Answer: More accidents due to “distracted” drivers.

Ok, I know you are not teaching a driver’s ed course, but this is an incredibly important message to get across to new drivers: Don’t Text While You Drive! Here’s the data showing the increase in car-insurance premiums due to more driving and more crashes (from WSJ (subscription)):

Here’s what insurers are saying about this disturbing trend (from WSJ):

• “It is “an epidemic issue for this country,” said Michael LaRocco, chief executive of State Auto Financial Corp., at an insurance-industry conference last month. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest U.S. auto insurer by market share, said 36% of the people it surveyed in 2015 admitted to texting while driving, and 29% said they access the internet, compared with 31% and 13%, respectively, in 2009. Among drivers aged 18 to 29, 64% said in the 2015 survey that they text while driving, and 54% said they use the internet behind the wheel.
• At Allstate Corp., President Matthew Winter told shareholders this month that the correlation between smartphone ownership and accident frequency is striking. Allstate drivers’ average auto bill is up by more than 11% since 2014. While cellphones have been widespread for years, Mr. Winter said at a conference, they were “not as distracting as…when people brought smartphones into the car and began texting and web surfing and videoing and everything else while they were driving.”

Here are the numbers showing dramatic growth in smartphone ownership that Allstate is referring to (hard to remember the days before smartphones, isn’t it?):

Kinda makes me wonder if this trend will speed adoption of autonomous vehicles as the compulsion for drivers to use smartphones is greater than their need to feel like they are in control of their own vehicle. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Questions for students:

• How many use their smartphones while driving?
• For those who don’t, what are the tactics they use to avoid the temptation?

___________

Car insurance is a great hook to introduce the topic of insurance to teens. Check out this NGPF Fine Print to teach your students how to read their car insurance policy.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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