I am above average.
And in this case that is not a good thing.
But it could be worse.
I got my auto insurance renewal.
My premium went up 26 percent.
According to an insurance survey, auto insurance rates went up an average of 22 percent during the past year.
That said, I know other people whose insurance rate increases were much higher.
I honesty wasn’t surprised.
My rates have been relatively steady for the past three or so years despite reality.
Auto repair costs went up an average of 14.2 percent in 2022 and 8.2 percent in 2023 according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The average price of a new car jumped more than $13,100 over three years to start last year at $47,707 based on Kelly Blue Book data.
Overall health care costs have been rising an average of 4.8 percent annually in recent years.
The CHP reports there were 216,366 traffic accidents statewide in 2022, up from the previous year.
The California Department of Insurance approved almost two dozen auto insurance firms to increase rates between November 2023 and April 2024.
And to make it clear, the state kind of had a gun pointed at them of their own making.
They could not ignore the facts:
*Repair costs were increasing significantly.
*Auto repairs between labor and parts were going up twice to three times the rate of inflation.
*New car prices that drive up used car prices went up almost by a third in four years.
*Health care costs were in lockstep with consumer inflation.
*And the severity of accidents and injuries were increasing.
All of those impact the cost of providing insurance coverage for people.
In previous years, the state — in order to score political points — refused to approve the size of rate requests made by insurance companies.
So what forced the state’s hands?
More than a few insurers being driven to the precipice made it clear they weren’t interested in going bankrupt in California.
Their solution to stay afloat?
They said they would stop issuing new policies in California.
Not a good look for the insurance commissioner who would be facing an angry electorate if not only a growing number of homeowners couldn’t get insurance because of wildfires and other catastrophes were causing more and more property underwriters to bid adieu to California to have auto insurers join the exodus.
So who is responsible for all of this mess?
One wild guess.
Government overreaction and government inaction?
In a way.
COVID, and how the government responded whether you agreed with it or not, trigged an inflation tsunami.
But to be fair, how we drive isn’t without fault.
Which tees up one potential solution: Make nonchalant, enraged, self-centered, risky driving have consequences once again.
It is a surefire way to reduce carnage, property and otherwise, on our roads which in turn will address the real root of why your rates are going up — the frequency of accidents.
Insurance rates are based on exposure.
It is why the more you drive, the higher your rates tend to be.
The amount of tickets one gets for moving violations is an indicator of the odds you have of getting into accidents.
But in honesty, those aren’t guaranteed indicators although they are indicative of more exposure to the insurance company.
We can’t afford not having consequences with teeth when someone is a repeat offender whether it is excessive speed, running red lights, distracted driving, operating a vehicle under the influence of substances, of wanton disregard of basic traffic laws from actually stopping at stop signs or following too close.
They are the Big Five categories for accident causes.
Now, one can pile up moving violations and keep on driving.
It’s time to bring back vehicle impoundment re-enforced by technology.
It would be nice to have onboard technology and such on individual vehicles that enable that to happen.
And while that isn’t a Buck Rogers fantasy, trying to roll such technology out would be extremely problematic.
What would work are license plate readers capturing vehicles registered to those who are driving on a suspended license.
Yes, someone with a suspended license could be given the keys to a vehicle registered to someone’s whose license isn’t suspended.
Or someone could be allowed by a registered vehicle owner whose license is suspended to drive their vehicle.
But here’s the rub. Responsible car ownership is no different than the concept of responsible gun ownership.
Law enforcement having the ability to pull over cars more easily that are connected with people that have managed to push the system to the point a court suspends or revoked their driving privileges and being required by state law to impound their vehicles on the spot will go a long way to making roads safer.
What about those with suspended licenses who drive vehicles that aren’t registered to them?
Simple. A law needs to be in place that when they are caught doing so they are processed, and held until they are arraigned.
As for those on the way to flaunting the law to the point they are heading for a court-ordered drivers’ license suspension, a tighter standard should be set in terms of the number of moving violations one can incur before reaching that point.
Tying such laws into giving more teeth to the ability to impound vehicles driven by those with suspended or revoked licenses should also be wedded with more robust deployment of technology such as red light cameras.
Given the fact simple nonpayment of fines can’t lead to license suspension in California, metrics that take into account the frequency and severity of moving violations and such are the basic tool for such court decisions.
Estimates put those driving vehicles in California with a revoked or suspended license — or never having a license at all — in the hundreds of thousands.
Drivers with an established track record of having a wanton disregard of — or lack the basic discipline to follow — traffic rules should not be allowed on the roads.
Seizing their vehicle for 30 days along with the associated cost will help.
Stepped up traffic enforcement with red light cameras as well as knowing there is a clear limit to society’s tolerance for wanton driving behavior is a way of reducing accident exposure.
In the end that elevates road safety, reduces out of pocket costs from accidents, and keeps a lid on insurance premiums.
If this all sounds a bit draconian, then use the suggestions as a starting point.
Until we find a way to force more people to follow the rules of the road and for all of us to stop taking such a cavalier attitude toward driving whether it is texting behind the wheel, stretching the limit of traffic laws with all sorts of self-serving reasons, or not paying attention to what’s about us as we steer a 4,000 pound device capable of inflicting destruction and death then we shouldn’t squawk about rising auto insurance rates.
