Teensurance Tracks Teens on the Road

The technology to track where a car is and how fast it is going is available, but parents of new teen drivers have not been quick to adopt it. One insurer may change that. Safeco is offering Teensurance, a GPS tracking and reporting system in the 44 states where it provides car insurance.

With the GPS unit installed, parents and teens can set speed, distance, and time limitations and be notified via text message, email, and phone calls if and when any are crossed.

Surveys show "every 16 year old and 17 year old thinks they are a better driver than mom and dad, but they get easily distracted," says Jim Havens, Safeco's vice president of customer solutions. With cell phones in the hands of inexperienced drivers, there are even more ways for new drivers to become distracted. A survey of more than 1,000 16- and 17-year-old drivers by AAA finds that 61 percent of teens admit to risky driving habits; of them, 46 percent say they text message while driving and 61 percent say they talk on cell phones.

With my oldest a few years away from driving, suddenly a tool like this makes some sense—if it's used as a way to help teens monitor and adjust their driving behavior as they take to the road. If parents use it to revoke driving privileges at the first sign of a surpassed speed limit, then it's just a Big Mother tool and not very useful.

Of course, it is easy to disable. But parents will get a message telling them when Teensurance is offline, Havens said. He says the company has anecdotal evidence that the system is helping teens become more aware of their driving behavior and adjusting it when needed. Still, there is not enough data yet to prove its effect on teens warrants lower premiums for families with teens who use the $14.99-a-month service. For the extra $15, families with teens also get the ability unlock a door remotely if keys are locked in the car and access to roadside assistance in case of an emergency.

So the big question: Would you pay extra for this service if you have teen drivers? Parents and teens who are using Teensurance or something similar, let us know what you think of it.