Mississippi’s insurance commissioner believes that the state’s auto insurance rates could increase in the near future.
Commissioner Mike Chaney based his assumption on several factors: Mississippi’s high vehicle repair costs—some of the highest in the nation; the increased frequency of automobile accidents and fatalities in the state; and enforcement on state and federal roads and highways is down.
Chaney expects insurers to request for rate increases between 10% and 20% in the next few months, reported
The Clarion-Ledger.
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America vice president of state government relations Joe Woods does not expect rates to hike overnight, but corroborated with Chaney’s observation that that repair costs in the region have increased 16% in recent years.
"Many [vehicle accidents] are attributable to distracted driving, poor seat belt usage in the state, and the drunk driving rates are really, really bad news for the state," Woods remarked. "We're trying to bring more information on how we can cut back on this increase on numbers of wrecks."
According to the Mississippi Highway Patrol, there has been a nearly 10% increase in crashes since the beginning of 2016 compared to last year.
Data revealed that three out of every 10 fatal crashes in Mississippi involved drunk driving, despite efforts to curb the risk through public awareness campaigns costing millions of dollars, Woods said. He also enumerated texting while driving and the unwillingness to use seat belts as factors in the rise of vehicle accidents and fatalities.
"It’s a multifaceted problem and needs multifaceted solutions," commented Woods. "It’s going to take increased public perception, more enforcement from the police, and a much stronger law from the Legislature."
While state statute allows Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) to have up to 650 troopers, only 475 are at work. Of the 475, only 201 troopers work the roads. When factoring in shifts and days off, realistically only half of the 201 troopers are on duty at any given time.
The troopers are also being stretched too thinly, their small officer numbers making it too difficult to adequately monitor the roads and highways. With 807 interstate miles in Mississippi, and 10,093 miles of state and U.S. highways, that could translate to one trooper per 54 miles, said MHP spokesman Johnny Poulos.
"Traffic safety is our number one mission, but loss of life and the injuries we’re experiencing on the roadways, it’s not slowing down. The numbers are increasing, and it’s affecting everyone in the state of Mississippi financially now," Poulos added. "You’d think loss of life would really make people think when it comes to driving, but those numbers keep increasing anyway. Now it looks like it could actually take money from every policyholder in the state."
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