What affects my driving score?

Your score is based on:

  • Hard braking
  • Speeding
  • Phone use while driving
  • Road type

How are trips scored?

Each trip receives a star rating (1 to 5 stars). You can view individual trip maps and events like phone distraction or harsh braking.

How do I view my score?

Open the Marshmallow app. Your dashboard shows your two-week rolling score, trip summaries, and leaderboard position.

What is the difference between the number score and the star rating?

Number Score

Your overall score, out of 100, is presented on the Dashboard screen in the app. This is the key measurement of your driving performance, calculated with data from your trips over the past two weeks. The app compares your performance to the typical driver population for each subscore, like hard braking or speeding, and then weighs your subscores together to produce an overall score. The app uses aggregated data from millions of users and billions of recorded miles to calculate your relative level of risk per mile.

Star Rating

The star ratings are granted for each individual trip and can be viewed on the Trips screen. They provide an idea of what happened on each trip. For a given trip, you can lose stars for any risky events that occur, such as phone distraction, hard braking, or speeding.

How is hard braking measured?

The app records a hard braking event when you reduce your speed suddenly, such as slamming on the brakes in a lower-speed zone or drastically reducing speed on the highway. If you engage in hard braking often, even at lower speeds, it may suggest tailgating or not paying attention, which can be factors in crashes.

What counts as speeding?

Speeding is recorded when you exceed the "safe speed," which is a buffer above the posted speed limit.

How is phone distraction measured?

The app classifies Phone Distraction as distracted driving in two ways: Phone Use and Screen Interaction. Phone Use occurs when the car is moving at least 9 mph, your screen is on and unlocked, and the app determines that the phone is being handled. Screen Interaction occurs when the car is moving at least 9 mph and there is a high probability that you’re tapping on the screen. The app cannot discern what is on the phone, but it can tell the phone is being handled or tapped, which increases the likelihood of an accident.

Why did my score go down if my passenger used the phone?

Currently, the app cannot tell the difference. For best results, passengers should avoid using the driver's phone.

Why was I penalised for phone use when my car was stopped?

Even if the car is stationary when you pick your phone up, the app registers a phone use event if you begin to drive while still holding it. The distraction penalty only applies for the period of time you are using the phone while in motion. It is safer to stop using the phone before beginning to drive

How does the app know if I'm the driver or passenger?

The app learns over time. You can manually reclassify trips in the app to improve accuracy.

What if a trip was recorded but I wasn’t driving?

You can reclassify it as "Not Driving" in the app to exclude it from your score.

Why did my score go down?

There are three main reasons that your score may decrease.

  • Change Over Time: The app calculates your score based on your trips over the last two weeks. This means that your scores may change each day as trips older than two weeks are removed from the score calculation, including overall score, scored distance, and the number of scored trips.
  • Change in Risky Events: The score is based on driving performance. If your trips within a given two-week period have more risky events than earlier periods, your score will be lower as a result.
  • Change in Driving Distance: Finally, the score is also based on risk per distance driven, so that if your risk events between two periods are similar, but you drive fewer miles in the second period, your score may go down.

Why did my score drop suddenly?

Changes in driving behaviour, more risky events, or shorter distances (which affect risk per mile) can reduce your score.