and at fault accident, (or for that ,matter any accident).  I have  toured on motorcycles in excess of 200K miles in my younger years without any close calls due to my cautious, presumptive attitude of other drivers.  All the driving advice Im offered doubtless comes from drivers who yet have to establish the extent my sterling driving record.
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In a word, dumbasses! You are so perverse in your totally inaccurate, baseless, negative replies as to make the whole lot totally ludicrous.

***Let me break down your post, and show you why you have no common sense, and why you should not be driving anything, ever..... You are a road hazard...... An accident waiting to happen***.


Beware of Progressive Insurances Snap Shot discount offer. Their Snap Shot device plugs into your (1996 up) vehicles data port. The offer is a potential 30% discount on premiums. The driver / policy holder is rated on time of day driven and how many hard brakes occur. Hard brakes are interpreted as the vehicle slowing more than 7 M.P.H. in one second. The hard brakes are cumulative. Meaning if one comes to a (just turning)   red light in a 70 MPH zone that one stop can rack up over 5 hard brakes.

**(In my 1.5 million miles of commercial driving experience through every state in the United States, I have NEVER seen a traffic light in a 70mph zone! What kind of an idiot approaches a traffic light at 70mph??)**

The driver next to you that goes on through  running the light  (if also a Progressive Insurance Snap Shot sucker) gets none.

My wife and I drove somewhere around 80 miles and racked up 6 or 7 Hard Brakes. Time to get the Progressive narc device out of our car, and go with another company that was already 30% less than Progressive......(NO...It's time to get your eyes checked so you don't run up on things....You are driving too fast for conditions, and you are not looking down the road as a skilled driver does, but instead, you are just looking down your hood)... Their Snap Shot program leads to additional driving stress and doesnt guarantee ANY discount! Drive in the wrong time of day? Youre dinged. Stop abruptly to avoid an accident or traffic light turning red? Dinged again!

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I feel like a complete fool ...(this is the only thing you said that I completely agree with)...for falling for the Progressive  Snap Shot program without first completely educating myself as to exactly how it can make driving more stressful.

For real information on this program Google Progressive Snap Shot Program and avoid the entries generated by Progressive, of course.

I was also told two times by two different Progressive staff members the device would emit an audible  tone of some sort when Hard Brakes occurred.  This, actually was the last straw. The device was eternally and completely mute (during our alleged hard brakes)

(In their ad picthure 'Flo' isn't just smiling, she's laughing at the Snap Shot suckers)

Common sense would tell you that no insurance company would do anything for your benefit. This "snapshot" program is put in place ONLY to justify the INCREASE of your rates, and to protect themselves in case of an accident with another insured in court.

My advice is to immediately enroll in an advanced level defensive driving course, because you certainly do not know how to drive. Based on your own statements, you are an accident waiting to happen.

Pull your head out before you kill someone!

Making a 'hard braking' stop should be a very rare occurrence if you are a good and experienced driver.

I drove 40 to 50 thousand miles a year (truckers drive far more) for 30 years in my job and rarely had to stop real quick.  It happens, but not very often. It sounds like the device works fine. 6 or 7 'hard brakes' in 80 miles is excessive.

So the device reports directly to progressive? Or you download it and send it? I wonder if I would get dinged for average speed at 85mph daily. It's California. Speeding is normal. Now as far as braking I don't have that issue. Yellow means go faster. Green means keep it going. Red means dang! Hope the guy in front of me takes off fast and not like he is in a smart car!!! Lol

Sounds like the device is doing exactly what it's supposed to do -- removes crappy drivers (like you/your wife) from Progressive's risk pool.  First, who the hell goes through lights at 70 mph?  Second, you might want to take some driving lessons, it sounds like you could really use them (especially if you are one of those idiots who can't time traffic lights and slam their brakes at the last minute).  Sooner or later, that will lead to a nasty accident.

Here are some useful tips:
- If you see the light turn yellow and you are far enough away to stop safely (i.e. without slamming your brakes), then you should stop.
- If the light turns yellow and you are too close to stop safely, you should go through it.
Note that neither option involves slamming your brakes.