According to industry experts, almost all US drivers own a mobile phone, and all of them are prone to making and answering a call or sending and reading text messages while behind the wheel. Loosing focus because of being caught in an important call or being preoccupied reading long messages can be good enough reason for being involved in a collision. A study conducted a major insurance consultancy firm showed that majority of their respondents were professionals aged 30 to 50 and all of them use their mobile phones while driving. The result of the study showed that the respondents are willing to answer a call or immediately respond to an email or a text messages even if they are driving as they would not want to be reprimanded for not doing so, if the call or message is from their boss or a client.

With these in mind, local groups are worried that if the trends on mobile phone usage while driving does not improve, situations may be worse and may eventually show its effect on the number of car accidents. In Florida and New York, 7% of collisions were caused by drivers distracted while talking on their cellular phones. The rates for Pennsylvania are relatively lower at 5%.

An Insurance Information Institute representative said in a recent interview that they are targeting to release a mass promotional campaign on the fatal effects of motorists getting busy on cellular phones while driving. The organization estimates that the number of accidents resulting from mobile phone usage can go up during the holiday season. As Christmas gets near, people will be busy contacting family members and loved ones. Industry experts say that when a driver on the road received a call from a relative he hasn’t seen in years, the sudden rush of excitement can take over and there is a tendency for the driver to momentarily forget that he is currently driving. In that split-second that he forgets he’s on the road, a collision may have already taken place.

In addition to preventing cell phone use, there is strong support from the organization to fight motorists who hide traffic offences such as exceeding the speed limit in an effort to get cheaper insurance.

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Some insurance companies or firms offer a type of coverage especially designed for female drivers. Women can avail of this type of coverage and pay lesser premium fees and other expenses. Although this is basically the same as any other car insurance policy, the difference lies on the fact that female drivers are generally known to be involved in less risk than men.

The business of insurance is grounded on risk-taking. If there is a risk, there is insurable interest. If a risk causes loss, an insurer pays up. If a risk does not take place, an insurer gets to keep premiums. Whenever there is a claim made by a client, a company tries to compute how much they are going to lose if they pay the claim. Now, this would depend on risks involved. Insurance companies would often adjust the amount of premiums that will enable them to conveniently make a justified payment without losing profit. Getting to know their clients and finding out who among them poses the highest risk – thus highest expense – is a key strategy in making sure that they will not go bankrupt.

Statistics show that a majority of road accidents have been caused by young and inexperienced drivers, most of them male. This same data shows that women, whether young or otherwise, have been involved in fewer accidents than men. Add this to the fact that there are usually more women than men in the outdoor population. This results in men being required to pay higher premiums. Women are allowed to pay lesser amounts because a company expects to make a profit because there is practically no risk involved. Even if women drivers do get involved in accidents, the amount of claims will almost never surpass the amount of profits.

This is also a reason why insurance companies have been aggressive in selling policies to women drivers. They have to compensate for losses they experienced in paying off claims involving accidents caused by men. It becomes a norm to expect that women are low-risk policy holders. The present trend has evolved to design insurance programs solely for women drivers – one with sufficient coverage albeit a lower rate of premium.

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A recent survey reveals that in general, people are driving less which normally means fewer car accidents and injuries. With skyrocketing prices of gasoline, people are continually finding ways to save on gas like the invention of hybrid cars. People are now using public transportation systems or combining trips and car pooling instead of driving. All of these mean lesser cars, lesser mileage, lesser accidents and lesser insurance premiums. When people drive less, they will be in a lesser number of accidents which means lesser injuries and lesser injury payments. This is one of the reasons why more insurance providers give lower premiums for less mileage. So drive less, for more insurance premium discounts!

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