Transportation technology

Cambridge Mobile Telematics research has shown that the right type of insurance telematics programs can help maintain and even improve safe driving behaviors.

The company announced the launch of its first offering in February, a telematics-based platform that is designed to modernize commercial fleet insurance by using vast amounts of driving data gathered from sensors on trucks.

Digital Insurance received responses via email from Dr. Caro Gabor, CEO of Movinx, a global insurtech platform and a joint venture between Swiss Re and Daimler Insurance Services. Dr. Gabor discusses Movinx, auto industry trends and embedded insurance.

The U.S. Department of Transportation proposed on Thursday that lane-keeping support, automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection and blind spot intervention be incorporated into its Five-Star Safety Ratings program for new cars.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened defect investigations in the past two weeks of cars made by Honda Motor Corp. and Tesla Inc. and equipped with automatic emergency braking systems.

Automatic emergency braking systems can detect and prevent pedestrian crashes, but lighting plays a role in the odds no matter the crash avoidance systems in place, according to a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Millennials are the most eager to go electric, followed by Generation Z, who also expect to see autonomous vehicles in the next five years. However, 40% of respondents said they expect to never use an autonomous vehicle in their lives. The reason for the EV interest is mostly motivated by money.

The EQXX, presented at the CES show in Las Vegas, can drive more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) with a battery half the size of Mercedes-Benz’s EQS, its current flagship electric vehicle, the manufacturer said Monday. The sedan’s battery technology is set to be deployed in the company’s compact cars from 2024.

In other news: Liberty Mutual launches insurance agency; Neptune Flood releases carbon-neutral plan; New York Life announces CEO-elect.

Electric vehicles fare poorly in the latest reliability study from Consumer Reports, with Tesla Inc. and its battery-powered lineup finishing second to last for the second-straight year. Only Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln division was worse, the organization said Thursday at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit.