Your Sense Driver score is calculated using five key factors:

Each of these factors works together to give you an overall Sense score, helping you understand whether you’re driving well and where there’s room for improvement.

The higher each of these scores are (or the closer they are to green) the higher your overall Driver score will be!

Your braking score is affected by ‘Harsh Braking’. The more harsh braking events that are recorded when you drive, the lower your Braking Score will be.

Harsh braking is when a driver suddenly slams the brakes with more force than necessary to slow or stop the vehicle. In other words, it’s a very abrupt deceleration (often due to late reaction or “panic” stops) instead of a smooth, gradual brake.

Frequent hard braking is a strong indicator of unsafe driving and greatly raises the risk of accidents. Harsh braking is one of the top predictors of future crashes, often because it signals the driver was following too closely or not paying attention (a leading cause of rear-end collisions). This habit also strains your vehicle, it overheats and wears out brake components much faster, potentially reducing braking performance when you really need it. Additionally, each hard-braking event wastes energy; a single hard brake can burn up to an extra half-gallon of fuel, hurting your fuel economy and costs.

Your Acceleration Score reduces every time you accelerate too quickly. The more harsh acceleration events that are recorded when you drive, the lower your Acceleration Score will be.

Harsh acceleration (or “rapid acceleration”) means speeding up too quickly by pressing the gas pedal very hard. In practice, it’s those sudden jerky starts or bursts of speed (like “jackrabbit” starts from a stop) that put unnecessary stress on the engine and tires.

This aggressive throttle input is risky and inefficient. Sudden acceleration can make the vehicle hard to control, tires might even lose grip on the road, especially in wet or slick conditions, making a skid or spin-out more likely. Harsh acceleration often goes hand-in-hand with speeding, and generally indicates aggressive driving behaviour associated with higher crash risk.

In terms of performance, rapid accelerations guzzle fuel and add wear-and-tear to the vehicle. Quick accelerations can lower gas mileage by roughly 10–40% in city traffic. Over time, this means more money spent on fuel, more frequent tire replacements, and added strain on engine and transmission components.

Your cornering score is affected by ‘Harsh cornering’. The more harsh cornering events that are recorded when you drive, the lower your Cornering Score will be.

Harsh cornering occurs when a driver takes a turn or curve too quickly or sharply. In these unsafe turns, the vehicle experiences high lateral g-force because the speed is too high for the angle of the turn. Essentially, it means whipping around a corner faster than the vehicle (or road conditions) can safely handle.

Taking corners at excessive speed dramatically increases the risk of losing control. A vehicle cornering too fast can skid, drift out of its lane, or even roll over if it’s top-heavy. This poses obvious danger to the driver, passengers, and anyone nearby, harsh cornering makes collisions with other cars or pedestrians far more likely.

Beyond the immediate safety hazards, it’s also hard on the vehicle. The intense inertia during a fast turn puts extra strain on tires, brakes, and suspension, causing those parts to wear out faster. If you’re carrying cargo, harsh cornering can shift or damage the load as well. In short, it endangers lives and leads to higher maintenance and costs from tire and brake replacements or damaged goods.

Your Speeding score is affected by driving above the speed limit on any given road. The more times you drive above the speed limit when you drive, the lower your Speeding Score will be.

Driving above the speed limit, commonly called speeding, means operating a vehicle faster than the posted legal limit or faster than is safe for current conditions. This includes blatant excessive speeding (far over the limit) as well as “creeping” speeds where a driver is consistently a bit above the limit. Essentially, it’s driving too fast for the road, traffic, or weather environment.

Speeding is one of the most dangerous driving behaviours. Higher speed dramatically increases both the likelihood of a crash and the severity if one occurs. When a collision happens at high speed, the force of impact is much greater, leading to more severe injuries or death. It’s no surprise that speeding is a leading factor in traffic fatalities in the UK.

In 2023, 56% of fatal collisions involved at least one speed-related factor. Higher speeds reduce reaction time and dramatically increase crash severity. Even small increases in speed raise the risk of death, and rural roads, weekends, and evenings see the most speed-related deaths. Beyond safety, driving faster than needed is costly: fuel economy also suffers: driving at 70 mph uses up to 9% more fuel than at 60 mph.

Your Rest score is affected by how fatigued you are. The longer you continuously drive without sufficient breaks, the lower your Rest Score will be.

Fatigued driving means operating a vehicle while too tired to drive safely. It can result from poor sleep, driving long hours without breaks, or operating during low-energy periods (late night or mid-afternoon). Tired drivers have slower reactions, worse decision-making, and often don’t realise the risk, or ignore it.

Driving while exhausted is extremely dangerous. A drowsy driver can nod off for a few seconds without realising it, enough time to travel the length of a football field blind on the highway. Fatigue dulls reaction time and decision-making; in fact, studies show it can impair driving ability as much as or even more than alcohol in some cases.

Fatigue is linked to up to 20% of accidents and a quarter of fatal crashes in the UK. In 2023, 13% of drivers admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. It’s especially dangerous on long trips, during overnight hours, and among professional drivers.

Beyond the crash risk, fatigued driving also hurts performance in that a tired driver is less efficient and more prone to errors (like missing turns or having to brake hard unexpectedly). In commercial operations, it can lead to schedule delays, vehicle damage, and increased insurance costs due to incidents.