Texas has the highest speed limits in the country. Some roads are 85 mph.

But, that's kind of nice and I certainly don't think those particular high speed roads are the issue....if there really is an issue vs other states' accident rates.

I agree with Tibbs that Texans have no ability to drive in wet/snowy conditions. Our weather is usually hot and dry, so when it changes, people become utter dipshits.


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Because you don't have a regular winter, nobody replaces their tires as they get worn. I grew up in Minnesota, (and live there now), and you regularly hear people say they hope to get a set of tires to last until winter or what have you. In Texas, I drove my tires until the cords were showing. I have never been somewhere that you see so many cars on the side of the road with blown tires, not just flat.

70 mph speed limit on a 2 lane road under construction isn't nice, it is flat out stupid.

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Pactimo brand ambassador, ask me about promo codes

Couple things at play here.

1. Any new driving activity for you or other drivers? Any claims even small ones can have affect. Traffic tickets or accidents have bigger affect.

2. The entire auto insurance industry is doing worse recently than say 5 years ago. After the crash when everyone was broke and gas was $4.50/gallon people were driving much less. Now average miles driven is up significantly. Cell phone use has also gone crazy in the past 10 years, thus accidents from that. Another issue is even though cars are safer, they are often more expensive to fix. Backup camera? Lane assist? Adaptive headlights? All cost much more to fix than cars of old. I was just at a presentation from an aftermarket parts supplier yesterday who had examples of Mercedes headlights that were $3,500 per light msrp!

3. Rates ebb and flow for every insurance company. If State Farm had a bad couple of years in your territory then they have to take a rate increase in that territory. They might have done much better in the next state over and not have any rate issues there, it all depends on location and loss ratio. That said, just because State Farm had a terrible year doesn't mean that another company had as bad of losses in a given area.

If you hadn't guessed, I work in insurance. The issue with an insurer like State Farm is they have one rate and if that is the best they can do that is what you get. I am an independent insurance agent. I know which of my top 4-5 companies is going to be the best fit for a given situation. For example, old people are getting huge rate increases recently. Over 70 years old is almost as bad as under 20 these days depending on the company. Some companies aren't hitting the old folks as hard. Do I like moving someone to a new company who has been there for 20 years? No. But if the situation dictates, I can take care of the shopping and moving the insurance for them. That is the benefit of an independent agent, I do the work for you. Unless of course you like calling around for insurance.

Uninsured and underinsured rates are bad in Idaho, then you look at the estimates of 30% of drivers in the state being uninsured and it begins to make sense. If you think State Farm is putting the screws to you for no reason then look up their loss ratio in your state, you might be surprised at how much money gets paid out.

 
Quick google search led to this.

https://newsroom.statefarm.com/...#iGSIbzWdVKsA2fSf.97

They are claiming a pretty substantial underwriting loss for 2016, on top of a lesser loss for 2015. "Unaffiliated" investment income is the only thing keeping them in the black. With underwriting losses that bad imagine what is going to happen if the stock market takes another downturn.

have you ever watched folks from the northern states, who claim driving superiority, navigate their commute in the "southern zone" or better when their region get hit with an ice storm........ They fair just as bad as the "south" drivers.

the argument that southerns can't drive in the "winter" is total bullshit.

Folks from buffalo can't drive on ICE.