BOISE – As traffic safety partners work to prevent the more than 40,000 deaths that occur on American roads each year, new research by AAA suggests that timely, personalized feedback may be the key to reducing dangerous driving behavior.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s recent study was designed to gauge the effectiveness of usage-based insurance (UBI) programs, insurance programs that monitor driving activities for a 3- to 6-month period via smartphone telematics or a plug-in device in your car.

More than 1,400 people took part in AAA’s study, with different levels of feedback provided over a 12-week period.  Participants were placed in four groups:

  • The Observation group – This was the control group; driving was monitored without feedback or advice.
  • The Standard Feedback group – participants were given weekly feedback and advice via text message on all risky behaviors that were being monitored.
  • The Assigned Goal group – group members were each assigned a specific behavior to work on with advice specific to that area.
  • The Chosen Goal group – group members selected behaviors to focus on and set goals for improvement, then were given specific advice toward achieving them.

In addition to receiving guidance through an app, participants in the non-control groups also had the opportunity to qualify for small monetary rewards as they enhanced their driving skills.

“The results were very impressive.  With up to a 13% reduction in speeding, a 21% reduction in hard braking, and a 25% reduction in rapid acceleration, timely and targeted feedback can help people break bad habits and improve their driving,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde.  “After the study concluded, drivers still drove much better weeks later.”

All three feedback groups significantly outperformed the control group.  More than two-thirds of participants said that the potential to earn extra money was very motivating, nearly 54% reported benefits from weekly driving feedback, and about 46% found the weekly dashboard (with detailed driving information) helpful.

“If we can make the process of change fun and rewarding, we may be able to get buy-in that might not be possible otherwise,” Conde said.  “As always, AAA will share these findings with traffic safety partners, insurance companies, and other interested groups so that we can explore ways to use positive reinforcement even more effectively.”