Whether your state calls it DWI, DUI, or DUII, drunk driving is dangerous not only for the driver but also for passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and property. And driving drunk with a child in the car, who has no choice but to be there, should be treated as a serious crime.

Leandra’s Law

New York evidently felt this way in December 2009 when the state passed Leandra’s Law, which made it a felony to drive under the influence with a child under 15 years old in the car.

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A recent report from the Texas Department of Insurance was highlighted in a press release entitled “Texas Regulators: Auto Insurance Market is Competitive, Rates Remain Stable”  posted on Yahoo!’s finance section.  As the market becomes more competitive in Texas, Texans should be able to find cheap car insurance.  Nine insurance providers came into the Texas car insurance market between January of 2009 and December of 2010.  In addition to that, existing insurers in Texas introduced twenty-two new products for personal auto insurance coverage.

Overall car insurance rates in Texas were stable in 2010.  Fifty-six percent of the rate filings showed no change in price, thirty percent showed increases, and fourteen percent showed decreases.  Customers looking for State Farm car insurance quotes or quotes from other insurers should be satisfied that overall car insurance rates have remained stable in Texas.  With that information and the fact that new insurers are making rates more competitive, Texans have received better news in 2010 than the three percent increase of 2009.

There was a huge decline in 2010 in the number of Texans enrolled in the state’s high risk car insurance pool.  From more than 31,000 policies issued in 2005 to just over 8,000 in the first eleven months of 2010, Texans are finding car insurance elsewhere.  This is most likely due to the increased competition in the car insurance market.  While the state will further research this decline, it is a good sign that fewer Texans have to turn to this last resort high risk car insurance through the state.

In recent years car insurance companies have realized that “one size fits all” really doesn’t apply to car insurance plans.  The New York Post article “Pay-as-you-drive insurance revs up” by Jeremy Olshan describes a new way to get some traffic off the clogged New York streets.  We recently wrote about insurance companies trying out the pay-as-you-drive system while some places in the country have been using this system for years.  The Bloomberg administration in New York is hoping that a system like this where you save money the less you drive will help keep some drivers off the road and unclog the streets.

While insurance companies traditionally made up for the more frequent accidents by high mileage drivers with premiums from low mileage drivers, this new way of charging customers would change all that.  Driving could be reduced by as much as 8%, emissions by as much as 2%, and oil consumption could go down as much as 4% with these incentives.  A State Farm insurance quote could lower drivers’ rates by up to $270 per car just by installing a device in your car that monitors the number of miles you drive and other driving habits.

Progressive’s Snapshot plan was approved in New York just recently.  In other states, drivers have saved as much as 30% off of their premiums by having their mileage and driving time monitored for six months.  Progressive also looks at acceleration and hard braking and takes those factors into account.  GMAC offers insurance plans using monitoring from their OnStar systems.  The pay-as-you-go plans are not yet available in New York, but have been successful around the country.  Drivers must drive less than 15,000 miles a year to qualify.  Those driving fewer than 5,000 miles a year have received over half off their premiums.  While some are concerned about privacy related to tracking drivers, the ability to save money and cut down on traffic seems to override that.

It is not easy to get an auto insurance quote for young drivers like teens and student drivers. The fact is that such drivers, with their inexperience behind the wheel along with their somewhat more reckless nature, are the cause of many accidents and also get more tickets than more mature drivers. Insurance companies know this, and they know that by insuring them, they are more likely to have to pay out on a claim than if they insure an older and more experienced driver. As you are calling around and getting quote after quote for the young driver in your house, you no doubt understand this fully or you are starting to understand it with each high quote you get back.

The honest truth is that you likely will never find an auto insurance quote for your young driver that is equivalent to your coverage price. Read more…