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01
October
2018
|
14:47 PM
America/New_York

Nexar Investment Update

Better driving habits lead to safer roadways. That’s something on which we can all agree.

And, thanks to a recently completed partnership with mobility startup Nexar, Nationwide’s decision to invest in innovative solutions for safe driving continues to garner results.

Last year, Nationwide announced the commitment of $100 million of venture capital in customer-centric solutions. Nexar’s dashcam technology is one of many investments delivering value and promoting safer driving.

For example, a pilot program in New York City used Nexar dashcams in the fleet vehicles of a Nationwide commercial lines client, HASC Center, a non-profit agency that provides services — including transportation services — for children with special needs. During the 16-week program, HASC Center drivers demonstrated significantly safer driving habits by the end of the program, showing a substantial decrease in the key driving behaviors identified as most likely to lead to accidents.

This partnership with Nexar and the pilot program with HASC Center demonstrates Nationwide’s commitment to innovation by leveraging technology to better protect policyholders, their employees and their clients. The future of safer roads is going to rely on our ability to use technology to predict and prevent collisions, ultimately promoting safer driving.

Nexar is a mobility startup focused on promoting safer driving. Through the application of deep learning and artificial intelligence technologies to millions of recorded driven miles, Nexar provides collision prevention, detection, reconstruction, as well as traffic light prediction and other data products to the insurance and automotive industries. Nexar’s dashcam app connects vehicles to a connected safe driving network, improving the roads for everyone.

The Nexar Pilot Project

During the pilot, Nexar installed its dash-cam technology with the HASC Center in 20 fleet vehicles. Over the course of 16 weeks, the dashcams monitored over 3,000 hours of fleet vehicle operation and more than 20,000 miles of mostly city travel.

The pilot program determined that, collectively, HASC Center’s fleet drivers demonstrated improved driving behavior from the beginning of the trial to the end. For example, hard-braking maneuvers decreased 70 percent from five hard brakes per 100 miles to one-and-a-half hard brakes per 100 miles.

A follow-up survey of the pilot showed that 78 percent of fleet managers indicated that dashcam technology had a positive or very positive impact on driver behavior, and 67 percent of drivers reported that they were comfortable with dashcam technology present in their vehicle.

Nationwide innovation update

In addition to the Nexar partnership, Nationwide has also announced the following innovation related efforts over the past year:

  • Nationwide’s venture capital team has made eleven investments to date, including BetterView, BlueVine, blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, Matic and Sure.
  • In June, Nationwide announced its plans to open a new innovation center in the Arena District near its Columbus-based headquarters. It expects the new center to open in 2019
  • Nationwide is committed to driving innovation that helps members:
    • Live comfortably in retirement
    • Meet their insurance and financial needs in novel and digital ways
    • Protect their data and digital assets
    • Protect them in the evolving area of mobility