Cars have undoubtedly become safer over the years, as we transition into the era of self driving cars which are currently in testing. How about auto insurances? Wall Street Journal has reported that car insurance premiums have been increasing over the past half a decade, and that has to do with smartphones.
According to a 2015 survery by US major auto insurance company State Farm, more than one third of drivers admitted to texting while driving. When narrowed down to the age group of 18 to 29 years old, a whopping 64 percent of drivers admitted to doing so. On top of that, 1 in 5 drivers claimed to take pictures with their devices on the road. Wall Street Journal reports that distracted drivers by smartphones are somewhat becoming a norm in the country, leading to the increase in car accidents, eventually resulting in higher car insurance premiums.
US trade group Insurance Information Institute has discovered a significant 14 percent increase in car insurance premiums from 2012, with a possible connection to smartphone usage while driving. Insurance companies are said to have warned that smartphone distracted driving is emerging as a national public policy problem stateside, though government data on the connection of distracted driving and smartphone related driving accidents have so far been deemed inconclusive.
Having said all those, most of us are probably guilty of glancing at our smartphones while driving. Better to be safe than to text and crash. What do you think?
Source: Wall Street Journal