One of the sad facts of life is the number of people killed on our roads every year. In some states, it's the main cause of death after heart attacks. It should not be this way but, once you sit people behind the wheel, they tend to forget the idea of traveling as a co-operative venture. It's everyone for themselves and you can follow me. Actually, that leads to an oddity. With all the fear and controversy about flying, it's the safest form of transport on the planet. If you tried to enforce the same level of security over driving, there would be riots. Imagine enforcing the law on no drink driving by having everyone blow into a device to check blood/alcohol level before the engine will start. Or having the engine switch off for thirty minutes every time you break the speed limit. We have the technology to make driving safe, but no one would accept such revolutionary challenges to individual liberty.

This leaves it to each individual to take responsibility for their own safety. It also gives us a social problem when it comes to insurance. In our capitalist society, we use price to encourage a change in behavior. When gas was more than $4 a gallon, more people drove less so there were way fewer accidents. So what should the price be for insurance? If everyone was treated as equally good drivers, the same premium rates would be paid by all no matter how well or how badly they drove. For many people, this would lead to a significant drop in their premiums, but it would give no incentive to drive well. If you will pay the same rate no matter how many claims you make, why put yourself out to drive well? So insurance companies use the premium rates to encourage people to drive well. Those with the worst driving record pay the highest rates. Those with no traffic tickets and no accidents pay the least.

The latest place you see this is in the new black box systems to monitor when and where you drive. Before the technology came along, you were trusted to say you drove only off peak and only a few thousand miles a year. Now there are GPS systems to broadcast whenever the vehicle moves. Why should anyone accept this invasion of their privacy? Because there are big discounts available to those who prove they are safe. If it turns out your claims were false, your premium will rise to reflect the real risk of an accident.

If every vehicle on the road has a GPS tracker installed, it would be easy to police the roads. All uninsured drivers could be prosecuted. There would be no such thing as a hit-and-run because there would always be a record of which vehicles were involved in the accident. Premiums would fall for good and bad drivers. As it is, you should get as many auto insurance quotes as possible and, if they do not seem to be offering rates to match your perfect record of safety, pick up the phone and argue the case. Never accept auto insurance quotes given online as the last word. Get the discounts you are entitled to.