My car is old, but my insurance company still gives me auto insurance discounts for its “three” safety features (the air bags, anti-lock brakes and the anti-theft system). So, with the latest safety features available now, I’m curious what discounts I would qualify for if I had a newer car. Of course, the real high-dollar savings would be avoiding costly hospital bills, not to mention the possible “saving of one’s life.”
Besides good driver discounts and good student discounts, here is a list of the current safety features that are discounted by most auto insurance companies.
- Automatic seat belts (not in my car)
- Driver side and passenger side air bags (yes!)
- Anti-lock brakes (yes!)
- Daytime running lights (not in my car)
- Adaptive headlights (not in my car)
- Blind spot detection (not in my car)
- Lane departure warning system (not in my car)
- Rearview camera (not in my car)
- Automatic emergency braking (not in my car)
- Forward collision warning (not in my car)
- Anti-theft system (yes!)
Yes, as I said before, my car is old. Renting a car recently made me well aware of how I don’t even know how to start a new car with a keyless ignition. I had to learn the hard way…by actually referring to the owner’s manual (that I had to Google on my phone because the manual was not in the car).
And renting a car at night, not knowing where the switch is to turn on the headlights or not knowing how to turn on the windshield wipers, when it’s pouring rain, made me realize that perhaps I need to rent the economy car next time with the simple, typical features.
Maybe I’m not ready for the big girl car. Or, maybe the big girl car is not ready for me.
Until next week…
Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist
Auto Insurance – Comedy Defensive Driving