REGINA – An alternative way to charge a fair rate for motorcycle owners by SGI is getting mixed reviews from those who ride.
On Tuesday the company’s president Andrew Cartmell said a user based system that monitors driving habits is in the works.
The new method involves a device that can be hardwired into the bike. It will record acceleration, speed, driving distance and even how hard riders brake. This is a pilot project that will help develop a rate system for motorcycle insurance. SGI needs several hundred volunteers to help collect the data.
This comes several months after SGI announced a 73 per cent increase in insurance for motorcycles. The company later backed off after a large public outcry.
The project, however, does not have the confidence of all riders.
“I don’t think it’s anybody’s business what I do and wherever I go or how fast I’m going,” said Angelo Pierno, who has been riding for 25 years.
Pierno does not want anything to do with the new equipment and does not think many others will either.
“What’s going to happen if they monitor and they say, ‘Oh you’re doing 130’ and they’re going to give me a ticket or something?” he asked, laughing. (SGI said those details will be worked out down the road. Right now, all they want is to analyze the data.)
Monitoring is the reason Gayle Look does not like the device. She says it is like someone is virtually keeping track of you.
“I just feel like it’s just another way for the guy to watch ya, see what you’re doing all the time,” she said.
Cartmell said there is still a lot to be figured out and privacy is on that list if it expands in the future.
“If we move to a full blown program, we would do a full privacy impact assessment to make sure all the issues with respect to privacy are covered off,” he said.
Robb Hertzog, owner of Prairie Harley Davidson and member of the Motorcycle Rate Review Panel, says he was not in favour of the device when he first heard about it, but now he has changed his tune.
“It will make it safer and make the people ride safer,” he said. “If there’s an accident, it tracks that point of centre of the motorcycle.”
Proven safe drivers could see their rates go down. Gayle Look said it would have to be a steep discount to justify being monitored.
“A $50 drop isn’t going to cut it,” she said. “It would have to be a fairly dramatic drop in the insurance.”
SGI said if the pilot project is successful, the system could expand to cars and taxis in the future.
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