<story><title>Car insurance in America is too cheap</title><url>https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/01/18/why-car-insurance-in-america-is-actually-too-cheap</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hx8</author><text>As in outsider of the auto industry this sounds like a classic blame-the-customer attitude that exists in many industries.  The auto industry attributes the increase of severity and frequency of auto accidents to an external party so they share zero liability.</text></item><item><author>drc500free</author><text>I worked in the industry recently, with most leading carriers on how they generate LTVs for potential customers from expected frequency, severity, and lifetime.&lt;p&gt;During COVID shutdowns, there was a massive drop in frequency (obviously, hardly anyone was driving) but a significant uptick in severity. This was attributed to higher speeds with emptier roads.&lt;p&gt;After re-opening, frequency is significantly higher per driver than before. So is severity. Everyone I talked to in the industry was convinced this was due to loss of skill during shutdown as well as people driving much more aggressively. This is on top of the serious increase in parts due to supply chain issues.&lt;p&gt;I find it strange that this isn&amp;#x27;t discussed in the article when it&amp;#x27;s a pretty widely-held belief in the industry.</text></item><item><author>pkoird</author><text>&amp;gt; Since then, the number of severe crashes has climbed. It is hard to say exactly why.&lt;p&gt;The article mentions some of the reasons but the one I find personally annoying the most are white LED headlights. What in the absolute seven hells is wrong with every manufacturers these days? White light may give you extra vision but it blinds everyone else. Eventually, everyone starts using it and then no one will be able to see properly at night anymore. Truly, a tragedy of the commons. A swift intervention at the Federal level seems like a must.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>noirbot</author><text>That doesn&amp;#x27;t seem like it follows though. Most people are driving the same car they were driving in 2019. It&amp;#x27;s not like the auto industry went and changed everyone&amp;#x27;s cars and repaved the roads or something. If this was some long term trend, then sure, easier to see how you could explain it with changes in headlights or ride height or some other factor of how cars are designed.&lt;p&gt;A dramatic increase in amount and severity of accidents after a major world-impacting event like the pandemic seems like exactly the sort of thing that would make sense to be some change in the way people drive. This isn&amp;#x27;t &amp;quot;Oh, the users just hate the new Slack design. What idiots.&amp;quot; For 90+ percent of the US, nothing has changed about the cars or roads in the last 4 years any more than the 4 years before that, and yet the outcomes of driving have changed.</text></comment>
<story><title>Car insurance in America is too cheap</title><url>https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/01/18/why-car-insurance-in-america-is-actually-too-cheap</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>hx8</author><text>As in outsider of the auto industry this sounds like a classic blame-the-customer attitude that exists in many industries.  The auto industry attributes the increase of severity and frequency of auto accidents to an external party so they share zero liability.</text></item><item><author>drc500free</author><text>I worked in the industry recently, with most leading carriers on how they generate LTVs for potential customers from expected frequency, severity, and lifetime.&lt;p&gt;During COVID shutdowns, there was a massive drop in frequency (obviously, hardly anyone was driving) but a significant uptick in severity. This was attributed to higher speeds with emptier roads.&lt;p&gt;After re-opening, frequency is significantly higher per driver than before. So is severity. Everyone I talked to in the industry was convinced this was due to loss of skill during shutdown as well as people driving much more aggressively. This is on top of the serious increase in parts due to supply chain issues.&lt;p&gt;I find it strange that this isn&amp;#x27;t discussed in the article when it&amp;#x27;s a pretty widely-held belief in the industry.</text></item><item><author>pkoird</author><text>&amp;gt; Since then, the number of severe crashes has climbed. It is hard to say exactly why.&lt;p&gt;The article mentions some of the reasons but the one I find personally annoying the most are white LED headlights. What in the absolute seven hells is wrong with every manufacturers these days? White light may give you extra vision but it blinds everyone else. Eventually, everyone starts using it and then no one will be able to see properly at night anymore. Truly, a tragedy of the commons. A swift intervention at the Federal level seems like a must.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Kalium</author><text>How do you imagine the auto &lt;i&gt;insurance&lt;/i&gt; industry is driving this change in customer behavior and outcomes? I cannot imagine any way in which it&amp;#x27;s the fault of the insurers, but I know that this is merely a failure of my imagination.&lt;p&gt;Bear in mind that the auto insurance industry is quite distinct from the auto manufacturing industry.</text></comment>