SMARTtrek 4+

Nice app but

So I’ve been using this app for about a week and overall I think it’s pretty fair and accurate with the grading except for phone use and smooth driving, I was on the road the other day and I received a phone call now my car has full Bluetooth so it’s completely hands free and it dropped my phone score to 45 but how ? This is the only app I’ve used that penalizes you for using your phone through blue tooth so I’m very unhappy about that and the smooth driving part, I live on a major highway so for me to not pull out and accelerate a bit quicker is sometimes my only option. I do not slam on my brakes unless someone else does or if someone cuts me off so I do not agree with this factor of driving. My score will always be lower on that part. So with that being said I’m not overly happy about this app

Just plain bad REVISED

The app has many flaws. * Phone habits - my phone is in my pocket, untouched for the entirety of each trip. Somehow I can be scored between 75 and 96. * Smooth driving - I take three blocks (1/2 mile) to go from a stop to 40 mph, and 2 blocks to slow to a stop at s signal, this scores me between 64 and 94. * Speed - on a recent trip I traveled 1.1 miles, it took 5 minutes, I did not hit 30 mph, score 65. I average 13 mph. * Time/Day - always below 90, early morning, drive time, midday, afternoon, any day of the week. Never a good time to drive * Mapping - half of my trips it shows starting 1/4 mile or farther from my actual start, done show me driving through yards and buildings. It just plain misses a good 10% of my trips. * Duration - some trips show 15 minute duration, for trips that actually were less than five. It records an end after I have been in my house watching TV for 5 minutes. If the app doesn’t know when I start or end a trip or where I actually drive, how can it accurately measure my speed, acceleration, or braking?

This App continues to map my trips through golf courses, houses, shopping centers, etc.. Also shows I accelerate (low or high severity) just before I get to a red light. I am actively breaking at that time.

Although my overall score is very good, this is not a tool to help improve driving safety, it is just arbitrary numbers assigned with no explanation of what you can do to improve.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your feedback. Driving scores are determined over a period of many trips, miles, and months in some cases. Typically, a single event, score, or trip may not have a significant impact on the overall score. Keeping your phone in your pocket while driving can adversely affect your score. Using a phone holder will help keep your phone stationary and improve your score. Also, it can take up to ¾ mile for a trip to start recording. If the phone loses GPS, it can miss a trip.

Intrusive, impersonal, inaccurate program

A faulty program designed with “Big Brother” overtones. Results can be seriously skewed by inadvertent or intentional movement of your phone. Improving results is left up to nebulous, unidentifiable concepts that tell you that you need to improve but not how. There are no baseline parameters that identify what each category requires to get 100%. Nor are there any specific identifiers as to what you did wrong to get a substandard score. To be evaluated by a subjective, analytical set of algorithms for a year without any specific remedial feedback is tantamount to saying, “your not doing well, just do better”. As a teacher we were required to have stated goals and objectives. We established identifiable tools for measuring progress. Most significantly, we provided numerous ways for remediation to achieve 100% success for anyone willing to work hard. None of these elements exist in this program. Very frustrating for anyone not satisfied with status quo.
After 2 more months of use the program is still punitive in nature and insufficient in its ability to give specific information on how to do better. If a program cannot tell you in detail how to get 100% success all of the time it is biased and skewed in the direction of “one standard fits all”. There is no remediation or specific instructions prior to your multiple infractions. And the bonus is, it affects your insurance.

Developer Response ,

We're sorry that you didn't find SMARTtrek helpful. Our intent is to help build awareness of when, where and how to improve driving behaviors. Green scores indicate that you are driving safely. Tips to imrpove your yellow and red scores are provided on the dashboard by swiping on the dashboard dial. Also, braking, accelerating and phone distraction events are shown for each trip on a map when a trip is selected from the trips list.