Insurance Shell Game?

While Fl. Gov. Crist takes on property insurance, representative Simmons in the House introduces HB256 that if passed will raise vehicle insurance dramatically. Is this a shell game, trade off or just a stupid move by Representative Simmons. Or should we take a look at his political contributors and see who he represents. the people of Florida or the the Insurance Companies? Any guesses? To date there is no companion bill in the senate It will be interesting to see if and when one gets introduced and by who. There is also wording in this bill to reclassify just what constitutes a "motor vehicle". Hello, can you say, we gotcha now motorcycles?

No doubt Fl. is a dangerous place to drive and it is agreed that something needs to be done about it. But just as building expensive homes on barrier islands will do nothing to decrease the impact of a hurricane it boggles my mind to try and figure how increased insurance rates will do anything to alleviate, what in most cases, is just stupid driving, in Fl.

Look at the picture above and lets have a little lesson. Insurance may cover the car, it may also cover medical bills of those who were injured. It will not bring back any of the persons killed nor will it prevent such accidents from occurring. Isn't it about time we quit bitching about accidents that have occurred and start doing something to stop them from occurring in the first place? It isn't impossible you know? In fact, though maybe politically unpopular (as if raising insurance rates is popular), it is relatively easy. Following are just a few recommendations that I could guarantee that if implemented and enforced would cut fatalities almost in half. That is of course if one is serious about saving lives.

It is fact ok! It is proven ok! I don't care if you like the facts or not. Driving while using a cell phone (including hands free sets)makes one 4x's likely to be involved in a crash (we have to stop referring to negligence as accidents). It is comparable to driving while under the influence of alcohol. To keep ignoring this "fact" is to ignore the elephant in the living room" and become a part of the problem vs being part of the solution. Add to cell phones the other distractions such as eating while driving, yelling at kids, putting on make up, reading, etc and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that hey, insurance is not going to fix the problem.

Stiffer penalties: I'm not talking about the stiffer penalties that were enacted last year to address motorcycle accidents, that pretty much go unenforced. I'm talking about stiffer and enforced penalties for everybody that drives. You kill somebody because you are yaking on the phone when you should be paying attention to traffic, You go to jail. If you use a gun in a crime you go to jail. A driver on a cell phone is a loaded weapon looking for something to kill. Wait till you get to where you are going to put on that make up ok. You don't think guys are trying to cop a look at your eyelashes do you?

EDUCATION: Make Driver Education compulsory. Driving today ain't the same as it use to be. Add components re driver distraction and "Inattentional Blindness" to the courses and the license test. You don't get a certain % right you don't drive.

Do just these three things you save money and more importantly lives. This should make insurance companies happy. Why don't they promote it? rc