If you have auto insurance in Washington state, you may have noticed that it has become significantly more expensive this year.
In a recent article in The Seattle Times, reporter Victor Whitman highlighted accounts of Washington drivers who saw their insurance premiums increase by hundreds of dollars. This comes after the state insurance commissioner approved a nearly 25% rise in Washington’s average auto premiums.
So, what’s up with auto insurance? Why are we aboard this rocket ship?
To find out, Soundside interviewed Kenton Brice, president of the Northwest Insurance Council, a trade group sponsored by insurers.
While there are numerous reasons why insurance premiums have risen so substantially, the most basic explanation is that it is simply more expensive to repair vehicles nowadays.
“It used to be that if you got in a fender bender in a parking lot, replacing the bumper of your vehicle might cost $1,500,” Brice told me. “That same bumper today has sensors and cameras and so forth in it and can cost thousands of dollars to replace.”
So, while modern cars’ sophistication and technical innovations have undoubtedly made driving safer, they are also far more expensive to repair.
Another important consideration is the quantity of people on the roads. That, along with the illusion of safety in a technologically advanced modern automobile, implies that people are getting into increasingly serious accidents.
“So automobiles are safer; they have a lot more technology to help prevent injuries. But people may be taking advantage of them or are unaware of how the safety features work,” Brice explained. “So they’re driving faster, they’re driving angrier, and the crashes that they’re getting into are more severe.”