Marcus Pickett
A growing number of auto insurers are designing and selling usage-based insurance policies (commonly known as “pay as you drive” insurance). Such policies let drivers potentially lower their premiums in exchange for allowing their insurance companies to keep a closer eye on them. Via electronic monitoring devices (like Progressive’s “Snapshot” device), insurance companies can know when you’re speeding, at what time of day you usually drive, how many miles you drive and whether you engage in risky behavior like rapid acceleration or hard braking.
So why not monitor distracted driving as well? A recent white paper from anti-distracted driving technology company ZoomSafer suggests auto insurance companies would do well to add cellphone use as one of the relevant driving habits for pay-as-you-drive policies.
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Marcus Pickett
Many newer vehicle models come equipped with technology that helps drivers navigate, helps them apply the brakes correctly and even lets the car temporarily steer itself if all else fails. But while cars are getting smarter and safer, are drivers keeping up?
The answer is “probably not,” according to the latest MetLife American Safety Pulse poll.
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Mary Lou Jay
Do you consider yourself to be a good driver? If so, you’ve got lots of company.
In a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. drivers by Allstate Insurance, 64 percent of respondents rated themselves as either “excellent” or “very good” drivers. But that confidence in driving ability doesn’t extend far; the respondents said that only 29 percent of their close friends and only 22 percent of people their own age deserved an excellent or very good rating.
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Mary Lou Jay
Need an incentive to keep your eyes (and your attention) on the road? Consider a recent survey of the driving and cell phone habits of students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). It found that more than more than one-third of the students surveyed use some mobile phone app while behind the wheel, even as they’re maneuvering through traffic.
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Amy Higgins
Walking and biking are great ways to get exercise and save on driving expenses like gas and vehicle maintenance. But as good as it can be for you, it can be dangerous as well. In 2009, roughly 4,000 pedestrians were killed — that’s 12 percent of all crash deaths in the United States, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). But don’t let statistics scare you into setting aside your sneakers.
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Drivers are saving on auto insurance — by skimping on coverage, according to a recent study conducted by Quality Planning, which supplies data for the auto insurance industry. The study, which looked at consumer auto insurance shopping habits between 2006 and 2010, found that consumers are cutting back on coverage and, in some cases, dropping collision and comprehensive coverage entirely on older cars.
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Marcus Pickett
Car stereos and wheel covers are some of the items most commonly stolen from car owners. Now, airbags are becoming an increasingly hot commodity. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), roughly 50,000 airbags are stolen each year, costing car owners and their auto insurance companies more than $50 million annually.
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