In a survey of 500 consumers about their knowledge of auto insurance, Progressive Insurance found 63 percent of respondents didn't know that the bad driving of others affected their car insurance rates.

Progressive also reported men were less likely than women to think bad drivers affect everyone's rates and at 30 percent, young consumers (ages 18-34) had the lowest awareness of any age group.

Eighty-nine percent of respondents told Progressive they would be upset if they found out they're paying more to offset the costs of underpriced drivers.

Insurance companies commonly price consumers by comparing them to drivers with whom they share basic characteristics, like age, gender, or vehicle year, make and model. These factors do not directly reflect individual driving habits, but until Snapshot, Progressive's user-based insurance product, there wasn't a simple way to include how a driver actually drives when calculating a customer's rate.

Progressive introduced Snapshot to give drivers a way to save more by showing they drive safely. Snapshot measures the number of times a driver brakes hard, the time of day and the number of miles they drive. With more than 6 billion miles of driving data, Progressive has found that adding these key driving behaviors predict the likelihood of a claim far better than traditional insurance rating variables alone, enabling Progressive to provide larger discounts, averaging $150 annually, to lower-risk drivers.

"It seems obvious, but the best indicator of someone's likelihood to get into an accident is their actual driving behavior," says Dave Pratt, general manager of usage-based insurance at Progressive. "Having that information helps us provide a more personalized rate that gives people who drive safely the discounts they deserve. Not surprisingly, most customers who try Snapshot save money, are happier, and stay with us longer."

Special Reports /

Progressive Survey Shows Most Drivers Unaware They Subsidize Bad Drivers

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