Distracted Driving Considered Country’s Biggest Roadway Problem

From something as mundane as changing the radio station to as reckless as drinking and driving, a myriad of potentially dangerous actions take place on American roadways in a given day.

Yet the most hazardous deed of all may be one most of the country has admittedly done.

Distracted driving was deemed the top danger on the road by a vast majority of drivers surveyed by AAA for the company’s 2017 Traffic Safety Culture Index, an annual report cataloguing national behaviors and attitudes toward roadway safety.

Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed named distracted driving as their most pressing concern, with the behavior far outweighing other unsafe actions, including aggressive driving, which 68% of participants named as a growing worry; drugged driving, which was mentioned by 55% of those surveyed; and drunk driving, which 43% said was a leading issue.

It’s possible more Americans noted a mounting anxiety around distracted driving as many more have admitted to participating themselves. At 49%, nearly half of those surveyed said they recently talked on a cell phone while driving—marking a 46% jump in self-reported cell phone incidents since 2013—while an additional 35% copped to sending a text or e-mail from behind the wheel.

In a moment of cognitive dissonance, the same survey participants named placing calls and sending texts while driving as serious threats to personal safety—at 58% and 78%, respectively.

The gut instincts of the participants are also slightly at odds with the most recent numbers reported by the Department of Transportation, which noted that the 3,450 distracted driving-related fatalities in 2016 actually represented a 2.2% decrease from 2015’s numbers. (Pedestrian deaths were the fastest-rising roadway issue, increasing by 9% between 2015 and 2016, while drunk driving claimed the most lives that year, at 10,497 roadway deaths.)

Still, the number of fatalities on the road increased in 2016 for the second consecutive year, following nearly a decade of declining deadly incidents on the streets. And, distracted driving may still bear more blame than it is officially recognized for.

A white paper issued by the National Safety Council last year claimed that cell phone usage behind the wheel was grossly underreported in accident investigations, and AAA’s own numbers corroborate that finding: Dashcams used by the organization to track teen driving showed distraction was a factor in nearly 58% of crashes—which is 44% higher than official government estimates. Regardless to what degree such distractions are responsible for roadway deaths, however, all parties involved can surely agree the issue is one that needs to be thoroughly addressed.

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The Five Most Expensive U.S. Cities for Car Insurance

Like the price of gas, housing, and food, the price of car insurance can fluctuate wildly depending on where you live. A North Carolinian enjoying the state’s mild winter climate and well-paved roads may cut a $72 monthly premium check for auto coverage. A Michigander, on the other hand, may have to snow-shovel their way out to the mailbox to send a monthly premium check for $217.50 to ensure coverage for their car on the state’s pothole-pocked streets and highways.

As in many things, the study of car insurance is a study of contrasts.

In February, The Zebra, an Austin, Texas-based automotive insurance comparison site, released its annual study of the U.S. car insurance market, The State of Auto Insurance.

The report unveiled another climb in auto insurance rates nationwide from 2016 to 2017, with Americans paying about 2% more for coverage, owing an average of $1,427 in annual insurance costs. Michigan drivers paid, on average, $2,610 annually, while North Carolinians paid $865. The massive gulf between the numbers is due to all sort of factors, including weather, fraud, and state insurance requirements.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at the five most expensive cities for car insurance, and the reasons behind their costly coverage rates.

Detroit, Michigan
Claiming the number one spot for cities with the most expensive auto insurance is Motown, the home of the American auto industry: Detroit, Michigan. Your average Detroiter pays $5,414 annually in car insurance premiums, or about $451 monthly.

But why are residents of one of America’s most cash-strapped cities on the hook for such massive bills? Many point to the state’s no-fault (personal injury) insurance mandate. Simply put, Michiganders live in one of 18 states where no-fault insurance is required. The coverage provides unlimited personal injury compensation to people involved in car accidents for the remainder of their life, regardless of who’s at fault in the crash. Michigan’s legislature has tried to adjust the system multiple times, most recently last fall, but all efforts have failed.

The high cost of coverage has left many Detroiters with no option but to drive illegally without insurance, said Leslie Love (D-Detroit), a Michigan state representative.

“Preserving a system that is not attainable for nearly half the motorists in the city of Detroit does no justice for poor and middle-class folks,” she told the Detroit News.

New Orleans, Louisiana

The Big Easy takes the number two spot on The Zebra’s list, and you’ll pay a king’s (cake) ransom to drive in New Orleans where the average car insurance premium is $3,433 annually. The expensive cost of coverage can be attributed to the city’s vulnerability to hurricanes and other foul weather, as well as an unfortunately high instance of crime. State officials also place blame on uninsured and under-insured motorists, making up 14% and 40% of the state’s drivers, respectively.

Even more, those lacking proper coverage push claimants to court if their needs aren’t met by insurance companies. Insurance provider Louisiana Farm Bureau belongs to a six-state network of insurers and writes 17% of its policies in Louisiana, and yet 50% of all its lawsuits stem from the Bayou State.

Hialeah & Miami, Florida

Hialeah, a western Miami suburb, and Miami come in at number 3 and 4, respectively, on The Zebra’s list of cities with the costliest car insurance. Annual premiums cost $2,709, and $2,651, respectively, in the two South Florida cities. Reasons for the prices are again, manifold: the Sunshine State compels its residents to buy no-fault insurance, and the region is prone to natural disasters and flooding from hurricanes. To top it all off, an increasing number of Floridians are crashing into one another.

“High density development is putting more cars on roads, increasing likelihood of accidents,” said Lynne McChristian, Florida representative for the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group for the industry.

The number of vehicle crashes in the tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, which include both Hialeah and Miami, rose by 12% from 2014 to 2016, and fatalities rose 27% over that same stretch. Some officials point to lower gas prices, which puts more drivers on the road, and smartphones, which take their eyes off of it.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge—or, “Red Stick,” en français—earns its scarlet letter in the fifth spot with a $2,639 average annual premium. It derives its astronomical car insurance costs—nearly twice the national average—for many of the same reasons as New Orleans. A 2016 flood in the city totaled 65,000 vehicles, which cost insurance companies a whopping $700 million. Like the other cities on this list, if car insurance costs are a deal breaker for you, bid Louisiana’s state capital au revoir in your next search for a new hometown.

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These 5 Things Dictate How Much Your Car Insurance Costs

Car insurance has never been a fun bill to pay—and it’s never been more expensive.

On average, rates are currently 20% higher nationwide than they were in 2011, with a 6% markup since last fall alone, according to a report recently released by Texas-based insurance website The Zebra.

All told, the upward creep has brought the average motorist’s bill to a whopping $1,427 annually, and with no report of a single price decrease in the past seven years, the trend shows no sign of slowing.

Still, depending on where you live, that incline may be have been much more gentle—or severe—with some states seeing prices spike by 60% over that time period, while others marked a 1% raise.

But even within those regions, what individuals pay varies widely. There are currently more than 650 insurance companies operating in the country, using more than 43,500 variables to determine the total due from their customers, creating literally millions of different possible sums.

In an attempt to boil that monumental number down to the most probable outcomes, Zebra analyzed more than 50 million insurance rates from across the entire country. And what they found was a number of recurring themes playing outsized roles in determining how much a customer pays.

Below, the top five factors the survey uncovered, and how they may impact your auto insurance bill.

Where You Live

Location, location, location.

Where a customer lives plays a big role in his or her auto insurance rate for a number of reasons, from the size and density of the population there to the weather patterns affecting the area.

Strangely, snow-bound New England achieved the country’s lowest average coverage cost by region last year, with residents in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island paying an average of $1,186 last year. The “far west” region—including California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska, and Hawaii—ranked as the most expensive, at an average rate of $1,516.

Of course, car insurance policy is also dictated on a state-by-state basis, so varying laws across the land are also a huge factor in determining price. North Carolina won the battle of the bargain, at an average of $865 last year, while Michiganders were asked to pay the most—$2,610.

(Still, those numbers could be drilled down even further, to determine the most expensive cities for car insurance nationwide.)

What You Drive

The type of vehicle you choose doesn’t just make a statement about your personal taste—it could also be an indicator of how much money shows up on your personal bank statement after paying off your car insurance bill.

Of the country’s top 10 most popular cars, the Toyota Corolla was the most expensive to insure, with an average annual cost of $1,641—although the Honda Civic and Toyota Camry weren’t far behind, demanding yearly payments of $1,632 and $1,615 respectively.

Still, those totals pale in comparison to the country’s most expensive car to insure overall: that honor goes to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class CLS, for which drivers must cough up an astounding $3,541 per year to cover.

Those who don’t have quite that much money to spend may consider a Jeep—five of the company’s models turned up in the top 10 least expensive to insure, including the Wrangler, Renegade, Patriot, Compass, and Cherokee. Yet the two least expensive models of all were both Hondas, with the CR-V costing an average of $1,317 and the Odyssey coming in close second at $1,333.

Note that once the amount of technology a car is utilizing is factored in, the calculations take on an entirely different dynamic.

What You’ve Done

If insurance exists to cover costs incurred from an accident, it’s only natural for companies to consider how likely it is for a policyholder to cause one. One of the main tools they use to do so is your driving history—both past and present.

Previous involvement in an accident will cause rates to rise sharply, depending on the severity of the incident and how much damage was sustained. A not-at-fault accident typically leading to a 7% rate increase, while a hit-and-run pushes that surge up to 85%—or $1,218 per year, on average. (In some states, hit-and-runs could skyrocket rates by up to 405%.)

Speeding tickets also hasten the pace at which a driver will be throwing money at their auto insurance bill, with increases rising in tandem with how much faster he or she went above the limit. One of the lowest infractions—driving between 6-10 miles per hour over the posted limit—also warrants the lowest increase, at 20%, while speeding in a 65 MPH zone could bump up the annual cost by 28%.

Still, nearly every instance that results in a violation will also result in a higher car insurance bill. Perhaps not surprisingly, the top offenses are signs of truly reckless behavior, including DUI, racing, and leaving the accident scene, but insurance companies have also recently cracked down on a new plague of the roadway: distracted driving.

While the average cost for a distracted driving ticket is a 16% increase in a car insurance bill, that amount is 40 times higher than it was just two years ago.

What You’ve Paid For

Auto insurance is mandatory in nearly every state and territory in America, so many companies may be interested in how well a potential customer handles their finances.

A poor credit rating could lead to customer paying twice as much for car insurance.

While credit score is not a factor considered in every state, it could make a huge impact in those that do: A poor credit rating could lead to a customer paying twice as much for car insurance, compared to those who have been rated "exceptional." The jump from the low- to the high-end represents an average difference of more than $1,400 per year.

Still, incremental progress is rewarded, with drivers angling to save up to 17% annually for each credit tier improvement they make. The concept may be tied to the fact that drivers with lower credit scores are more likely to make a claim than those with higher ratings.

Who You Are

Filling out an auto insurance application may almost feel like signing up for a dating site: the companies ask for tons of personal information—and most of those factors are used to help determine how risky he or she will be to insure.

Experience goes a long way in the calculation, with those who are younger costing much more to cover than older drivers. Teens routinely rank as the most expensive clients, and 16-year-olds specifically are the priciest to insure, costing an average of $6,473 annually. (Overall, those in their 50s have the cheapest rates.)

Marital status also plays a role, as legally-bound couples have been found not to file claims as frequently. Tying the knot alone could save someone an average of $80 per year on their insurance bill.

Homeowner status also comes into play, with renters paying slightly more, on average, than those who have purchased their house or condo.

And occupation and education are also determinants. Members of the military, on average, get the lowest rates—typically charged about $1,370 annually—while those who are unemployed fare far worse, with average car insurance bills hovering around $1,430.

A similar gulf occurs between the most and least educated, with Ph.D. holders typically paying $44 less per year than those with no high school diploma.

Car insurance rates may be difficult to predict, but it seems there’s at least one client who can bet on a good deal: a 50-something, Ph.D.-holding, married homeowner in the military. (And at that point, they deserve the break!)

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