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Most of the top auto insurance companies have rolled outpay-as-you-drive policies in at least one state, and industryleaders expect the programs to refashion the car insurance market over the next severalyears.

But a good portion of consumers aren't ready to hop on boarddespite the promise of car insurancediscounts, and many aren't sure exactly how the programs work,according to a CarInsurance.com survey.

Related: Usage-based auto insurance to become 'marketstandard'

In the poll of 2,000 adult drivers, 9% said they were alreadyenrolled in a pay-as-you-drive insurance plan, also known asusage-based insurance. Half of drivers said they'd consider signingup, but 41% said they wouldn't consider it.

Of the consumers reluctant to try pay-as-you-drive, 43% saidthey didn't know enough about the options.

Pay-as-you-drive programs use technology to track mileage andcertain driving habits. The voluntary programs offer possible carinsurance discounts based on the collected data. Some insurerspartner with communications services, such as General Motors'OnStar program, to provide monitoring, but most provide freetelematics devices for customers to plug into their vehicles.

Although the programs are spreading, misconceptions abound. Hereare five of the most common ones.

Myth 1: Speeding will hurt my car insurancediscount.

Three quarters of survey respondents said that typicallypay-as-you-drive programs track speed, and 86% said in almost allcases, exceeding the speed limit would cut the pay-as-you-drivediscount.

But in reality some programs don't include speed as a factor incalculating the discount. Progressive's Snapshot program, forinstance, uses three factors — how often you hit the brakes hard,how many miles you drive and how frequently you drive betweenmidnight and 4 a.m.

Even programs that track speed don't compare how fast you'redriving to the posted speed limits. The devices don't know, forinstance, when you're traveling 45 mph in a 15 mph zone.

Some programs, such as Allstate's Drivewise and State Farm'sDrive Safe & Save In-Drive programs, do monitor speed, but yourdiscount is hurt only when you drive at or above 80 mph. LikeProgressive, Allstate also considers hard braking, time of day whendriving and mileage. State Farm monitors those factors as well asturns and acceleration.

“We calculate a risk factor based on the percentage of milesthat your vehicle logs at speeds at or above 80 mph,” Allstatesays. “We chose 80 mph as the threshold based on our risk models,which suggest that accidents are significantly more likely and moredamaging at these speeds.”

Myth 2: Insurance companies track my location and basemy rates on where I drive.

Almost half of survey respondents — 48% — thought insurerstypically monitor where customers drive.

But the PAYD devices give customers to plug into their carsgenerally don't monitor location, and today's programs don't baserates on where you drive.

State Farm says its Drive Safe & Save In-Drive device, forinstance, only provides exact vehicle location information forsafety and security reasons, such as for roadside assistance orlocating a stolen vehicle.

Otherwise the company doesn't monitor your precisewhereabouts.

“State Farm respects your privacy,” the company says on itswebsite. “We only receive information about the broad geographicareas in which your vehicle is driven. The size of these areas isapproximately 40 square miles.”

But that doesn't mean insurers have ruled out using location inthe future.

Progressive said this year it planned to test GPS-enableddevices to see how highway versus street driving might predictlosses. The company, which says it has collected more than 10billion miles of driving data on more than 2 million vehicles sinceJanuary 2008, is considered the leader in usage-based insurance inthe U.S.

Myth 3: You get your full discount rightaway.

Forty-three percent of survey respondents said almost allpay-as-you-drive programs provide discounts immediately. Inreality, the programs vary in how they apply the discount, buttypically you don't get the discount until renewal time.

Some programs, however, do offer a small initial discount forsigning up. With Intellidrive by Travelers Insurance, you can getup to a 10% discount for signing up and then up to a 30% discountat renewal time for low mileage.

Related: Extra liability is cheap

Progressive lets you sign up for a 30-day trial of Snapshot.After logging 30 days of driving information, you can find out howmuch you might save and can apply the discount to your premium. Inanother five months, the ongoing discount is set for the policyrenewal.

Myth 4: If the device shows I drive poorly, my rateswill go up.

Of those unwilling to try pay-as-you-drive insurance, 12% saidthey thought the insurer might raise their rates, based on the datacollected. Another 22% said they didn't think the discount would beworth it.

Typically, PAYD programs won't raise your rates if your driving isn't up to par.

“Rest assured, your rate will never increase based on yourparticipation in the DriveSense program,” Esurance says of itsusage-based product.

However, State Farm says premiums could increase for customersin rare cases. That would happen only if you currently get adiscount from State Farm for driving under 7,500 miles a year andthen you enroll in the company's Drive Safe & Save program andlog more than 7,500 miles annually.

Most customers who enroll in the program, though, will savemoney, the company says.

Myth 5: Car insurance companies will share theinformation.

Among survey respondents who said they wouldn't consider tryinga pay-as-you-drive plan, 13% said they think the insurer wouldshare their personal data.

Privacy concerns are among the biggest obstacles for consumersto accept pay-as-you-drive programs.

Insurers say they won't share the information unless they arelegally obligated. Otherwise the only people who see the data areyou and the insurance company.

“Travelers may become legally obligated to provide data to lawenforcement investigating the cause of an accident, in response toa subpoena, or as otherwise required by law,” Travelers Insurancesays of its Intellidrive program. “If we are required to providedata to a third-party, we may use the data for claim purposes.”

Related: Report: Half of American adults will not sign upfor pay-as-you-drive programs