A new smartphone app allows motorists to track, rate and improve their driving
Octo Telematics has presented a new smartphone app – Octo U – that not only allows drivers to track, score and improve their driving style, but also provides participating insurance partners* with an accurate and detailed risk profile of the motorist.
“Octo U creates positive disruption in the insurance market. We are taking a proactive role in bringing qualified consumers to our insurance partners. By downloading the app, motorists are buying into the concept of telematics at an entry-level. This doesn’t replace black box technology, but opens the door for insurers to introduce a wider range of policies and services based on a clearer picture of the type of driver they are,” explains Fabio Sbianchi, CEO, Octo Telematics.
The app, which is free and available for both iPhone and Android smartphones, collects, analyses and stores telematics data on motorist driving behaviour, but can also serve as an invaluable learning tool. Telematics can be an invaluable tool to point out how to improve driving, alert drivers to recurrent dangers (such speeding, hard braking, etc.) and improve road safety in general.
Once downloaded and registered, Octo U immediately begins collecting data on the driver’s trips, automatically, without any need for the user to start or stop the app. The app detects, reconstructs and analyses all significant events that occur during a trip, such as hard braking, rapid acceleration, speeding and how curves are negotiated.
Octo U employs a high-precision proprietary GPS-related algorithm to accurately calculate the g-force generated during these driving events. Moreover, the app also detects and ignores train and shuttle travel, while the driver can set the app to ignore road journeys as a passenger.
The Octo U smartphone app was presented on Friday, August 28th at the Silverstone Moto GP, in England, where Octo Telematics was the event title sponsor.
The app is also supported by road-safety charity Brake, which campaigns to improve driver behaviour and road safety.
Octo has plans in the pipeline to release further apps and services to help reduce the cost of driving, reward customers with trip-specific incentives and allow enhanced social media engagement.
*The risk profile feature for insurance partners will be initially only available in the United Kingdom.
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