Car insurance accident avoidance
Reader question:
How do I save money on my high performance car insurance collision coverage and avoid car insurance accidents at the same time?
Orlando
Thank you for asking, Orlando.
Just shut up!
Okay, that didn’t come out the way I meant it to, but the sentiment is still true. One of the biggest causes of car insurance accidents among drivers is cell phone use. I know that isn’t hard to believe. Right now in Texas there is a law pending that would ban the use of cellular phones while driving, and I’m thankful for it, even though I have been frequently guilty of blabbing and driving at the same time. I’ll admit straight up that my ability to drive is hampered while talking on the cell phone, which is why I have stopped doing it unless it’s obviously a very important phone call. I’ve seen other people dive and talk and had to sit cowering in my seat while they paid more attention to their conversation than the road. The rise of bluetooth devices that make driving and talking a hands free experience have certainly helped, but having a voice speaking directly into your ear is distracting and diminishes the amount of noise that you can hear from the traffic around you.
There was a survey done recently with teenage drivers to find out what was the most distracting thing for when they were driving, and forty percent said text messages. Well, news flash! Stop text messaging! When you start looking at the real data, it starts to be more and more serious to use a cell phone on the road.
Consider the act that of all car insurance accidents, at least eighty percent of them happened due to negligence caused by some kind of distraction on the part of the at fault driver. Even crashes that never happen (sixty five percent of them) are only narrowly avoided but are almost caused by distraction of the driver.
Cell phones aren’t the biggest problem when it comes to distracted drivers, as they only make you about one point three percent more likely to cause a car insurance accident for talking on the cell phone. The big problem is reaching for things, such as a cup that has fallen on the floor. That’s one reason why even if you think you can get it, you should just let whatever you drop roll, unless it’s interfering with the gas and brake pedals.
However, when you use a cell phone while you are driving, the gravity of the car insurance accident that you get into increases quite a bit. You are four times more likely to have a car insurance accident that results in serious injuries and property damages to your own person and vehicle. You’d think that might go down a bit statistically if the driver is using a headset, but it actually doesn’t, which is why if any bans are instated, all cellular devices should be included, not only the handsets.
So far, only Washington has banned people from texting while driving. I hope that other states have only not done so because perhaps they think that someone would be crazy to text and drive, but they do it all the time. A very good way, then to keep your car insurance collision rates down is to keep your eyes on the road and not on the phone.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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