Driving Season

I like the new Ford Thunderbird convertible. With its sleek lines and retro look it’s perfect for a freewheeling trip down a two-lane black top on a gorgeous spring afternoon. No e-mails, no phone calls to deal with, just cruising along with no particular place to go.

And no, I don’t have relatives or friends that work for Ford, nor do I own stock in the company. The car just calls to mind a time—good old days that may never have actually existed—when the world was less harried and driving was not quite as complex.

Nowadays, not only do we have to deal with overcrowded freeways and road rage, there’s a whole host of insurance issues that have cropped up like speed-bumps in recent years that make owning, driving and insuring a car complicated endeavors. Here, we’ve taken a look at a few of those issues—things like the hazards involved in driving while talking on a cell phone, the conundrum created by insurers’ use of credit histories in rating customers’ auto premiums, and the host of pressures being put on the personal auto insurance market in Texas.

Personally, I lean to the hang-up-and-drive end of the spectrum when it comes to the matter of talking on the phone while driving. But in examining the issue, Dave Thomas was more circumspect. He not only explored the pros and cons of legislation designed to regulate the use of cell phones while driving, he also checked in with insurers’ groups for their take on the subject.

Contributors Joseph Mangan, in “Giving Credit Where Credit is Due,” and Doug Johnson of the Insurance Council of Texas, who wrote our “Parting Shots” column, added to the ongoing discussion on the use of credit scores in personal lines of insurance. This is a subject that seems to be on the forefront of the minds of not only insurers and consumers, but legislators as well. Lawmakers in a number of states are currently looking at the issue, and although the Texas Legislature isn’t scheduled to meet until 2003, the credit history/insurance connection may be an issue to watch out for as the legislative session nears.

In his investigation into the personal auto market in Texas, Stewart Eisenhart found enough bumps in the road to make insurers and consumers alike want to strap on their seat belts. Loss ratios, migration to county mutuals and rising numbers of uninsured drivers are just a few of the potholes in the way of insurance professionals and drivers searching for both profitability and affordable coverage.

Finally, it turns out it pays to shop. To find out how you can help your customers by going shopping, check out Cynthia Beisiegel’s report on a Progressive Insurance study detailing the significant variability of car insurance rates.

It’s springtime and the wildflowers are making their show. The weather’s cooperating, it’s not too hot, not too cold and a little drive in the countryside—with insurance and without cell phone—seems in order. Now, if I only had that convertible…

Topics Texas Auto Personal Auto