BILL NUMBER:  S392

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to
providing premium reductions for non-commercial motor vehicles
equipped with automotive safety monitoring devices

 PURPOSE :

To provide for an actuarially appropriate reduction in automobile
insurance rates for those vehicles that have installed an automotive
safety monitoring device. The intent of using such devices is to
provide parents and guardians of new drivers under the age of 22 with
the ability to monitor the driving habits of such young and
inexperienced drivers.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1. Adds a new subsection (i) to section 2336 of the insurance
law to provide for an actuarially appropriate reduction in premiums
for vehicles that are equipped with automotive safety monitoring
devices. Such devices shall be capable of alerting the parent or
guardian of a minor child who is operating a vehicle that the car is
being driven in an unsafe manner or outside of time or location curfew
restrictions. Such devices should help to monitor vehicular speed,
location, distance and direction traveled, acceleration and braking
patterns, the number of passengers in the vehicle and other safety
              

indicia that indicates whether the car is being driven in a safe or
unsafe manner. The Superintendent of Financial Services, in
consultation with the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall promulgate
standards for the approval, utilization and installation of such
safety devices.

Section 2. Effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

Drivers under the age of 21 are almost five times more likely to be
involved in a fatal auto accident than drivers between the ages of 30
and 69. In 2002, 41 percent of all teen deaths were caused by motor
vehicle accidents. That statistic far surpasses other causes of teen
deaths, i.e. homicide (14%), suicide (11%), malignant tumors (5%), and
heart disease (3%). In 2009, approximately 3,000 teen drivers between
the age of 15 and 19 died as a result of a motor vehicle accident.
Further, per mile driven, teen drivers were more than four times more
likely than older drivers to crash.

There are several reasons for the high teen death rate in automobiles.
Among the reasons are teen inexperience behind the wheel, higher
levels of alcohol consumption, the tendency for such drivers to be
more aggressive and reckless in traffic conditions, the non-use of
seat belts, and because teens tend to drive smaller cars that offer
less protection and which are more susceptible to rollovers.
Automotive safety monitoring devices - such as CarChip, DriveSafe,
Real-Time Tracking, RS-1000 Teen Driving System, SmartDriver, and
TravelEyes2 - do exist. Further, these systems, and others, have
demonstrated their effectiveness in enabling parents and guardians of
minor drivers to monitor a youth's driving habits. Promoting the
ability of parents to know the driving habits of their children should
have a cooling effect on a teen's desire to drive recklessly or to
travel to destinations far from home. This is because the above
systems allow the parent to communicate directly with their children
about unsafe driving practices near the time when such unsafe
practices are occurring. In addition, teens may have a heightened
desire to drive safer if they know that their parents or guardians are
monitoring their driving habits and could take away driving privileges
if curfews are not followed.
Instituting an actuarially appropriate rate reduction for those
insured that install proven safety monitoring systems could reduce
insurance rates for targeted populations by up to 25 percent. More
importantly, it could save lives. The cost for installing these safety
monitoring devices range from $160 up to $500, plus a monthly service
fee. Encouraging parents to install these devices is a sound public
policy to reduce teen deaths & injuries and the injury or death of
other drivers.

A few such driver safety monitoring programs have been operating in
New York, however, there is no statutory program to authorize their
use. By enacting this law, it is hoped that more auto insurers will
make such programs available to New York parents and guardians.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

2015-16: S1663/A3081 - Insurance/Insurance
2013-14: S.2001/A.803 - Insurance Committee/Insurance Committee
2012:S.6628/A.9748 - Insurance Committee/Insurance Committee

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

To be determined.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to all
policies issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after
such date.