What a bunch of wimps my countrymen have become :(

A brilliant series of replies, especially the third one. Well done JD4x4.

That's sort of the crux of the original post, I think.

Societal acceptance has changed. Each successive generation is brought into an environment which shows by example that the collective welfare trumps individual liberties. Sounds good until you find out no one ever tries to keep impact to a minimum, monitors for abuse, or even has a clear goal.

The rules were adopted in 2004.

Sec. 90.371 Dedicated short range communications service.

(a) These provisions pertain to systems in the 5850–5925 MHz band for Dedicated Short-Range Communications Service (DSRCS). DSRCS systems use radio techniques to transfer data over short distances between roadside and mobile units, between mobile units, and between portable and mobile units to perform operations related to the improvement of traffic flow, traffic safety, and other intelligent transportation service applications in a variety of environments. DSRCS systems may also transmit status and instructional messages related to the units involved. DSRCS Roadside Units are authorized under this part. DSRCS On-Board Units are authorized under part 95 of this chapter.

Sec. 90.373 Eligibility in the DSRCS.

The following entities are eligible to hold an authorization to operate Roadside units in the DSRCS:

(a) Any territory, possession, state, city, county, town or similar governmental entity.

(b) Any entity meeting the eligibility requirements of Sec. Sec. 90.33 or 90.35.

Car dealers are covered under Section 90.35 (Business/Industrial)

An OBU - or OBE in the new IEEE standards is the vehicle unit.

Sec. 95.1501 Scope.

This subpart sets out the regulations governing Dedicated Short-Range Communications Service On-Board Units (DSRCS-OBUs) in the 5850–5925 MHz
band. DSRCS Roadside Units (RSUs) are authorized under part 90 of this chapter and DSRCS, RSU, and OBU are defined in Sec. 90.7 of this chapter.

The following link talks about the DOT plans:
http://www.its.dot.gov/press/2010/vii2intellidrive.htm

Thanks BoxCar !

It's part of my day job to handle radio licensing.

The article may have said so (and if so I missed it), but are any car manufacturers considering V2V within their fleet?

I haven't seen any firm commitments but I do know of some that are testing devices. Of the US manufacturers, GM has test units installed in some vehicles. There are also units installed in heavy trucks and motor coaches. I know there are Japanese manufacturers sitting in the standards development panels along with other US manufacturers I won't name. The USDOT is currently in the process of testing an aftermarket device that can be retrofitted using the OBDII port. These units have limited functionality currently in that they only send and receive "Here I Am" messages.

until they refuse to make a claim because of the data that they pull from the device. They will make up any reason not to pay a claim due to negligence or speeding or something like that. Who reads their entire policy? There is probably some small print that says they won't pay a claim if they can prove that you did something wrong and will use the GPS data to support their hypothesis.

To see the part where it says no GPS is built into Progressive's Snapshot device, you had to click the link at the bottom and read the Snapshot Privacy Policy:
http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot-privacy-statement.a...

Under "Data We Don't Collect," it says:
"The Snapshot device does not contain GPS technology and does not track vehicle location or whether you’re exceeding the speed limit."

(But if the device shows you driving at 90 mph, I would guess you're not going to get the Snapshot discount. What they're saying is that when you're going down Poplar St. at 40 mph, they don't know you're speeding because there's no GPS to tell them what the speed limit is on the street you're on.)

They don't need GPS to tell them how fast you're accelerating or how hard you're braking. The car's computer can feed Snapshot that info. And yes, they do say they'll look at that, and that's reasonable to me, because how hard the car is accelerated and braked over a six-month period probably does offer some predictive value about accident rates.

Why do they need to keep this data over time? (You didn't ask this, Nomad, but somebody else did earlier in the thread.) By keeping it, they can correlate the data collected by Snapshot over the six months the device was in the car with subsequent claims for that car. Doing that, they can fine-tune the rates for their discount program. Maybe it turns out that the rate of acceleration isn't as important as the time of day cars are generally driven (or vice versa), for example, for the entire pool of policyholders who used Snapshot for six months. It's very valuable information to an insurer for seeing what driver behaviors do predict claims in the future and for setting rates generally. They can also combine Snapshot data with policyholder driving records to gain even more predictive value.

We're both just speculating, but I would take Progressive at their word about not punishing policyholders simply because they didn't score well with Snapshot. I don't think they will drop policyholders who are frequently going 75 mph, or driving at 2 a.m., for example, as Progressive can make money off them as well with their standard, non-Snapshot-discounted rates. Now if you score poorly with Snapshot and then later submit a claim for a chargeable accident requiring them to settle with an injured plaintiff on liability, of course they'll drop you. (But they would drop any policyholder who hadn't used Snapshot, in that same situation.) And sure, Progressive is in it for their own bottom line. It's a business, not a charity.

How long has the Snapshot been offered?

I basically agree with you about what Progressive will do. Until every other auto insurance company is using something similar, it would not make sense for Progressive to be "dropping" someone.

I don't know how long they've offered this particular device. Wikipedia says the company has been working on trying to figure out ways to reward good driver behavior (not just fewer accidents and tickets, but specifically lower-risk driving habits) with lower rates since the mid-1990s, which is about the time On Board Diagnostic computers began to appear in cars, if I recall correctly. I don't think policyholders with older cars with no OBD module can qualify.

About 5 years ago, Barbara bought a new car & financed it through the dealer. After 2 payments she re-finance with a credit union with a reduction from 8 percent to just over 5 per cent. Shortly thereafter she renewed her auto insurance. They hit her with an increase of over $200. The agent could not understand why, but suggested it might have something to do with her credit score. Sure enough. The credit bureau showed in her report that she was making payments on two cars. When Barb contacted the insurance company, they said they could not adjust the rate down to where it was before. Sorry.
Furthermore. I won't buy insurance on-line either, just to save a few bucks.

That is surprising. Usually my agent tries to get me the lowest rates in order to keep me as a customer.

Did Barb get quotes for other companies? or, did she feel stuck because of having other coverages with that insurance company?

Just out of curiosity...

What's the up-side for Progressive in their "Snapshot Program"?

They developed and deployed quite a bit of electronic hardware; and they issue discounts to some drivers who would have otherwise paid full price...without increasing premiums of other policy holders to offset the discounts.

Hummm....What does Progressive get out of the deal?

Seems like they are forgoing a portion of their current revenue to acheive something. Seems to me, they are paying to collect hard information to develop a more "real-time" set of actuarial tables.

...Do people who make under $50,000/year brake or acclereate faster? Do SUV owners have a higher average speed? Do people in certain neighborhoods corner faster than other neighborhoods? Do certain professions (or ethnicities) drive more agressively? If you own a recreational vehicle are you a more aggressive driver? Do single mothers make more frequent stops during the peak driving hours?

Any idea how long the discount lasts if they give you one? As the data gets old (a few years) I can not imagine Progressive continuing paying the discounts it has issued. Perhaps in a few years those who received a discount will require a "booster" snapshot to keep the discount.

If you sell the car that was tested do you loose the discount?

After participaing in the program - if you do not receive a discount does Progressive tell you why?

Even after Progressive de-identifies your snapshot data do they keep a record that you participated in the program but were not eligible (for whatever reason) to receive the discount?

There is so much data that is available. Many companies are learning to "mine" the data to see if there is something interesting they did not know or expect. I like the "real-time" actuarial table comment.

Unfortunately, these devices cannot know why you had to do a hard acceleration, or deceleration. It can be very misleading to attempt to read the data.

This is just a fishing expedition by the insurance company.

These devices are not to save you money,they're used
so the insurance company can make more money. Information is king. The more information you have the better decisions you make. Insurance companies are no different.
The insurance companies sole reason for existence is to make money. Reasons to justify a raise in rates is what the insurance companies are looking for with these.
If they can help a company show they need to raise rates they'll use the info. If they can't or the info. would justify a rate reduction needless to say you'll never be told or hear a peep.