Auto insurance safety tips. Making the road safter.

Our home state of California has an estimated 395K miles of highway, and each of us drives an estimated 12,000 miles over these highways annually. That’s a road well traveled.

Sure, driving is a lot of fun but it’s also riddled with for accidents that increase your auto insurance premiums.

According to the US Transportation Department (www.nhtsa.gov) there were over 5.8 million police reported motor vehicle traffic accidents which resulted in 2.3 million injuries in 2008. Given that the police do not come out to all accidents, these statistics likely understate the true impact auto accidents have on society and your auto insurance rates.

We each can do our part to think safety first before we hit the road, and in the end, we’ll all save money on auto insurance. Consider these tips.

Buckle UP – “CLICK-IT OR TICKET”

Click-It or Ticket is the most successful seat belt enforcement campaign ever, helping create the highest national seat belt usage rate of 82 percent. The message is pretty simple, use your seat belts or get a ticket.

While the concept is simple, we all still don’t use our seat belts. This simple choice can save lives, as well as keep auto insurance rates lower.

Conversely, failure to use your seat belt has a high societal cost. Research shows that injury costs for un-belted victims is 25% higher than those who were belted. A significant portion of this cost is paid for by local and federal government, but it’s also paid for by you in higher auto insurance premiums.

Use your belt; you’re not only helping yourself, but your doing you’re part to save money for each auto insurance policy holder.

Drinking and driving is a deadly and costly combination

In 2004, an estimated 16,654 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes – an average of one almost every half-hour, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These deaths made up about 39 percent of the 42,800 total traffic fatalities.

This leads us to a pretty stark reality, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children from 2 to 14 years of age, according to the NHTSA. Through education, increased law enforcement and stiffer penalties, the number of alcohol-related traffic crashes can be reduced.

What you can do to protect yourself and others?

If you drink, be responsible, make sure you have a designated, sober driver, use Uber, or call a good-old-fashioned cab. Having one person agree to drink only non-alcoholic beverages and provide transportation for other members of the group can save lives.

While reducing fatalities associated with drinking-and-driving should be our primary focus, it’s also important to note that being sited for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and cause your auto insurance premiums to increase. In fact, in California auto insurance premium can be increased for up to 10-years of your sited for driving under the influence.

Distracted Driving is just as bad (maybe worse) that drinking and driving

NHTSA estimates that driver distraction from all sources contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes.

A study released in February 1997 by the New England Journal of Medicine also suggests that cell phone users are four (4) times more likely to have a collision.

Driver inattentiveness is already the leading cause of accidents, there is no need to add a cell phone assist to this problem.

Properly install your child safety seats

Improperly installed car seats can lead to serious or even fatal injuries. Many highway patrol stations and community centers will inspect the seat installation for you. Give your local non-emergency services a call to find an inspection location near you. The little ones are worth it!

Conclusion

Making sure you’re belted in, not under the influence of any mind altering substances, clear of unnecessary distractions, and installing your child’s safety seat properly is a good start to keeping the roads safe and your California auto insurance costs in check.