When you own or are looking to purchase a car, you have many considerations. It is common to, of course, consider the cost of the vehicle and its upkeep. The cost of insurance will certainly impact the latter. In addition, the availability of auto safe features has become important for drivers hoping to better protect themselves and their family. These considerations have led to many drivers now wondering, Do auto safety features actually lower insurance costs?
Auto Insurance Requirements
Most states require that you have insurance for your vehicle. This often means that you must have at least liability insurance. Because it is illegal to drive without coverage, drivers have to factor in the cost of insurance when determining what type of vehicle to buy. Lowering these mandatory insurance costs is important to most drivers.
Auto Insurance Costs
Auto insurance costs are higher most often as a result of issues such as age, gender, driving history, the amount of mileage you place on your car annually, and where you live. One way to offset things that may raise your insurance is to determine what can help in lowering insurance costs. Are auto safety features on the list? First, let’s look at examples of auto safety features, and then whether they can help lower your insurance rates.
Auto Safety Features
Auto Safety features are becoming a big part of car manufacturing. However, most of these features are not standard on vehicles. Also, older car models do not have the most recent features. So you have a choice of whether to purchase a car with safety features such as:
- Adaptive cruise control,
- Automatic emergency braking,
- Forward and rear collision warning,
- Lane departure warning,
- Airbags,
- Daytime running lights,
- Road sign recognition,
- Blind spot detection,
- Pedestrian detection system,
- Cross-traffic alert, and
- Anti-lock brakes.
It is important to remember that auto crashes can cause injuries even when vehicles have safety features. Personal injury and accident lawyers deal with cases every day involving injuries and property loss associated with auto accidents. They find that even drivers who have taken every precaution with full auto safety feature packages may suffer injuries and losses and need strong representation.
Relationship Between Auto Safety Features and Auto Insurance
From an insurance standpoint, the issue is not whether these features are convenient to a driver, but whether the features help lead to lower car accidents for the driver. One primary evaluation instead is whether the features help lead to lower car accidents for the driver. Insurers have to balance the risk they take in covering costs of potential accidents and injury their company will have to cover against what you are paying for your insurance premium. Auto safety features are part of this analysis.
The good news is that there are studies showing that some auto safety features clearly help in lowering accidents. For instance, a traffic injury prevention report found that blind spot detection systems are effective in preventing police-reported lane-change crashes when considering crashes of all severities. Another academic study argues that blind-spot detection, lane departure warning, and forward-collision warning could collectively prevent millions of collisions.
But there are some challenges to auto safety features for insurance providers. The primary one is that when those features break, they are expensive to fix. This impacts auto insurance companies because they have to pay more when you present a claim on a car with those features.
No matter what safety features and insurance you have, you should have an advocate when dealing with your insurance company. Never let the insurance adjusters talk you into accepting a settlement before you know the full extent of your accident-related losses, which may include auto safety features. Let a skilled auto vehicle accident attorney negotiate with your insurance company.
Do Auto Safety Features Actually Lower Insurance Costs?
Now that you have the big picture regarding insurance and auto safety features, what is the bottom line for the car owner? Do auto safety features actually lower insurance costs? The answer to that question is evolving. Right now, some auto advisors state that if your car has safety equipment like anti-lock brakes, air bags, and daytime running lights, you may get a discount. Daytime running lights generally offer just a minor discount. However, air bag discounts for full front seat airbags can be greater.
Aside from some very broad regulations, insurance companies determine their rates and discounts. There is not a well-noted study showing that in all circumstances, insurance companies give a discount for auto safety features. Neither laws nor government policy require lower insurance costs if you have auto safety features.
As a result, you must check with your company to find out if they offer discounts for safety features. Shop around and check with other providers as well. As you do, be sure to get the information in writing, with a clear list of specific auto safety features that will help with lowering insurance costs.
D’Amore Law Group: No Fee Unless We Win
Our lawyers and staff at D’Amore Law Group are compassionate and committed to helping people address their injuries and losses. We are leaders in our local, state and national community of trial attorneys and have the skills to handle a wide range of practice areas. With over 30 years of experience, D’Amore Law Group has successfully resolved thousands of cases for clients. If you want a firm with outstanding resources and abilities that will fight for you, contact us. We offer a free case evaluation and charge no fee unless we win your case. Call or text us at 503-222-6333 or via our website.
