Problem with Lil Bastards argument is the erroneous belief that "speed kills". I will not deny that very high speeds produce more deaths then reasonable speeds.

But adherence to slow speed limits can be just as dangerous as exceeding them by 10-20 mph. There is a comfort zone that most drivers have and for an open 4 lane highway that comfot zone is about 70mph. Artificailly lowering that speed by arbitrary limits increases driver boredom significantly and results in an increase in accident rates.

So where do I get my conclusions?

A Unversity of Texas test of more than 200 drivers involved covering up speedometers and asking drivers to run 4 lane roads with little or no other traffic. Their overall average speed was 70mph.

When there was a National speed limit of 55 imposed traffic fatalaties per mile driven decreased significantly. This was hailed by safety advocates as proof that "speed kills" However when the ban was lifted and states began increasing speed limits FATALITIES PER MILE DECREASED AGAIN. So the "proof" that "speed kills" must be thrown out. Continuing decreases in death tolls point toward safer car design, increased seat belt usage, better road and signage design and decreased EMS response times. But DOES NOT say anything about the dangers of speed.

The public would be MUCH better served if safety advocates focused on better driver education in the forms of safe following distances, safety belt usage and keep right except to pass rules.

Tailgating at highway speeds is a major root cause of accidents yet since it is hard to prove after the accident occurs it is ignored in statistics. Yet it doesn't take a rocket scientist or statistician to realize the impact of have tenths of a second rather than 2 seconds to react to emergency that require sudden manuevers. With too short a time most drivers will overreact or not react at all. Overreactions result in spins and flips. No reaction results in high speed collisions.

Regards,
Alan

Well as far as my driving record...

I've never had a speeding ticket, in 23 years of driving... never wrecked a car or AutoX'ed my car... (nor do I plan on). The only thing is that my parked Audi was hit in a parking lot a few years ago.

Some might ask why I even have a Porsche:)

So I guess Geico is perfect for me!

Well, as bmx672, I too have had no accidents or speeding tickets in many years and many more miles of driving.

But, I have to admit that this has often been more a product of luck or fate. When I was speeding, there were no police in the area. So far as accidents, well I was in the wrong place at the right time - I've had cars both in front of and behind me get into collisions.

I do drive somewhat defensively, but I'd never be accused of being the 'Little Old Lady' or 'Sunday Driver' either.

But, I do Auto-X and Race a car on the Track and again have done so for many years. This pretty much quenches the urge to drive that way on the Street. I think that is maybe the greatest benefit of participating in these sports - it satisfies an appetite that would otherwise have no outlet and might cause me to try on public roads. This why I'm an advocate for people getting it 'out of their system' in controlled environments such as these.

As far as renzop's arguements are concerned, I don't disagree at all. There have been studies showing speed having little or no effect in the Traffic Fatality rate/mi. But, they offer no data for non-fatal accidents. Nor, do they take account of the mediating effects of increased safety devices or crashworthiness. The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) has data which disputes these findings. Many advocates of higher speeds and less enforcement will infer a bias as the IIHS is funded soley by the Ins. industry. But, the IIHS is considered by most to be more stringent than the NHTSA in vehicle crash ratings. I think people tend to side with whichever group, test, or statistics support their own views.

In then end, I think the arguements are all but moot. The rapid spread of Speed Cameras and other unmanned devices are going to make enforcement much more prevalent and will force us all to drive at lower avg. speeds.

Geico
 

IN 2002, after 1 year of ownership of my 2001S (and 14000 miles), I was rear-ended by a hit&run driver and went spinning off the road into a tree. The front of the car was crushed, the rear was mashed, but I was uninjured. The original estimate for repairs was $16,000, but after about 2 weeks, GEICO decided that my car was totalled and gave me a check for $54,000 for a car that cost $60,000 new.

This exceeded my expectations at the time. Also, as a footnote, my Boxster held its value significantly better than my 401k during the 1-year period of ownership.

Keith

Re:
 

I switched to Travelers from Safeco last fall when my 18yr old daughter got her license. Now costs me $ 2,100/yr to insure my '97 & 2 other cars... and my daughter is insured on the Boxster too (not that I'm going to let her drive it).
Costs me $45.00 (Comp) to garage the Box for 6mo.
The switch saved me $ 1,100 on premiums. Geico was compareable to Travelers ratewise.

Rest assured that Geico is not giving away thousands of radar and laser speed guns because it has anyone's welfare at heart, or is trying to achieve some greater social good. It's all about money, plain and simple.

Car & Driver has written stories in the past about Geico's financial analyses. They do this purely as an investment. They make much more money from jacking up the rates of their 'customers' who get speeding tickets than they spend buying and giving away speed guns.

I personally would not give my money to a company whose official corporate policy and practice is to try and rape their own customers (that and I wouldn't last very long with my propensity to go faster than allowed...).

I've been with State Farm for years and am very happy with them. About four years ago I applied with Geico to see if I could get a lower rate. The rate they quoted was, I believe, about $50 per month higher than my State Farm rates. I have made a couple of claims with State Farm and they have been handled very well. Maybe it depends on where you live.