I’ve invited Big Brother into my car.
Progressive Insurance has this device that you can install under your dashboard to monitor your driving. The selling point is that they’ll give you a discount on your auto insurance if you behave.
When I signed up for my first six months, I thought, “What the hey? I’m a good driver.”
Oh, was I surprised, annoyed, and angry. At first.
The device is called Snapshot and it doesn’t log your speed so much as it monitors how quickly you brake. If you decelerate more than 7 miles per hour in some small time frame (a second, maybe), the delightful little device chirps at you three times.
Forget backseat driver. This is like an under-the-dash driver (who can’t even see the road) trying to tell you how to operate the car you’ve driven for 12 years–and it never shuts up.
I was gonna yank the thing out by its electrodes, but somehow I talked myself in to giving it a week. And then another. And then another. That was five weeks ago.
Now I’m driving like my 73-year-old mother. Well, maybe that’s not a good comparison since my mother drives a Ducati. (That’s a crotch-rocket for your motorcycling illiterates.) Now I’m driving like those slow people I used to l-o-a-t-h driving behind. The ones who take forever to crawl to a stoplight and who actually limit their speed to the speed limit.
You know, it actually feels kinda good. I’m calmer behind the wheel. I’m more at peace when I drive, a pretty mean feat in Orlando where we have more tourists than mosquitos.
And then I got deep. What would happen if I had a Snapshot on my desk at work to remind me when I was doing personal stuff on the clock?
Beep-beep-beep.
Or when my voice got too loud with my kids?
Beep-beep-beep.
Or when I stared at that illicit billboard on the highway that I should have looked away from?
Beep-beep-beep.
Or when I lied to my spouse, boss, friend, (fill in the blank)?
Beep-beep-beep.
How much would my life change then?
What areas in your life could you use a Snapshot to remind you that you’re straying off the road?
Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. Kudos
Thanks. The theme I use is from Themezee.com. It is called zeeBusiness. It is pretty standard but quite versatile.
Also, please send me the link to your blog. I think it is so important for writers to support one another.
I could use it for when Keith and I bicker in front of the baby. Beep beep beep! Save the fighting for behind closed doors!
You’ve still got a few years before your little one even “gets” it, but it’s good practice to start now 😉