MOTOsafety Tracking Device

MOTOsafety is geared towards teens and their parents, but it’s a helpful device for tracking any driver or vehicle. Delivery drivers, car services, and taxi companies can use this tracker to watch their drivers’ routes and make billing more accurate.

MOTOsafety is also a fitting device for tracking aging drivers. You can track their routes and help remind them of regular vehicle maintenance.

MOTOsafety is a GPS tracker designed with teen drivers in mind. It tracks information like speed, location, and route, so your child can have their freedom and you can keep your peace of mind. You can watch your teen on the go through the MOTOsafety car tracker app or from the web login on your computer. From the website, you can set parameters like top speeds, boundaries, and curfew hours.

Installing MOTOsafety is as easy as plugging in a lamp. The small GPS tracker connects directly to your car’s OBD-II port (found in vehicles made after 1996). This port is usually under the steering wheel but can vary from model to model.

Simply plug it in and track the vehicle using your web account or mobile app. It took us a moment to find the OBD-II port in our vehicle, but once we did, the MOTOsafety clicked in as smoothly as a USB drive. Once the physical device is in your vehicle, you’ll want to be patient with the app. In our experience, it took about half an hour for the device to start communicating with our mobile device.

The mobile app is handy for watching your teen’s driving, but you can’t set any parameters from it. You’ll need the web portal to change settings like alerts, curfew hours, and geofences.

MOTOsafety comes with comprehensive reporting that covers almost everything—vehicle upkeep, speed, sudden braking and acceleration, distance, location, and stops along the way. Our favorite features include geofences, maintenance reports, and route replay.

Geofences are custom boundaries you can place on the MOTOsafety map. When your teen enters or exits any of these zones, you’ll be notified via email, app alert, or text (the choice is yours). Set them up around your teen’s school, work, home, or anywhere else they frequent. Geofences can be large as your state or as small as your neighborhood. This is also a good feature for employees like delivery drivers and chauffeurs to ensure your vehicle is where it needs to be.

In addition to a regular “safety report card,” MOTOsafety also provides maintenance updates and reminders. This will keep your teen responsible for regular maintenance like oil changes and state inspections. We also like this feature for adult drivers who may not be as vigilant when it comes to regular vehicle maintenance.

Route replay is one of the most useful features of MOTOsafety. You can watch the vehicle from your phone or desktop as it moves around town. You’ll see the driver’s top speed and any stops they make. This can help you watch out for your teen if you suspect they’re making unnecessary detours or speeding during their outings.

MOTOsafety’s customer service team is prompt and friendly. There’s a live chat on the website for quick questions and an email option for longer ones. While the tracking device itself is affordable, it comes with a monthly fee of $20. Be sure to call MOTOsafety if you want to cancel. There are no options online and you’ll be charged every month until you stop the service.

We’ve looked at vehicle tracking devices for teens before and MOTOsafety stands out from the crowd. Other than MasTrack and Bouncie, it’s one of the few GPS trackers with maintenance reminders for your vehicle. The big difference is MasTrack costs over $200 plus monthly monitoring.

We compared MOTOsafety to four other GPS Vehicle Trackers. See our full review of the 5 Best GPS Vehicle Trackers for more information.

The teenage years should be full of fun and new experiences, but your kids need to be smart and safe too. Your first line of defense is learning how to talk to your teen about safe driving. Having a conversation about boundaries and expectations can prevent trouble down the road. It’s also wise to provide an emergency car kit in case they do run into trouble.

MOTOsafety gives you parenting power without restricting your teen. Help them enjoy their teenage years and make better decisions with clearly defined safe zones and driving times. MOTOsafety is easy to install and use, but you’ll still need to pay a monthly fee to keep the monitoring service. Whether you want to track your teenager, aging parent, or employees, MOTOsafety is a good choice among the GPS trackers on the market.

We tested MOTOsafety for ourselves in a 2013 SUV for five days. Our testing included setting up geofences around key local spots, scheduling a curfew (then breaking it), and checking routes we took over the week. We made sure to set the off-limits times to hours we knew we’d be on the road to make sure it worked. Not long after, we got email alerts notifying us of unauthorized driving. To learn more about how we tested MOTOsafety and other products we’ve reviewed, check out our full methodology.

• How to Talk to Your Teen about Safe Driving
• Best Vehicle Trackers
• Best Home Security Systems
• Bouncie GPS Vehicle Tracker Review