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Mercury Insurance announced June 22 the company has made its usage-based insurance app, MercuryGO, available to drivers in Oklahoma to help improve driving skills and traffic safety.

The app acts as a virtual driving coach, providing skill scores that give real-time feedback about driving behavior.

Mercury auto insurance policyholders who enroll to use the app immediately receive a 5% participation discount and teen drivers will receive up to a 10% discount. Then, when MercuryGO customers renew their policies, they could receive a discount of up to 40%, depending upon their driving score.

“Driving safety is a very important issue for Mercury and we continually look for ways to help educate drivers of all ages on the importance of being alert behind the wheel, while also equipping them with the skills to avoid potentially dangerous driving behaviors,” said Mercury Insurance Customer Service Project Manager Sherrie Schreck. “Most auto collisions are preventable, so MercuryGO is a simple way to help keep drivers focused on their main task and, as a result, reduce fatalities and serious injuries. Plus, they could also end up saving a lot of money with this program.”

The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reports there were 640 motor vehicle traffic fatalities in 2019, and 8,646 crashes were caused by distracted drivers.

The MercuryGO app generates a driving skill score, calculated based on categories closely correlated with car crashes: excessive speeding, hard braking, distracted driving (i.e., phone motion and screen interaction) and road type.

Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), Mercury’s technology partner, is the world’s largest smartphone telematics provider, winning multiple awards. CMT is the pioneer of usage-based insurance with smartphones in 2012, the measurement of phone distraction in 2013, behavior-based insurance in 2014 and real-time crash alerts with roadside assistance in 2015.

“Mercury Insurance is utilizing the DriveWell platform to help drivers reduce distracted driving, speeding and hard braking by keeping them engaged and providing timely feedback,” said Ryan McMahon, CMT’s vice president of insurance and government affairs. “MercuryGO will help make Oklahoma roads safer and has the potential to reduce the number of car collisions, injuries and fatalities.”

CMT’s research shows 37% of all car trips in the U.S. in 2019 involved significant driver phone distraction; between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., that figure rises to 41% of all U.S. car trips. MercuryGO will help solve that problem by using technology that has reduced distracted driving by 29%, speeding by 45%, and hard braking by 17%.

MercuryGO provides useful inapp tips to help users become safer drivers. Added benefits include:

• A sharing option for families, which allows all participating driv• The ability for parents to receive real-time feedback about their teen’s driving behavior, including when, where and how fast they’re traveling. Licensed teen drivers, 18 years and younger, who are registered for MercuryGO will instantly receive a 10% participation discount on auto insurance.

• The opportunity to earn up to a 40% discount at renewal.

“It’s important to remember that driving is a privilege and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly,” said Schreck. “Every driver can benefit from sharpening their skills and MercuryGO can help them become a safer driver, while also putting money back in their pockets.”

Currently, MercuryGO is only available to Oklahoma and Texas drivers. Visit www.mercuryinsurance.com/GO or contact a local Mercury Insurance agent to enroll. Source: Mercury Insurance

Crash Champions Enters Colorado Market with Acquisitions in Denver and Fort Collins

Crash Champions, LLC, one of the nation’s largest independent collision repair companies, announced June 28 it has entered the Colorado market through the acquisitions of Auto Collision Experts (ACE), with four locations in the Fort Collins area, and Karas Auto Body, a single shop located in Thornton, CO.

These transactions provide Crash Champions with a meaningful presence in the Front Range corridor, with a population of more than 5 million, and complements the company’s significant footprint in the Midwestern market.

“With the integration of ACE and Karas into our platform, we not only gain entrance into an exciting new market with significant growth potential, we welcome a new set of expert technicians and skilled professionals to the Crash family,” said Matt Ebert, founder and CEO of Crash Champions. “The talent and reputational capital that these shops bring to the table put Crash in a strong position to grow throughout Colorado, and we look forward to bringing Centennial State residents the high-quality repair services and white glove customer experience for which we are known.”

“At ACE, we have always been committed to service excellence and high-quality repairs, and those are key elements of the blueprint for success that Matt and his team have developed,” said Keith Hess, co-owner of ACE. “We are known for investing in our people, having a passion for quality workmanship, and for going above and beyond to make the repair process as smooth and painless for our customers as possible.

“That is what made us stand out to Crash Champions, and that is what we will continue to do as part of Crash Champions,” Hess said. “I am proud of everything that our employees have accomplished in order to put ourselves in this position, and I look forward to the new opportunities for growth and expansion on the horizon.”

For more information about Crash Champions, visit www. crashchampions.com.

Source: Crash Champions

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