This post was sponsored by MercuryGO and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
I have a teen driver. It's a sentence that strikes fear in parents everywhere!
Besides worrying about his safety and his driving habits, I also have to think about the cost of auto insurance for a young male driver. It adds a big expense to our insurance bill. I mean a HUGE cost compared to my husband and I, who have been driving for what seems like forever. My son's insurance rate for the year is more than both of us combined!
So, of course I'm interested in checking out any ways that I can save money on our automobile insurance.
Use the MercuryGO App to Save Money on Auto Insurance
The MercuryGO app is a great way for me to see how my son has been driving, and I also save money when we enroll to use the app. In fact, when you sign up for MercuryGO, you will immediately receive a 5% participation discount on your Mercury auto insurance bill. And, teen drivers receive up to a 10% discount off their insurance bill.
Then, when you renew your policy, MercuryGO customers could also receive a discount of up to 40% in addition to their participation discount, depending upon their driving score in the app. I say, sign us up now!
Use the MercuryGO App to Track Driving Skills
Mercury Insurance partnered with Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) to create the MercuryGO app to help improve driving skills and traffic safety. CMT’s research shows that, in 2019, 37% of all car trips in the U.S. involved significant driver phone distraction. And that percentage gets even higher during the day (between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.) when it rises to 41% of all U.S. car trips.
The technology behind MercuryGO helps reduce distracted driving by 29%, speeding by 45%, and hard braking by 17%. Basically, the MercuryGO app generates a driving skill score, which is calculated based on categories that are closely correlated with car crashes such as excessive speeding, hard braking, distracted driving (such as phone motion and screen interaction), and road type.
MercuryGO App Benefits
I had the chance to use the MercuryGO app for 30 days to test it out. We also installed it on my teen son's phone so it would track his driving too.
Family Sharing
One fun feature of the MercuryGO app is a sharing option for families where you can see the scores for everyone who has the app installed on their phones. I do a lot more driving than my son, but he actually scored higher than me! He's the 100, and I'm the 96 in the image above.
I like that I can receive real-time feedback on my teen's driving behavior, including whether he's been speeding, how fast he accelerates, and if he's slamming on the brakes. It gives me peace of mind that he's doing a great job of driving and, hopefully, helps him avoid any accidents (which in addition to causing potential injuries, would also increase our insurance rate).
Overall Trip Scores
Of course, on the flip side, I can also see my own driving behavior and make changes to improve it. For example, I was late to pick up my younger son from school the other day, and my driving score reflected that I'm not a great driver when I'm in a hurry. I need to make sure that I leave early enough so I have plenty of time to drive safely.
The MercuryGO app shows what can happen when you get sloppy and don't think about all aspects of driving, like hard braking. With the app, you can see where exactly each score lowering event happened along your route so you know which areas need improvement.
By using the app, I also noticed that the higher the amount of traffic, the lower my scores are. During rush hour, people tend to speed on stretches of our main road where traffic opens up between stop lights. I usually go with the flow of traffic, but I need to be more aware of my speed so I don't end up going faster than I would like. I also hit a lot more yellow/new red stoplights during rush hour, which increases my hard braking.
Earn a Spot on the Leaderboard
If you're a competitive person, you can use MercuryGO to your advantage to improve your driving skills. Besides having a friendly competition with Family Sharing, you can also see how you rank against other MercuryGO app users. For example, I'm in the top 30% overall and for distraction, but not as great in the speeding category. As you drive more, you can earn the bronze, silver, and gold achievements in each of the trip scoring categories, which is great for bragging rights!
My Recommendation
The MercuryGO app is a great way to both save money on your auto insurance, and track and improve your driving skills by reducing risky driving behaviors. I definitely recommend that you download and try using the app for yourself, but note that you must be a Mercury auto insurance customer to qualify for the related savings discounts.
About Mercury Insurance
Mercury Insurance offers personal automobile, homeowners and commercial insurance through a network of independent agents in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia.
Since 1962, Mercury has specialized in offering quality insurance at affordable prices. Currently, MercuryGO is only available to Texas drivers.
What about you? Would you install an app on your phone to save money on your auto insurance?
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