Drivescore - low scores

[Nigel_O]

Just for sts & giggles, I downloaded the Drivescore app on my phone. Annoyingly, it only seems to allow a single vehicle per profile, but I entered the Aston and went for a 20-mile drive. I purposely didn't drive any differently to normal, and was awarded ;-) eight 'events', which included 'Hard braking' and 'harsh acceleration'

Today, I did a 'spirited' 150-mile round trip of the Peak district in my Westfield and was awarded 159 events 68 for 'Harsh acceleration' and 29 'Harsh cornering'. It even flagged me for harsh cornering around a mini roundabout, with '48 degrees per second @ 13mph'....

What I'm wondering is whether Clearscore takes into account the vehicle - clearly, a V8 Vantage even at 1/4 throttle is going to be 'accelerating harshly' when compared to Mrs Miggins flat-out in her Nissan Micra and a Westfield on sticky Toyos is going to take corners with ease that would see some other cars in the scenery - are allowances made for inherent vehicle performance?

Anyway - after Clearscore confirmed that my Peak District drive had, indeed been spirited, it went on to award me 485 points (out of 1000) and it got me thinking - just what do you have to do to get a properly low score?

I can foresee unintended use of Clearscore as a measure of bravado / stupidity, but I can also see it as a source of some entertainment.

So - go on then - what's your best (ie worst) trip stats or overall score on Clearscore? Can I respectfully suggest that we don't list any stats that might relate to the very occasional failure to observe the posted speed limit by a couple of mph....

[Tango13]

Nigel_O said:

Just for sts & giggles, I downloaded the Drivescore app on my phone. Annoyingly, it only seems to allow a single vehicle per profile, but I entered the Aston and went for a 20-mile drive. I purposely didn't drive any differently to normal, and was awarded ;-) eight 'events', which included 'Hard braking' and 'harsh acceleration'

Today, I did a 'spirited' 150-mile round trip of the Peak district in my Westfield and was awarded 159 events 68 for 'Harsh acceleration' and 29 'Harsh cornering'. It even flagged me for harsh cornering around a mini roundabout, with '48 degrees per second @ 13mph'....

What I'm wondering is whether Clearscore takes into account the vehicle - clearly, a V8 Vantage even at 1/4 throttle is going to be 'accelerating harshly' when compared to Mrs Miggins flat-out in her Nissan Micra and a Westfield on sticky Toyos is going to take corners with ease that would see some other cars in the scenery - are allowances made for inherent vehicle performance?

Anyway - after Clearscore confirmed that my Peak District drive had, indeed been spirited, it went on to award me 485 points (out of 1000) and it got me thinking - just what do you have to do to get a properly low score?

I can foresee unintended use of Clearscore as a measure of bravado / stupidity, but I can also see it as a source of some entertainment.

So - go on then - what's your best (ie worst) trip stats or overall score on Clearscore? Can I respectfully suggest that we don't list any stats that might relate to the very occasional failure to observe the posted speed limit by a couple of mph....

One of the regulars in Biker Banter races a sidecar at the TT, I suggested he download the app and take it for a lap of the island but he wouldn't

[donkmeister]

Why is "harsh acceleration" deemed a bad thing by the app? I love a bit of harsh acceleration.

[deckster]

Nigel_O said:

What I'm wondering is whether Clearscore takes into account the vehicle - clearly, a V8 Vantage even at 1/4 throttle is going to be 'accelerating harshly' when compared to Mrs Miggins flat-out in her Nissan Micra and a Westfield on sticky Toyos is going to take corners with ease that would see some other cars in the scenery - are allowances made for inherent vehicle performance?

Presuming this isn't a rhetorical question - why would it take any account of which car you're in? Almost everything to do with driving safely on the road is related to other vehicles and driving in a way that other people expect. Accelerating hard, taking corners and roundabouts quickly - these are good examples of situations where others will be planning their manoeuvres based on assumptions about how you will be driving, and are entirely unrelated to whatever car you happen to be in.

I'm not quite sure what you were expecting from this kind of app but I'm pretty sure they are there to get you to drive in accordance with what the insurance companies deem to be safe. Not to give you a report at the end along the lines of "wicked takeoff at the lights bro, but if you tightened up your line in the corners you'd get an extra few tenths on the commute". Which I agree would actually awesome, but not quite in the spirit of the app.

[RazerSauber]

donkmeister said:

Why is "harsh acceleration" deemed a bad thing by the app? I love a bit of harsh acceleration.

Without looking into it, I'd say probably to do with being wasteful on fuel, increasing emissions and potentially dangerous driving.

[Skellum]

Harsh acceleration to them no doubt equals 'regular star of traffic light grand-prix'.

[NAAHD]

Reminds me of my black box a few years ago. I stopped as a kid booted a football into the road and my braking score plummeted. Then every time I had to stop at a set of lights or roundabout I was being down scored. Despite never speeding I still didn't have a perfect score for that either. Had to make sure I never went out past 9pm or I'd be getting more points taken away. Acceleration got down rated when I got stuck on a short sliproad and had to accelerate to 70 from a near standstill so avoid a rear ender. After 2 months with a black box my score was ridiculously low, despite my best efforts. Literally ruined driving. Luckily I managed to change to no black box for a hefty price of course

[Chubbyross]

Out of interest does Drivescore sell your data to third party companies? If so, then how long until the insurance companies take an interest?

[jamei303]

RazerSauber said:

donkmeister said:

Why is "harsh acceleration" deemed a bad thing by the app? I love a bit of harsh acceleration.

Without looking into it, I'd say probably to do with being wasteful on fuel, increasing emissions and potentially dangerous driving.

Anything that encourages people to overtake on B roads at a leisurely pace has to be a good thing. There are so many dangerous idiots out there trying to complete overtakes too quickly. I was so shocked by one chap who overtook me while revving his engine last week that my hat nearly fell off - I was only doing 40.

[MKnight702]

NAAHD said:

Reminds me of my black box a few years ago. I stopped as a kid booted a football into the road and my braking score plummeted. Then every time I had to stop at a set of lights or roundabout I was being down scored. Despite never speeding I still didn't have a perfect score for that either. Had to make sure I never went out past 9pm or I'd be getting more points taken away. Acceleration got down rated when I got stuck on a short sliproad and had to accelerate to 70 from a near standstill so avoid a rear ender. After 2 months with a black box my score was ridiculously low, despite my best efforts. Literally ruined driving. Luckily I managed to change to no black box for a hefty price of course

And this is why I hate black boxes with a passion, absolutely no context, just dumb accelerometers.

I am sure that black boxes are contributing to the lowering of driving standards, people are now being punished for daring to accelerate or brake, this is what contributes to those idiots that dribble down a slip road and "join" a fast dual carriageway at 50 when the rest of the traffic is travelling at 60-70. Because the black box punishes them if they try to match speeds and join properly.

[Om]

jamei303 said:

Anything that encourages people to overtake on B roads at a leisurely pace has to be a good thing. There are so many dangerous idiots out there trying to complete overtakes too quickly. I was so shocked by one chap who overtook me while revving his engine last week that my hat nearly fell off - I was only doing 40.

Surely for everyone's benefit it would be better if overtaking were banned? That way we could all drive in a proper sedate manner and arrive at our destinations without incurring any millinery related incidents?

[donkmeister]

Om said:

jamei303 said:

Anything that encourages people to overtake on B roads at a leisurely pace has to be a good thing. There are so many dangerous idiots out there trying to complete overtakes too quickly. I was so shocked by one chap who overtook me while revving his engine last week that my hat nearly fell off - I was only doing 40.

Surely for everyone's benefit it would be better if overtaking were banned? That way we could all drive in a proper sedate manner and arrive at our destinations without incurring any millinery related incidents?

I was recently overtaken by someone who was very optimistic about his 2nd gear acceleration capabilities and I slowed my barge from a heady 40mph to ensure he had room to pull in safely before a corner. A bit of harsh acceleration from him would have had him past me smartly and safely, without me risking my hat tipping forwards.

[georgeyboy12345]

Chubbyross said:

Out of interest does Drivescore sell your data to third party companies? If so, then how long until the insurance companies take an interest?

Yep, I most definitely will not be using this app!

[PHZero]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Chubbyross said:

Out of interest does Drivescore sell your data to third party companies? If so, then how long until the insurance companies take an interest?

Yep, I most definitely will not be using this app!

I'd also be avoiding any apps monitoring my driving style that are linked to my personal details. Just in case I accidentally ever broke a speed limit. The app T&Cs should detail what you have given them permission to do with the information that they are harvesting from you.

[Nigel_O]

deckster said:

Presuming this isn't a rhetorical question - why would it take any account of which car you're in?

No - definitely not a rhetorical question. The app asks for details of the car - why would it do this is it wasn't factored into the algorithms?

Surely it's obvious that a quick car being driven at 3/10 is almost certainly safer than a slow car being driven at 9/10, even though they're doing the same speed.

I've just had a bit of a drive and at one point, I had to pull out from a roundabout onto a busy dual carriageway. One quick squirt and I was into the traffic and up to the same speed, but I triggered the 'harsh acceleration' event. If I tried not to accelerate hard, I'd probably still be there waiting for rush hour to finish, or by pulling into the traffic slowly, I'd have caused another car to have to slow down.

[The spinner of plates]

Nigel_O said:

Just for sts & giggles, I downloaded the Drivescore app on my phone. Annoyingly, it only seems to allow a single vehicle per profile, but I entered the Aston and went for a 20-mile drive. I purposely didn't drive any differently to normal, and was awarded ;-) eight 'events', which included 'Hard braking' and 'harsh acceleration'

Today, I did a 'spirited' 150-mile round trip of the Peak district in my Westfield and was awarded 159 events 68 for 'Harsh acceleration' and 29 'Harsh cornering'. It even flagged me for harsh cornering around a mini roundabout, with '48 degrees per second @ 13mph'....

What I'm wondering is whether Clearscore takes into account the vehicle - clearly, a V8 Vantage even at 1/4 throttle is going to be 'accelerating harshly' when compared to Mrs Miggins flat-out in her Nissan Micra and a Westfield on sticky Toyos is going to take corners with ease that would see some other cars in the scenery - are allowances made for inherent vehicle performance?

Anyway - after Clearscore confirmed that my Peak District drive had, indeed been spirited, it went on to award me 485 points (out of 1000) and it got me thinking - just what do you have to do to get a properly low score?

I can foresee unintended use of Clearscore as a measure of bravado / stupidity, but I can also see it as a source of some entertainment.

So - go on then - what's your best (ie worst) trip stats or overall score on Clearscore? Can I respectfully suggest that we don't list any stats that might relate to the very occasional failure to observe the posted speed limit by a couple of mph....

I’ve got a few track days coming up…