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Are you the safest driver? An app will decide that [valleybreeze.com]

January 30, 2019

LINCOLN – Do you wait too long to hit the brake? Is a lead foot your bad habit? Do you get easily distracted by your phone while driving?

How would you feel if an app was tracking each and every one of those actions?

A contest to discover Rhode Island’s safest driver, hosted by Amica Mutual Insurance and Cambridge Mobile Telematics, will track driving behavior using a mobile application. Opening this week and running through April 7, the overall safest and least distracted drivers will receive biweekly prizes of $500 and grand prizes of up to $10,000.

Hari Balakrishnan, CMT’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said it’s his company’s mission to make the roads safer by using sensing technology and behavioral science.

“We believe safe drivers are made, not born,” he said, adding that this the first time CMT has conducted a statewide contest.

Balakrishnan said distracted driving is proliferating, noting that it’s the top reason people are afraid on the road, with 46 percent of drivers reporting distracted driving as their top fear behind the wheel, more than reckless driving and drunk driving. By harnessing smartphone technology, they’re flipping the script to make driving safer.

To sign up, download the free Rhode Island’s Safest Driver app in the App Store or Google Play. After registration, the app will begin to monitor and score driving behaviors including speeding, cornering, hard-braking, harsh acceleration and phone distraction. The app includes a live score and leaderboard to keep track of the standings.

The total prize money is broken down as follows:

• Two first-prize winners of $10,000

• Two second-prize winners of $5,000

• Two third-prize winners of $3,000

• Eight additional winners of $500

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