State Farm Insurance has rolled out an iPhone application to complement its successful Steer Clear Safe Drivers Discount Program.

The Steer Clear application gives young drivers a convenient way to complete the Steer Clear discount program, encourages supervised driver education and reinforces State Farm's commitment to preventing car crashes, which are the No. 1 killer of teens in the United States.

?The iPhone/iPod touch application is part of State Farm?s overarching strategy to become the insurance industry leader in providing positive mobile device experiences for their customers,? said Vicki Harper, spokeswoman for State Farm, Bloomington, IL.
 
?State Farm plans to extend the application?s usability beyond State Farm customers, to serve as a helpful tool for any young adult as they learn to drive, and as a guide for parents as they coach their teen drivers,? she said.

State Farm claims that the application is the first of its kind to help teens gain more experience behind the wheel, building on State Farm's overarching goal to reduce teen driving deaths.

The principles followed in the Steer Clear program align with those of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws. 

These laws have proven to be effective at reducing teen car crashes in part by lengthening the time that teens must drive while supervised and requiring practice in diverse driving conditions.

Here is a demo for the new State Farm application:

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State Farm hopes to make it easier for teens qualify for up to a 15 percent discount on their car insurance by completing this program.

This new technology allows parents and teen drivers to take advantage of State Farm's Steer Clear car insurance discount, which requires teens under the age of 19 to complete 20 guided trips behind the wheel.

The mobile application provides a user-friendly trip timer to log suggested practice outings.

The application will track practice time while the mobile device is safely turned off during the drive.

The key features of the application are that it directs users to a State Farm agent, the State Farm Pocket Agent or to statefarm.com.

Other key features include:
? Trip timer to log driving hours
? Suggested trip outings to practice various driving skills
? Tips for driving in different weather conditions
? Video stories about safe teen driving  
? ?My Agent? function that allows you to find and set your State Farm agent
? Tracks practice time while the mobile device is safely turned off when driving

?Mobile applications are becoming a way of life for many people,? Ms. Harper said. ?More and more, people use mobile technology socially and as consumers. 

?Our mobile technology strategy is to provide a useful and relevant way for people to connect with State Farm,? she said. ?In the case of this new application, it is a convenient way for young drivers and their families to participate in the Steer Clear program."

Here are some screen grabs of the application: