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  • > In-car dongles that track jerky driving, crash event recorders, and driver monitoring systems now let an insurer observe behavior directly and price it.

    Uh, but not in California, because of 1988's Prop. 103. Telematics for insurance pricing are completely unavailable in California.

    by jeffbee
  • Mark my words, in 2036 this story will read like a blast from the past. I read somewhere on this site recently that Waymo is about 9x safer than human drivers, and that number isn't going anywhere but up. What accidents remain will mostly be the responsibility of self driving car makers and fleet operators, and those don't deal with strip mall insurance agents. Please join me in a moment of silence for the dissolving business model of the automotive insurance industry over the next decade. And several moments of joy for tens of thousands of fewer crippled and killed people per year.
    by delichon
  • As a German living in the US, it's also interesting to me how dramatically more expensive insurance in the US is compared to Europe. The best explanation I could come up with is that 1) traffic laws are barely enforced, at least in Los Angeles you see most people driving with phone in hand and we have virtually no speed cameras or speeding enforcement, whereas in Germany, even tiny villages may have two speed cameras, one at each side of town 2) there seem to be no enforced maintenance requirements for cars in the US, whereas in Germany there's a mandatory check of the car's proper functioning every 2 years 3) insurance in the US is probably is cross-subsidizing lawyers as signified through the ubiquitous accident lawyer ads on billboards, radio etc.
    by soramimo
  • is that accurate? Here in Germany minimal Kfz-Haftpflichtversicherung is I believe 7 million in personal injuries and 1 million in property damages. So if a broke guy in the US runs you over and causes you half a million in health damages, puts you out of work and totals your car you'll get 30k from their insurance? How can you legally let people on the road like this
    by Barrin92
  • That is tiny. I just checked Uk legislation and it seems to require £1.2m cover for damage to property and unlimited cover for personal injury and deaths.
    by graemep
  • You basically need to insure yourself when using US roads. Forget the ridiculous minimum coverage requirements, a huge percentage of Americans drive around with no insurance whatsoever -- 20% or more in some states.
    by kube-system
  • There is a program in California that offers even lower limits...

    The California Low Cost Auto Insurance (CLCA) program provides liability coverage limits of up to $10,000 for bodily injury or death per person, $20,000 per accident, and $3,000 for property damage. This program is designed to help income-eligible residents afford basic auto insurance.

    by hnburnsy
  • Making cars a requirement for participating in society, across all socioeconomic levels, was a mistake. Now, lacking a car can put people into economic crisis.

    We can correct this by investing in public transportation and getting rid of government-provided free parking.

    by philip1209

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Killing with a car costs $1.6M, California requires drivers to carry $30K · Birbla