Cell phones are a bee in
the bonnet of many lawmakers seeking to legislate safer roads by
outlawing cell phone use while motorists are driving. But auto insurers
are not ready to penalize policyholders who use cell phones with higher
auto insurance premiums.
At least three
communities — Brooklyn, Ohio, Marlboro, N.J., and Suffolk, N.Y. — have
made driving and phoning illegal, with penalties ranging from $2 to
$250. Many state governments are considering measures that would limit
or outlaw motorists' use of cell phones.
However, auto insurers say driving
distractions are nothing new. Radios, food, makeup, and shaving razors
are part of many motorists' driving routine, and insurers haven't
raised premiums because of those. "We're not going to change your
premium based on how loudly you play your radio," says Dick Luedke, a
spokesperson for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. The insurer
has no plans to surcharge cell phone users simply because they own cell
phones, although Luedke says the company is taking a "close look" at
the issue.
| "We're not going to change your premium based on how loudly you play your radio." |
What's more, insurers would not likely be able to justify car insurance
premium increases for cell phone users because they have no way of
tracking how often a cell phone is the cause of a collision. "There's
no hard evidence on cell phones," says Ray Palermo, a spokesperson for
Response Insurance Co., which recently issued results of a national
survey on the driving habits of Americans.
Allstate
Insurance Co. and Progressive Insurance Co. concur. Neither of them
currently maintains data that indicate surcharges are necessary for
motorists who user cell phones.
A
September 2000 survey sponsored by QuickenInsurance also says motorists
are more concerned about fellow drivers reading newspapers and putting
on makeup than using cell phones. "Motorists need to realize that just
because they are not using a cell phone while driving doesn't mean they
are not practicing distracting driving behavior," says Velvet Beard,
vice president of product development at QuickenInsurance. The company
surveyed by phone 1,006 Americans age 18 and over.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) supports the
insurers' viewpoint. The NHTSA's most recent study (1998) concludes
that the amount of data available is insufficient to quantify the
impact cell phones have on car crashes. The study recommends more
states and communities require police to indicate on accident reports
whether cell phones are a "causal factor" in the collision. Currently,
Minnesota and Oklahoma are the only states that require such
documentation.
The NHTSA also recommends
insurers share information with the government because the "industry is
in an excellent position to monitor cellular telephone-related crashes,
and preliminary discussions with members of the insurance industry
indicate that the industry is already doing so," the study says.
