I don't think I'm being too naive when I say that. What you just said is your opinion, and I expressed mine. We all know what they say about opinions - they're not facts. I'm not saying that premium will drop or that roads will be much safer right away, but in the long run I honestly believe that having some form of telematics in all vehicles will be beneficial for us all.

In response to your comment about motorcycle helmet laws - I don't know whether what you said was a fact or an opinion. But ABS, airbags, DRL, alarm systems...etc reduce premium right?

 

What they said might be true too. I'm no expert but I think that inflation, a LARGE increase in medical expenses, and fraud have been a major contributing factor in premium increases.

Taken from DOT report from Sept 2004:

"A record 80 percent of Americans wear their safety belts while driving or riding in their vehicles, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced today during a visit to Seattle. The Secretary, while visiting Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, said the number of Americans wearing their safety belts has increased dramatically over the past few years.

In the past four years, safety belt use has increased steadily from 71 percent in 2000 to 80 percent this year.

The 80 percent safety belt usage will save 15,200 lives and $50 billion in economic costs associated with traffic related crashes, injuries, and deaths every year, Mineta said.

The Secretary said the success was due in large part to states that have passed primary safety belt laws. Twenty-one states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have primary safety belt laws that allow police officers to stop a motorist solely for not wearing a safety belt.

The Secretary chose to visit Washington for the announcement to tout its success, noting 94 percent of the state's citizens buckle up. Washington passed a primary seatbelt law in 2002 and experienced a 9 percent reduction in overall traffic fatalities since the law was passed, he said.

"It's no coincidence that because 8 out of 10 Americans are wearing their safety belts, we have also achieved the lowest traffic fatality rate on our Nation's highways since record-keeping began 29 years ago," Mineta said.

Today's traffic fatality rate is 1.48 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a dramatic reduction since 1975 when the rate was 3.35 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled."