There’s an interesting press release from AIG Auto Insurance floating around the web:
AIG Auto Insurance today announced the AIG Teen GPS Program for auto insurance policyholders with teen drivers[.]. The program will initially be piloted in New Jersey, as well as Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington, and uses GPS technology to allow parents of teen drivers to monitor the location of the teen’s car and driving.
After installing a small GPS unit, parents can instantly determine the exact location of the teen’s car via the Web or any phone. Additionally, the AIG Teen GPS Program will automatically send the parent an e-email and/or text message if the teen’s car exceeds pre-defined speed limits or is driven too far from a pre-defined location, such as home, school or work.
This is not new technology. A little over a month ago, I mentioned that American Family is dabbling with a similar program, which uses both GPS tracking and in-car cams to keep tabs on teen drivers.
While I remember enough of my teenaged years to appreciate how violated I’m sure some high schoolers must feel from the lack of trust. that memory is dwarfed by a close encounter I had a few days ago while driving home from work, where a couple of high-school aged boys were out cruising in their big black SUV, with the driver weaving around the road after taking a left turn on almost two wheels, and a back seat passenger half out a window, yelling and flipping off others on the road.
Why couldn’t there have been a cam, a GPS, and an accelerometer in that vehicle?