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The world is seemingly upside down again as Ben Hadley joins the pod to chat about a digital asset auction gone wild, automated driving under scrutiny, and insurance companies getting more data than consumers may have bargained for.
It’s all fun and games until your favorite car gets in an accident…with technology at the wheel. Recently the IIHS has provided a rating of 14 driver assistance softwares across 9 manufacturers, all of which received marginal or poor marks.
- There's no evidence of real-world safety benefits from these systems, with the IIHS citing a lack of reduction in insurance claims.
- Despite Tesla's claims of safety, federal regulators are investigating nearly 1,000 accidents involving Autopilot.
- Lexus's Teammate with Advanced Drive system received an "acceptable" rating, standing out among its peers.
- "We have been able to look at vehicles with and without these (systems) and determine there is no reduction in claims as a result of these more advanced systems," says IIHS President David Harkey.
We all love the idea of a connected car, but it looks like insurance companies are taking liberties with the data available from manufacturers connected systems to determine insurance rates per driver.
- Kenn Dahl, a careful driver from near Seattle, was stunned when his insurance spiked by 21% due to data collected by his Chevy Bolt and shared by General Motors with LexisNexis.
- LexisNexis' report on Dahl detailed over 640 trips, monitoring speed, braking, and accelerations but not locations, affecting his insurance rates.
- GM and other automakers collect driving data for insurance purposes, often with driver consent buried in fine print or unknown to the driver entirely.
- Jen Caltrider, a researcher at Mozilla who reviewed the privacy policies for more than 25 car brands last year, called cars “a privacy nightmare.”
- How to Find Out What Your Car Is Doing
- See the data your car is capable of collecting with this tool: https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/.
- Request your LexisNexis report: https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumer
- Request your Verisk report: https://fcra.verisk.com/#/
After filing for bankruptcy in October, a California court has sanctioned the sale of Shift Technologies' digital assets, including domain names, trademarks, and social media accounts.
- TrueCar founder Scott Painter won the domain names, trademarks and social media accounts of Carlotz.com, Autoacquire.com, Canvas and Xchange Leasing for $35K. He also acquired the the platforms, patents and records of Shift and Fair Technologies for $120K
- A Canadian company (not automotive) also named Shift Technologies Inc. won the bid for the Shift.com domain and social media accounts with a $1,365,000 offer.
- Primera Management I, a Delaware LLC, snagged the Fair domain
Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.
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