Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 30

DISTRACTED DRIVING
BY: SANDY MENNE,
VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL
INSURANCE SERVICES
Confronting The
Distracted Driving Crisis
A
s an insurance professional,
one of my primary—
and most enjoyable—
responsibilities is to educate
my clients. Not only do
I want them to stay safe, healthy, and
financially secure, but I also want them
to get a good value when it comes to their
insurance investments.
One area where premiums seem to be
skyrocketing is personal automobile
coverage. According to a 2017 article on
Forbes.com, “since 2012, the consumer
price index (CPI) for auto insurance has
gone up by 21.5 percent, compared with
a rise in the overall consumer price index
of 4.5 percent.” Forbes characterizes the
increase as “the largest five-year growth
of auto insurance costs since the early
1990s.”
What is driving this huge increase in
rates? A number of factors are responsible.
First, decreases in gas prices compared to
prior years have encouraged more drivers
to take to the road, which, in turn, leads
to more accidents. Second, the insurance
industry has borne huge costs due to the
recent spate of natural disasters sweeping
the country, which have destroyed
hundreds of thousands of automobiles.
Third, the price of repairs has risen as
technology has evolved and cars are
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being updated with sophisticated—and
expensive—electronics. Perhaps the
biggest factor, however, has been the
unrelenting increase in accidents caused
by distracted drivers.
The National Safety Council (NSC)
estimates that 40,200 people died in auto
accidents in 2016. This number is up
14 percent from 2014, the largest two-
year increase in more than five decades.
Distracted driving has increased as
smartphones have become commonplace.
The NSC now lists distracted driving as
the third major cause of fatalities after
alcohol and speeding. Death rates vary by
vehicle type, driver age, and gender, along
with other factors.
Research by Travelers Insurance has
shown that people may be doing a whole
host of other things while driving,
including texting, checking social media,
reading directions, applying make-
up, making calls, talking to backseat
passengers, and eating. All of these
activities require drivers to either remove
their eyes from the road, take their hands
off the steering wheel, or divert their
attention from the task at hand. It stands
to reason that these dangerous behaviors
while driving lead to many more accidents,
injuries, and fatalities. The imminent
arrival of driverless cars will undoubtedly
further cloud the auto insurance
market, adding more rate volatility and
uncertainty to the mix.
While it is impossible for any one
individual to tackle these problems, it is
possible to learn to maintain proper focus
when driving and encourage others to do
the same. Don’t be afraid to speak up if
the driver of your car is more interested
in talking on the phone than paying strict
attention to the road. At t