The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent a letter to the head of Google’s self-driving car program on February 4th stating according to federal safety standards, a self-driving or autonomous vehicle’s software could be considered a “driver.” This announcement, along with a couple of other items that have come to light in the past few weeks provide an interesting perspective on autonomous vehicles and car insurance.
How do car insurance companies handle claims when one of their clients are struck by a driver who doesn’t have car insurance? Most people never think about this, but I see it several times a year as the Dallas / Fort Worth area has historically had the highest percentage of drivers without car insurance, or uninsured motorists, in Texas. The only time most people think about this after they’ve been hit by an uninsured driver.
House Bill 2305 was passed by the Texas Legislation on June 14, 2013 and went into effect on March 1, 2015. The bill did away with the familiar inspection sticker most Texas drivers were accustomed to receiving when we had our cars and trucks inspected each year. The goal, starting March 1st of last year was to combine the inspection sticker with our vehicle registration sticker.
Is car insurance more expensive or less expensive for smaller car as compared to larger cars? This would seem to be an easy question to answer; the bigger the car, the more expensive it is. Therefore it must cost more to insure larger cars than smaller ones, right?!
Changing our calendars to a fresh new year can cause us to reflect on what has transpired over the past twelve months. Many who do that resolve to initiate changes and renew a commitment or promise to themselves to do some things different. Along with people filling up the local gyms with a regenerated desire to get their bodies in shape, many take a look at their finances to consider ways they can improve their financial bottom line.
Christmas will arrive in a few days. The phone is a little quieter and there aren’t as many emails as clients, friends, and business associates prepare for Christmas. Sheri and I attended our last holiday party Sunday and we’re now finalizing our preparations to spend time with our kids and 7 grandchildren. It promises to be a wonderfully noisy time filled with plenty of hugs, laughter, stories, gifts, and too much food.
Christmas arrives next week. In addition to knocking out the shopping for those who haven’t finished it yet, many people will be visiting friends and family or packing in a family get away before school starts back up. In many cases, this means, people will be renting a car. The big question I get from clients when travel is about to take place is whether or not their car insurance covers a rental car.
I had lunch on Wednesday with a client. We caught up with each other, discussed how our businesses are doing, and then I reviewed his current insurance coverage and potential changes he should consider. His business is growing, and that means he’s transitioning in how insurance is approached. In these cases, it means insurance changes from a tool that protects cars and homes to providing financial protection. The question we discussed was how much car insurance is needed to protect him and his family.
The holiday season is here and with it comes holiday parties, lights, decorations, and of course, shopping at malls and online. In addition to the shopping centers and malls being crowded with shoppers, there are people looking to cash in on what you just purchased for the special people in your life.
It’s an interesting question isn’t it?! Some may think it’s gender based and guess men pay more than women. Others may think it’s location based and guess people in big cities pay more than people in rural communities. While both of guesses are correct, they’re not the right answer. Teen drivers, or their parents, pay more for car insurance than any other group.
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