You see it on the back of trucks all the time as you drive slowing behind them, “How Is My Driving?” The purpose of course is so if they are speeding, breaking to quickly or driving all together like a crazy person then you can call their company. But, how is your driving? No really!?
A company called Automatic can help you out.
Automatic is a company that pairs their own dongle (which plugs into your cars OBD-II port) and relays the information to your smart phone. That information is then filtered through the Automatic App where you are scored based on your speed, acceleration and breaking patterns.
For example when I pull up my driving habits since I installed it at Christmas I have found that I apparently break really hard. In fact when I pull up my Automatic Dashboard, which shows all my recorded drives, it shows that I have 14 hard breaks and where those breaks occurred.
The Automatic also allows you to set a speed option. The default option is set at 70 mph but can be customized to your particular driving conditions. After these conditions are set the Automatic will track when, if and for how long you drive over this preset limit. This feature is exceedingly helpful if you have a lead foot like I do. In addition to this the Automatic also uses the GPS in your phone to track your drives so you can see how long it took you to get from point A to point B, and if you stop for brief times during your trip, as well as how much gas money you spent on your drive.
Lastly, the Automatic also comes with two features that hopefully you don’t have to use but are built in as convenience in case you need them. The first is a Check Engine Light diagnosis. With the Automatic dongle plugging into your OBD-II port it can not only read when your check engine light comes on but also diagnosis the problem. In many cases this might save you an expensive trip to the mechanic if it is simply a loose gas cap that you can fix yourself.
The second feature is the called Crash Alert. If you happen to crash during your trip them Automatic, given that it is connected to your car and paired with your phone, will call 911 and text up to three contacts and let them know what has happened. Though I hope I never have a use for the feature it was one of the selling points for my wife.
Overall the Automatic works exactly like it should and even when it seems like it hasn’t recorded a trip the app will correct itself a day later. Its a useful device to have if your commute is longer than 20 minutes or if you want to to track your drive times and overall fuel consumption. Though very useful the Automatic is a bit pricey ($99.95) for what it currently does. However you click HERE you can use my coupon code and get the Automatic for $79.99!!!
Pastor Mike Moore 