TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to using a vehicle's ambient speed to determine an automobile insurance risk assessment rating for an individual. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to determining an average velocity differential between a vehicle and a group of surrounding vehicles based upon real-time or historical data to determine a risk assessment rating.

BACKGROUND

Generally, vehicles may travel at different velocities on the same section of a roadway. Although there may be a posted speed limit to which vehicle operators should adhere, other road conditions (e.g., road construction, weather, traffic, etc.) as well as the velocity of other vehicles on the same roadway in the vicinity of the vehicle may cause vehicle operators to regularly deviate from the posted speed limit. Therefore, current systems that assess the risk of a particular vehicle operator by comparing the velocity of the vehicle to the posted speed limit may have several drawbacks.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In contrast to conventional systems, the embodiments of the present disclosure are related to assessing vehicle operator risk by comparing the velocity of the vehicle to other proximate vehicles, taking other factors into account such as the current weather and road conditions. To do so, the present disclosure generally relates to measuring a particular vehicle's velocity with reference to other vehicles to determine the vehicle's relative speed. A vehicle's relative speed may be calculated, for example, by collecting velocity data (e.g., in the form of collected telematics data) that is associated with other nearby vehicles, and determining a vehicle's speed relative to these nearby vehicles driving at similar times, locations, and/or directions. Once calculated, a vehicle's relative speed is used to assess the risk of that particular vehicle's operator. Embodiments of example systems and methods are summarized below. The techniques summarized below may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for an automobile insurance risk assessment rating may be provided. The method may include one or more processors (1) receiving a first set of telematics data associated with a vehicle operated by an individual and indicating a velocity of the vehicle; (2) accessing a second set of telematics data associated with each of a plurality of other vehicles within a threshold distance of the vehicle, the second set of telematics data indicating a velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles within a time period associated with when the first set of telematics data was generated; (3) averaging the velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles to determine an average velocity; (4) calculating average velocity differential based upon a difference between the average velocity and the velocity of the vehicle; and/or (5) determining a rating based upon the average velocity differential. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

In another aspect, a remote server for an automobile insurance risk assessment rating may be provided. The remote server may include (1) a communication unit configured to receive a first set of telematics data associated with a vehicle operated by an individual and indicating a velocity of the vehicle; and (2) a processor unit configured to: (a) access a second set of telematics data associated with each of a plurality of other vehicles within a threshold distance of a location of the vehicle, the second set of telematics data indicating a velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles within a time period associated with when the first set of telematics data was generated; (b) average the velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles to determine an average velocity; (c) calculate an average velocity differential based upon a difference between the average velocity and the velocity of the vehicle; and/or (d) determine a rating based upon the average velocity differential. The remote server may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

In yet another aspect, a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium for an automobile insurance risk assessment rating may be provided. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium may include instructions executable by one or more processors that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to (1) receive a first set of telematics data associated with a vehicle operated by an individual and indicating a velocity of the vehicle; (2) access a second set of telematics data associated with each of a plurality of other vehicles within a threshold distance of a location of the vehicle, the second set of telematics data indicating a velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles within a time period associated with when the first set of telematics data was generated; (3) average the velocity of each of the plurality of other vehicles to determine an average velocity; (4) calculate an average velocity differential based upon a difference between the average velocity and the velocity of the vehicle; and/or (5) determine a rating based upon the average velocity differential. The instructions may include or direct additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Systems or computer-readable media storing executable instructions for implementing all or part of the systems and/or methods described herein may also be provided in some embodiments. Systems for implementing such methods may include one or more of the following: a special-purpose computing device, a mobile computing device, a personal electronic device, an on-board computer, one or more remote servers or a cloud computing system, one or more remote data storage entities, one or more sensors, one or more communication modules configured to communicate wirelessly via radio links, radio frequency links, wireless or digital communication channels, and/or one or more non-transitory, tangible program memories coupled to one or more processors of the special-purpose computing device, mobile computing device, personal electronic device, on-board computer, and/or one or more remote servers or cloud computing system. Such program memories may store instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, may cause a system described herein (or individual components of such a system) to implement part or all of one or more techniques described herein. Additional or alternative features described herein may be included in some embodiments.

Advantages will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following description of the preferred aspects which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present aspects may be capable of other and different aspects, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

