Car Insurance Costs of Tailgating

As Super Bowl XLV approaches, drivers and fans alike should avoid combining drinking and driving. A study just released by the University of Minnesota found that 40 percent of individuals had alcohol in their body, and 8 percent were above the legal limit. To boot, authorities in the states from where each Super Bowl team is based are warning of stricter enforcement during the weekend.

The Study

Approaching attendees at 13 MLB baseball games and 3 NFL games, almost 400 people agreed to take a Breathalyzer test for the survey. Just over half were men and as many were between the ages of 21 and 35.

Some of the main links with higher alcohol intake were:

• being under age 35
• tailgating before the game.

Although 8 percent may not seem like a lot, NFL stadiums can hold between 61,000 and 91,000 people. Cowboys Stadium, the location for Super Bowl XLV, can be specially fitted to hold up to 110,000 people, which means thousands of potential drunk drivers on busy roads after a game, and tens of thousands impaired motorists.

Concerns Around the Country

The increase in drunk drivers on Super Bowl Sunday has been a concern for authorities for many years, but increased data makes post-sporting event intoxication ever more worrisome.

Pennsylvania, the home state of Super Bowl team the Pittsburgh Steelers, saw 246 car accidents during Super Bowl 2010, despite the team not even playing in the NFL's highly-anticipated climactic post-season game.

Wisconsin, where the rival Green Bay Packers reside, was ranked 37th highest in traffic fatalities by the US census bureau, but those numbers are bound to increase in America's brewery heartland.

The two cities linked to the Super Bowl won't be the only ones taking extra precautions though. As a default US holiday, Americans from across the country will likely be celebrating the championship. Super Bowl Sunday fatalities are 41 percent higher than the average Sunday.

In Las Vegas and other major cities, police are planning to set up "sobriety checkpoints" at busy intersection known as higher-than-average drunk driving areas.

Safe Driving Tips

If you're attending a Super Bowl party or event, be sure to designate a driver beforehand. This will be much more effective than choosing a driver during the game, when people will likely already be consuming alcohol. To show your thanks to the designated driver, consider giving them the best seat to watch the game or keeping their non-alcoholic drinks filled at all times.

Make sure that their vehicle is easy to access and can easily leave the area.

Whether or not you are planning on attending a Super Bowl event, exercise caution when driving on all big game days, and, if possible, avoid the roads altogether

The Car Insurance Impact of Drunk Driving

Driving while impaired can have very severe consequences, from high fines to jail time. If you are found guilty of drunk driving, you could be forced to pay victims' medical bills, not to mention legal expenses and a high rise in your car insurance premiums.

Beyond rate hikes, you could even have your policy canceled or not renewed by your insurer. Then you will be forced to find new car insurance with both a DUI and a cancellation on your record.

Fraud, Theft Making Car Insurance Prices

New York, Florida, California, Arizona, and all over the US today, you can see headlines about car theft and insurance fraud. It's no coincidence-it's the same every day. Insurance fraud has become so common with this poor economy with such high unemployment rates, the costs have actually just been passed on to policyholders in the form of premium increases.

Economic Downturns Drives Prices Up

Month to month, year to year, the price of insuring your automobile has been increasing since 2007. December 2010 saw the first decrease in month to month insurance rates, but it was less than a 1% difference, and was dwarfed by the big increase from November. The most optimistic estimates of economic growth show very little growth indeed, which aligns with the news from industry experts that insurance prices will probably increase another 20% in 2011 for most drivers.

Experts have proposed three reasons for the unnatural rise in insurance rates:

1. Increased stress causing poorer driving
2. More uninsured and underinsured drivers push costs unfairly onto insured motorists
3. Increased fraud and insurance scams forcing consumers to compensate for losses with premium hikes

Sociological evidence does suggest that people in a recession are more stressed, distracted, and reckless on the roads.

The logic behind the second idea is that insurance companies often lose money when an uninsured or underinsured motorist is involved in a collision with one of their policyholders. Rather than simply absorbing the costs, many insurance companies tend to increase premiums nationwide, spreading out the financial burden across their policyholders. In the short-term, this increase seems tiny, but month after month they begin to compound.
The third proposal might actually have the biggest impact.

Fraud Skyrockets during Downturn

Cases of fraud prosecutions have exploded over the last two years. There are new cases being reported in the news daily, but that does not mean that many others are not getting away with defrauding the insurance companies.

The costs of fraud are also spread out to policyholders in the form of premium increases.
However, arrests do seem to be coming at a higher rate than before. Law enforcement has been enacting new measures to catch scammers that include paying cash rewards to citizens who spill the beans on insurance criminals.

In Florida, at least, the Anti-Fraud Reward Program appears to be working wonders. If a citizen provides the police with information that helps catch the criminal, that citizen could receive a reward of up to $25-thousand.

Organized Crime Operations

The type of fraud that's driving prices up is not one person reporting that their windshield was broken during the night when truly they hit it with a baseball. The frauds making an impact are large, organized crime operations.

Criminal may pay citizens to buy a car, then they steal it, ship it overseas for re-sale, and collect the car insurance money for theft.
They could also hide the vehicle in a garage until the claim comes in, then sell the vehicle on the black market.

Beating the Price Hikes

Getting online car insurance quotes is the quickest, most effective way to find lower premiums. Search today to get high quality discount car insurance.

Tips on how to avoid auto insurance fraud

Auto insurance abuse and fraud has become quite a problem in the past few years as there was a rise in fraud reports and diversification of schemes used to affect fraud victims. It has come to the point where many drivers feel that the auto insurance quotes and rates they get are too high because of the abundance of fraudulent claims filed to insurance providers. In fact, each claim filed by using an abuse or fraudulent scheme ultimately leads to the overall increase in rates for all consumers, who even didn't face fraud on their own.

In order to minimize the risk of auto insurance fraud and abuse, and protect lawful car owners from becoming victims of illegal schemes, insurance providers and experts recommend following these five helpful tips that will protect you paying for an abusive claim:

1. Contact your insurance provider as soon as possible when ending up in an accident. You may want to call your insurance representative before calling the police, in order to provide all the information regarding the accident. You will be informed about the right repair shops, legal advisors and rental car services to use. Quite often these third party representatives make part of fraudulent schemes.

2. Only use repair shops preferred by your insurance provider or you are common with. In many cases fraud schemes involve certain repair shops that charge higher rates for making a standard repair and abusing your insurance claim.

3. Be cautious about the towing companies that arrive to the site of the accident. You may end up dealing with a towing company that receives referral fees for directing customers to specific repair shops or other services that will charge you more than your insurance company's preferred providers.

4. In case you're injured during the accident and have to use medical services, keep track of all the treatments, prescriptions and doctors you receive care from in order to compare the records with your insurance provider later. Sometimes inaccuracies in these records can be a sign of insurance fraud that will ultimately reflect in your insurance rates.

5. Never sign blank documents or any contracts or forms without reading them first a towing truck driver, repair shop worker, legal advisor or medical care provider will give you. In many cases fraudulent contracts are offered for signing during stress that the victim goes through after and accident. And later you may be legally obliged to pay for things you didn't expect.

Always make sure to get auto insurance quotes from a company willing to fight and investigate fraudulent acts or insurance abuse. It's a matter of customer support, and if your provider doesn't want to deal with things like that, obliging you to pay higher premiums regardless whether you were a victim of a fraud scheme or not, you definitely don't want to insure your auto with such a provider. So get your auto insurance quotes from an insurer that you can really trust. Otherwise you may end up paying more money and being a victim of insurance abuse someone makes money from.

That's some bad ZIP code, Harry

There's fair, and then there's fair or not as the case may be. Looking around our fair land, it would be great to see only good stuff. But the world isn't made like that. We found a vast expanse of space, and then the people came and messed it up by building places to live and burning fossil fuel to fill the air with city smog. And people, being people, stayed selfish and potentially criminal, so some areas have a bad record for behavior. Of course the wealthy can buy their own plots of paradise and build a wall around it. Security guards keep the rest of the world at bay. But the rest of us have to live in this urban sprawl where the problems of unemployment and the credit crunch are putting everyone under pressure.

So where do we choose to live? Most of us are trapped into an area by birth. It's surprising how hard it is to leave our roots even when things start going bad. When we do move, it's usually to find work. This again can be a trap. Sometimes, the places with work are in the rougher neighborhoods. Then we're into playing the game of deciding just how far we want to commute everyday from our haven to work and back. And don't think this is just a problem for the individuals. It's a problem for local government as well. There's the mayor and the elected officials with the responsibility of providing a safe place to live, a good place for business. If people are moving out of an area or refusing to move into it, this is bad for the local economy. There are less people paying taxes, so there's less money to spend on anything important.

There's a website run by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. It shows you how many vehicles are stolen around the country. The good news is the rate of thefts is falling, but there remain major areas where you no sooner park your car and walk away before it's driving off. California and Texas are top of this list of shame. This is bad news for anyone outside California looking for cheap car insurance quotes. Inside California, the law was changed to prevent insurers from loading the premium rates based on your ZIP code. Everyone else gets hit when the accident statistics and theft rates combine in a perfect storm of insurance claims.

You can only do so much in fitting anti-theft devices and GPS trackers. In the end, all you can do is insure and hope to recover most of the lost value if your vehicle disappears. Get the maximum number of car insurance quotes and compare the premiums. One or two of the local insurers may have lower rates. Rates should be but no one said insurance or any part of our lives here had to be fair.

*And just in case you can't remember, the title of this article is a reference to the "bad hat" line in Jaws, now used as the catchphrase by Brian Singer's production company at the end of House.

Your Post-Collision Field Guide

Do you know what to do if you are in an auto accident? The decisions you make at this crucial time could save you thousands of dollars, and your life.

Do you know what to do if you are in an auto accident? The decisions you make at this crucial time could save you thousands of dollars, and your life.

Be Prepared Ahead of Time

Make sure you have all necessary information and tools available to alert emergency personnel and document damage in the event of an accident. If you have any specific medical needs, keep a sheet with the information in the glove compartment. Also keep a notepad, pen, first aid kit, seat-belt cutter, and a disposable camera in your car to take down information from others and document crash damage. Of course, you should always have your driver's license, vehicle registration, and coverage information.

Immediately Following the Accident

Safety first - Immediately check yourself, and then others in your vehicle, for injuries. If you suspect a head or neck injury, do not move the victim. Rather, try to stabilize the head to keep it in place. Moving someone with a head or neck injury can cause permanent damage and even death.

Put pressure on wounds with severe bleeding by using clothing or towels.

If in doubt, always call an ambulance to make sure all potential injuries are treated. Always call the police to file a police report, which is very important when filing insurance claims.

Once everyone is safe

If it is safe to do so, immediately begin collecting contact information from the other parties as well as witnesses. Exchange driver's license number, vehicle registration number, and coverage information with the other driver, noting any differences between the name on the license and the name on the insurance or registration. This is vitally important.

Document damage to the vehicles as soon as possible, preferably by taking photos. It is also helpful to take photos of the scene, noting the relationship between vehicles, the road, vehicle debris, etc.

Move cars to the side of the road if you can, as this will be safer for you and other drivers.

Refrain from leaving the scene before the police. Contact your insurance company immediately. Some insurance companies require you to file a claim within 24 hours of an incident.

Talking with Others

Everyone is jarred by an accident, so it is very important to stay calm and polite. Do not sign any documents except those provided by police or emergency personnel. Do not admit fault of the accident, nor should you accuse the other party of being at fault. Simply tell the police the facts to the best of your ability, exchange car insurance information, and allow professionals to do their job.

Vehicle Repair

Your automobile could very well be the second most expensive item you ever purchase, so take an active role in the repairs to your vehicle to make sure the repairs and costs are appropriate. This will help protect you against fraud from extra costs from both autobody shops and your car insurance provider.

Inspect auto repair shops for modern equipment and willingness to justify their cost estimate. When you receive your repaired vehicle, inspect it to make sure all repairs (and no other repairs) were completed. Check places where paint has been added to make sure it matches. Take your vehicle for a test drive to guarantee it works properly.

Then find lower premiums using car insurance quotes!

Car insurance quotes for top car theft vehicles

It won't be big news for car owners saying that some cars are just too good to not get stolen every now and then. To our regret, car theft is something that happens in our country on a regular basis, and those who do it have particular tastes and interests when tracking down their victims. In some cases there's even a hunt for particular car makes and models, which makes insurance providers adjust their rates accordingly. Who wants to insure a car for cheap when it's very likely to be stolen, right?

According to the 2009 National Insurance Crime Bureau, the following are the top 10 most commonly stolen cars in the US:

1. '94 Honda Accord
2. '95 Honda Civic
3. '91 Toyota Camry
4. '97 Ford F-150 Pickup
5. '04 Dodge Ram Pickup
6. '00 Dodge Caravan
7. '94 Full Size Chevrolet Pickup
8. '94 Acura Integra
9. '02 Ford Explorer
10. '09 Toyota Corolla

These are the average national rankings, which vary from state to state. For example, in southern states there's a particular interest in '95 full-size Chevrolet pickups, while the northern car thieves prefer '00 Dodge Caravans. In general, the '90 import cars seem to be very popular targets for car thefts. There are many reasons for this, including their affordable prices and in many cases the possibilities of tuning, which are highly appreciated among car enthusiast who often don't even suspect that they are buying a stolen car for such a low price. Still, some newer models show their wide popularity among the population, which is reflected bizarrely through higher theft rates.

How these statistics reflect in car insurance quotes and rates? Well, insurance providers simply tend to set higher rates when seeing vehicles with high theft rates even if other factors such as engine volume, top speed, age and sex of the driver, his credibility and driving record are good in general. This is done to assure that the insurance company is getting the payment for taking the risk of insuring a particular vehicle, which is of course higher when dealing with car from the list above.

What can be done to get lower car insurance quotes even if you have a vehicle from the list? First of all, make sure to minimize the risk of the car being stolen. This can be done in different ways. You can install anti-theft devices, alarms and engine blockers to make your car less prone to theft. Next, throw out the junk from your garage that keeps your car on the roadside in front of the house and use it according to its purpose. If you don't have a garage, or have to park the vehicle in the city, make sure to take all the valuables with you. Things like your ipod, GPS navigator or laptop can be a strong temptation for a burglar to break into the car, and it won't take them far to commence actual car theft. And of course, don't forget to shop around for car insurance. Get as many car insurance quotes from different providers as you can and you'll surely find an attractive policy. Insurance companies have different theft statistics and claims, so use it to your advantage.

What is insurance for?

If you go back into the history of insurance, you find it was traditionally pitched at protecting widows and orphans among the middle class and the poor who could afford the premiums. Because there was a clear social safety-net purpose, the government allowed insurance to be free from federal income taxes. So, from 1913 onward, premiums were deductible and any gains in the value of the policy were untouched. In smaller estates, the amount payable on death would escape estate tax as well. However, what was genuinely useful in 1913, is less relevant today as the state has rolled out Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, not forgetting food stamps and low-cost housing for those in need. People can avoid the worst effects of poverty without having to rely on insurance. Even more important is the drop in the birth rate. One-hundred years ago, there were multiple children per couple as the waves of new immigrant families put down roots. Today, we have the lowest rate since records began with 13.9 children born per 1,000 adults. The risk of children being left destitute has never been lower.

Perhaps this explains another set of numbers. The sale of policies to families with children has dropped by 45% over the last 25 years. It seems families no longer think they are forced to carry insurance given the protections offered by the state. Looking a little more widely finds 30% of adult Americans do not have any life cover. This is not something produced by the recession although sales have been dropping over the last two years. This trend was clear during the previous boom years. Most people only carry term life. Permanent life policies are quite rare in the lower income groups.

So who is buying life cover? If you look at permanent policies worth more than $2 million, this was 1% of the market twenty years ago. Move forward ten years and these policies were 10% of the market. Today, they represent 40% of the market. So these policies are being used as legitimate tax avoidance vehicles for the wealthy. Indeed, if President Obama were to force a rise in the effective rate of income tax for the higher income groups, this would feed the market for insurance since the premiums are deductible. Indeed, once you add in the tax exemption for all gains on cash values, the policies are seen as one of the best ways of keeping the wealthy wealthy at the expense of the state.

If life insurance premiums had to be paid out of net income and all capital gains were taxable, the tax take would rise by billions a year. Yet the idea of increasing taxes on the rich is too socialist even for the Democrats. Any tinkering with estate taxes or the rules on the taxation of trusts would produce such a howl of anger in the media, no incumbent would be safe. Yet this would cut the deficit and improve the quality of life for all Americans. How can that not be good public policy? Perhaps if we got back to the original idea of life insurance as a safety-net for the less wealthy, we would get a better America.

Special Insurance Rates for Military Personnel

USA has lots and lots of services you can rent. But together with each service companies like to sell their bloody insurances. If we are honest, insurances are for the best. At first you get an idea of payment for nothing but believe us, when the time comes, and if it does, you are very lucky to be insured under a good insurance plan. Each plan has its own limitation, condition, provisions, exclusions and specifics. You might want to consider them before you make a purchase. Where can you always collect the information that will help you go further with the insurance? You can find it either from an agent in the company or online.

Military personnel often have to adjust to a quick change of plans. Maybe you are deployed. Maybe you are just transferred to a new base. No matter what the reason, your primary concern is your family.

Unfortunately, the little nagging concerns like insurance need to be dealt with as well. If you're leaving family behind, you have to make sure that they are covered and the payments get in on time. If you are single, you'll have to either cancel your insurance or arrange payment while you're gone.

At least, that's what you thought.

Some insurance companies actually have special policies for military men and women, and their vehicles of course.

Readying Your Information

There is some basic information companies will need to know from you.

Classification

They are going to need to know if you are listed as active, reserved, or retired.

Time of Duty

If you know when you will be out of the country on active duty and when you or someone else will be using the vehicle, insurance providers will want to know.

Risks and Disasters

If you are going to be driving in another part of the world or country, make sure you get coverage for specific risks, like tornadoes, hurricanes, monsoon, typhoon, earth quakes, fires, floods, volcanoes, and even vandalism.

Deductibles

Like any other insurance, you will need to know how high a deductible you are willing to pay. Remember, the higher you can go, the lower your premiums will be. Just make sure to set the deductible money aside for when you need it.

Special Skills and Abilities

If you have specific training when it comes to driving, don't hesitate to let the insurer know. Mark down any special training or programs you have participated in and be prepared to provide a certificate or some kind of proof. You may get a discount.

Emergency Deployment Clause

If there is a chance that you'll be deployed all of a sudden, you should find an insurer that has something called an emergency deployment clause. With one of these, you will have a set special arrangement to sort out what happens to your insurance policy if you are deployed or transferred to another state or country. You may be able to terminate the policy with no penalty.

If you are planning on storing the vehicle should you be deployed, make sure you have covered storage. This may save you money on car insurance as well.

Finding a Provider

Military personnel have the special option of using a dedicated military company for their insurance. One such company is the Government Employees Insurance Company, which has special coverage-including car insurance-for military combat personnel and other employees. These dedicated companies will be able to offer lower rates and more flexibility. However, it is still worth checking around to see if you can save any more money.

Start by getting some free quotes. Just use these quotes as guidelines about who has the cheapest prices. You are still going to have to do some calling around if you want to make sure you really get the best deal. Give the cheapest companies a ring and ask about military pricing.

As it should be, America's best get the best deals on car insurance.

Is it better to buy insurance or save money?

Many people, when looking for health insurance quotes or other types of insurance premium pricing information, begin to feel like they would be better off just saving their money rather than sending it to an insurance company to make a premium payment. They often feel this way because they think that the likelihood that they will actually use the insurance that they are paying for is low, so they will spend all this money on premiums and then have nothing to show for it, which leads many individuals to decide that it would be better save their money and put it into an interest-bearing account and forgo the insurance policy.

Savings vs. Insurance

An insurance policy pays for large expenses - things it would likely take you years to save enough money to pay for on your own. And these expenses aren't just big in terms of cost, they are important. For instance, staying with the example of health insurance - let's say you need knee surgery. If you haven't saved enough money (tens of thousands of dollars) to pay for this and you don't have insurance, then you need to wait until you have the money in your account before you can get it done. That means you will have impaired mobility for years until you have enough to pay for the surgery. If you have insurance, however, you can get the surgery post haste. You can also get treatment for emergency medical needs and not have to leave the hospital wondering how you are going to pay for it.

Making Insurance Affordable

The real issue here is making sure that you can afford the insurance premiums you are paying. Avoiding insurance and trying to save the premium dollars will probably leave you high and dry when you actually need the money. But creating an insurance premium that you can actually afford to pay - and don't resent doing so - will be a better plan. Here are a few tips to help you do so:

1. Look for discounts: Whether they come from bundling several insurance policies through one insurer, from taking the necessary steps to be a low-risk customer, or from paying your entire bill annually, take advantage of all the discounts you can. They add up!
2. Get only the insurance coverage you NEED: No matter what type of insurance you're looking at, get only the amount you actually need to cover that individual risk. Being over-insured doesn't provide you with any extra protection. Insurance is meant to make you whole, so the insurance company isn't going to give you an extra payment if the value of what you are insuring wasn't worth that much (the exception here being life insurance, which pays out your death benefit in full).
3. Continually review your policies: Your lifestyle and situation can change continuously and when it does, so too should your insurance. Every year before you renew, make sure there isn't anything frivolous that you are paying for and no longer need and adjust anything else that could have a bearing on your premium.
4. Get new quotes: Insurance rates vary from company to company, and the initial search that you do for insurance quotes is not always relevant a year or two later. Getting regular quotes from other insurance companies can help you to ensure that you really are getting the best deal out there.

If you plan it well and stay aware of discount opportunities, you will maximize your insurance premium dollars without sacrificing the coverage you need.

Consequences of driving without insurance coverage

We all are well aware of the fact that auto insurance is a legal requirement, and you're obliged to carry the minimum amount of coverage in order to drive a car in a particular state. It usually depends on the state the car is registered in and respectfully where it gets its plates. But what many of you would really like to know is what will happen if you get caught without having auto insurance? This is especially interesting for those who are looking forward to drop their insurance coverage and take the risk of driving while being uncovered.

The Insurance Information Institute tells that the penalty for driving without auto insurance coverage depends on the state you're licensed in, as the laws vary across all states and the percentage of uninsured drivers is different too. For example, Massachusetts drivers who choose to not get auto insurance and get caught usually face fines between $500 and $5,000 and can even get up to one year prison sentence. In a set of other states including Florida, Louisiana, Connecticut and New Jersey, you won't be able to get the car licensed without meeting the state minimums. And if you drop coverage afterwards and get caught, your car will simply get impounded, and it will cost you a lot of money and time to get it out.

So, before you decide driving without auto insurance, first makes sure to learn what are your state minimums and the penalties for not complying with them. The best source of information on the matter is your state insurance department or the department of motor vehicles.

But in any case, driving without auto insurance in not the smartest thing to do. Even if you won't get caught by the police, ending up in a serious accident will cost you much more in out of pocket expenses than you would pay for insurance coverage. Sure, some of you may say they can't afford having costly auto insurance. But who said that it has to be expensive anyway?

If you're considering driving without car insurance, first make sure you've done your comparison shopping. Many drivers are usually surprised by the saving possibilities a simple car insurance quotes comparison can do. You don't have to pay a lot of covering your car, especially if you want to keep the coverage at bare minimums. Of course, it's not the best thing to do as a serious accident will lead to out-of-pocket expenses, but still if your budget is really tight you should simply compare auto insurance quotes when looking for an insurance policy. With so many providers out there, it's quite possible to get a really affordable policy with any kind of coverage included.

Keep in mind that car insurance is not the type of cost you can freely drop if you feel it's useless for you. First of all, it's a legal requirement to drive a vehicle in most states, and not complying with it will cause you much trouble. Besides, in the end it will cost you much more driving without car insurance because the repair and medical costs arising due to an average accident can get quite hefty for a limited budget and you'll have to sacrifice some of your assets to cover the costs. So, don't think much about refusing car insurance, instead get busy with comparing car insurance quotes to find a policy you can really afford.

Women are better drivers

It's titles to articles that really get people annoyed. It would probably be OK to say Mercedes-Benz make better cars than BMW. Somehow, it's acceptable to compare the strengths and weaknesses of brands. But once we get into the area of individual skills, passions are involved. There would be hours of argument on whether Dario Franchitti is a better driver than A.J. Foyt. Most adults know how to drive and, as fans of Indy heroes, they will appreciate an everyday skill raised to the highest level. All this is safe territory. No one feels threatened by talk of the best, particularly when one is now retired. But start talking about whether you or your partner is the better driver, and egos are on the line - tempers are likely to get frayed very quickly. We are all proud of what we do. That's a part of what gives us the confidence to keep doing it. Accusing A of not being as good a driver as B is entering a potential war zone.

Yet, if you go to the people who collect evidence about traffic accidents - that's a range of people from the ambulances that carry drivers to hospitals, to the police and courts who decide whether anyone should go to jail, to the insurers who have to pick up some of the bills - they will all tell you the same story. Ambulances carry fewer women drivers. They are less likely to be injured because they drive more slowly than men. Women are less likely to break the law than men and so pick up fewer tickets and rarely commit offenses serious enough to justify jail time. Insurers prefer women drivers because they are rarely in serious accidents as drivers. They are injured seriously as often as men because, in most cases, they are being driven by men who ignore the basics of safe driving.

The result of this statistical reality is that insurance companies offer lower premium rates to women and that more women drivers qualify for discounts than their male equivalents. So, on both counts, women usually pay less than men for driving the same makes and models of vehicles. This is rubbing salt in the wounds. Men usually argue that all drivers should be treated as a single group. This would mean everyone pays the same premium to drive and so force all the good drivers to subsidize all the bad. Not surprisingly, there are more good drivers than bad and they have voices. They can and do complain if they are victimized by insurance companies in this way. Indeed, many insurers offer women-only policies. The cheapest rates are for women in the 50s. So when you are collecting those vital auto insurance quotes, look around the field as a whole. Get quotes from insurers who mix the sexes. Just because a women-only specialist may give a good rate this year, does not mean the competition will not match prices. But also get auto insurance quotes from the specialists as well. That way, you guarantee finding the cheapest coverage.

Pay-as-you-drive insurance

There's always quite a big political edge to issues surrounding the insurance industry. In the case of vehicles it comes down to two big question marks. The first is whether the insurer should focus interest on the driver; the second on whether the insurer should use price as a lever to change driver behavior. You see the first in the ongoing debates on whether premium rates should be based on the ZIP code or the driver's credit score. You see the second in the continuing environmental debates about pay-as-you drive.

The argument is easily put. At present, the insurer creates big groups of drivers and shares out the cost of the risk between them. This means all the safer drivers subsidize all the more dangerous drivers. Obviously there are some trade-offs, but the range of premium increases for individual drivers who prove unsafe is limited by the "profit" the insurer makes from all the safer drivers. Now look around you. We are living in the middle of a technological revolution. The vehicles we now drive are full of chips and many of us carry cell phones and other technology that allows service providers to track where we are. If we wanted, all vehicles could be fitted with technology to capture how and where we drive. This information could be transmitted on a continuous basis to our insurers. Those that drive the lowest number of miles and have the fewest accidents could then pay less to insure. Everyone who breaks the speed limits and travels thousands of miles a month would pay more.

The environmentalists love this idea. Price will be used to encourage people to drive less. There will be fewer greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere. The world will be a better place. Law-enforcement are also excited by the possibility of being able to monitor all vehicles close to the scenes of reported crimes. Just think how useful it would be to know that seconds after a bank robbery, a car drove away from that location at 100 mph and was then abandoned in an alley where a second car then left. . . and so on. A recent study by the Conservation Law Foundation looked at the relationship between mileage and insurance claims in Massachusetts. It estimates that switching to pay-as-you-drive insurance would encourage drives to use the car less, reduce CO2 emissions, and cut accident costs.

Well, if you live in California, you will be able to try it out as from February 2011 when you apply for your auto insurance quotes. If you work from home, are unemployed or retired, or just generally drive less than 19,000 miles a year, you could be in line for a discount. State Farm and the Automobile Club of Southern California will be offering you the chance to self-report your odometer readings or to have a communications device installed that saves you the trouble of that cellphone call. So use this chance with your auto insurance quotes to save the planet and save dollars. Drive less, keep the gas in the ground and have better air to breathe.