Smartphone Addicts Behind the Wheel Drive Car Insurance Rates Higher

[question everything]

Distracted by their smartphones, America’s drivers are becoming more dangerous by the day. That is pushing auto-insurance rates even higher as insurers struggle to keep up.

Costs associated with crashes are outpacing premium increases for some companies, and insurers say the use of smartphones to talk, text and access the internet while on the road is a new and important factor behind the wrecks.

It’s “an epidemic issue for this country,” said Michael LaRocco, chief executive of State Auto Financial Corp., at an insurance-industry conference last month.

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The average U.S. car-insurance premium rose to an estimated $926 in 2016, according to trade group Insurance Information Institute, up 16% from 2011. Rates are rising despite predictions that they would fall as more vehicles moved out of showrooms with high-tech anticollision gear.

The number of deadly accidents jumped 7.2% in 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A recent report from the nonprofit National Safety Council showed an estimated 6% rise for 2016.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/smartphone-addicts-behind-the-wheel-drive-car-insurance-rates-higher-1487592007

[OnlinePoker]

1. Meanwhile, those of us who don't even own one have to pay up as well

And, being in a province with a government run insurance plan, we don't have the option of shopping around.