Is there any hope for me?
Yes, public transport.
car insurance
Submitted 7 months ago by SSUPII@sopuli.xyz to [deleted]
https://sopuli.xyz/pictrs/image/c2c11350-e5ff-4ea8-981f-cfef873f8a98.webp
Comments
Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 months ago
Is this a European joke I’m too American to understand? /s
PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Move to a city, it would be cheaper than this absurdity.
Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 7 months ago
You can still take a taxi I’m sure, may just be more expensive than this guy’s insurance premiums.
JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 7 months ago
The insurance agencies really need a way to recommend the government take someone’s license when they’re a public danger like this.
Sotuanduso@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Well they do give them a strong incentive to stop driving.
PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee 7 months ago
They only give them a strong incentive to stop driving legally.
DarkSpectrum@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Of course sir, you’re new low cost car insurance policy is right through this door over here … 🔒
Jarix@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Give insurance companies the will power to say no im not going to insure you. And then cap insurance rates. and by cap i mean no insurance should be more expensive than the rate new drivers are allowed to be charged.
Where i live insurance rates have a discount for being a good driver. Goes up each year to cap at about 40percent. This is tied to your liscence not insurance.
Increase that discount for good drivers and make sufficiently bad drivers unable to be insured.
TheDankHold@kbin.social 7 months ago
Keeping people like this off the road is one of the biggest reasons why every place needs robust public transportation systems.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Sounds like my wife’s asshole cousin who has been in so many crashes and totaled so many cars at this point that he’s had his license taken away and has to get around Indianapolis on a scooter. And he’s in his 20s.
I remember the day at a family function when the roads were icy him bragging to us about how he made it down to the function doing 80 on icy roads and sliding around everywhere but didn’t crash. Seriously, he was bragging about it as if it made him Mario Andretti.
His dad is a doctor, so I’m guessing he was paying that high insurance for quite some time, but no longer. His dad also bought him a Cadillac which, obviously, he totaled. I love his dad, he’s my GP, but he has a big blind spot when it comes to his son.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 7 months ago
doing 80 on icy roads and sliding around everywhere […] bragging about it as if it made him Mario Andretti.
This, at best, makes him kinda okay at Mario Kart.
But even that game forces you to give up if you crash too many times.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s one of many reasons I can’t stand him.
The fact that his voice has two volume levels, secretly mutter something offensive and shout at the top of his lungs no matter how close he is to your ear, makes me hate even going to her family’s functions.
KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
bragging about that is like bragging about negligently discharging a gun in a crowd of people and miraculously, nobody gets hit.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I wouldn’t put that past him either. And I hope he doesn’t have any guns, but I have a feeling he does and I have a feeling he’s pointed them at people as a “joke” before too.
SeaJ@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I was actually surprised at how recent the bike infrastructure was in downtown Indianapolis so using a scooter to get around would not be bad in downtown at least.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
He’s in Greenwood. Less bike friendly.
plantedworld@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Bro needs a bus pass
Neato@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
So best case for someone like this: don’t drive. Get other people to drive you, use public transportation, get a bike, etc. But this is probably America and that is 100% not possible everywhere. Or even most places.
There is another option: State-Owned High-Risk Auto Insurance. These are insurance plans owned by individual states. Because US states all require auto insurance to drive a car and because driving a car is goddamn necessary in a lot of America, this exists.
It’s VERY expensive. Like when I was looking at getting good coverage for 2 newish cars I was staring down $500/6mo. Our state’s high-risk was $2,000+. But it exists for people like in the post who are just too expensive for ordinary insurance companies to want to insure.
TheFinn@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
At this rate I bet it’s cheaper for them to Uber everywhere.
Neato@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
No way. Even just commuting assuming $20 each way (cheap for rush hour) that’s $4,800 every 6 months. Probably 2-3 times as expensive as the high risk insurance.
frickineh@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Where on earth are you getting insurance for 2 cars for $500/6 months? In middle aged, drive a 10 year old car, and have a perfect driving record, and mine’s about $100/month. I’ve priced the same level of coverage with other companies and that’s pretty much what all of them offered.
Neato@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
That was a few years ago. But I have the same coverage and cars for $580/6mo. BTW it’s cheaper to pay all at once usually.
But our cars are compact and subcompact about 9 & 10 years old. We carry 100/300/100. It’s GEICO is MD but it was also about the same with progressive in FL. Only one of us has a perfect record, the other is still minor and rare.
So you may just live in an expensive state for insurance.
Lemmeenym@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I’m in a similar position, middle aged, clear driving history for about 15 years, car’s an '18. I pay ~$450 every 6 months with Progressive. Paying the whole amount up front gives me a good discount. If you can’t do that size payment at once you can pay with PayPal credit and it should be no interest for 6 months so you can get the discount and still pay monthly.
J4g2F@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
I live in the Netherlands and now pay €188 a year. It’s just a “wa” insurance meaning if I hit something they pay the damage of the other’s, but not mine damage.
I drive a car from 2009 and have 10 years of no damages. So if your willing to move to the Netherlands wait 10 years you can lower your payment. (Not really a option I guess)
brygphilomena@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Farmers
2003 Subaru WRX and 2001 Toyota MR2
250 bodily injury per person
500 bodily injury per accident
100 property
Comprehensive and collision on the MR2.
Total is 494.50/6mo
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
I legitimately don’t get people who can’t drive. It’s actually ridiculously simple to not break the law or get in an accident. I’ve never had a ticket or been in an accident. Closest was I slid on ice and hopped a curb once, but there was no damage at all because, get this, I was driving slow enough for the bad weather conditions :0
dumpsterlid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s actually ridiculously simple to not break the law or get in an accident.
Driving a car is absurdly difficult, incredibly dangerous, takes only a second of distraction to kill yourself and others and in general is such a nightmare that it is contrary to what you say a miracle that people aren’t crashing into each other all the damn time.
Like, everybody I have gotten in a car with for the past 10 years invariably will get stressed out significantly by the unavoidable chaos of driving enough to visibly become emotional about it even during a short drive. Driving is miserable.
abysmalpoptart@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I can agree with some of your response to what was said by the other commenter, but my impression is that person was shocked that someone at a young age has been involved in double digit accidents that mostly sound like their fault. Some people really just are incapable of driving, but that doesn’t diminish that small lapses or true accidents do happen.
I would disagree that driving in general is miserable, though I’m sure this can vary by location. While i would prefer better access to efficient public transit (live in the USA), being able to get in a car and go anywhere is pretty freeing.
repungnant_canary@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Driving a car is absurdly difficult, incredibly dangerous, takes only a second of distraction to kill yourself and others
Yes and no.
It seems that most people are falsely convinced (or even peer-pressured to some extent) that you must drive at the speed limit or even above it. But you actually don’t have to. You must adjust your speed for weather conditions, road conditions, traffic intensity, surrounding safety infrastructure (or lack of it) and your skills and current condition.
It seems that learning how to choose your speed is missing from most driving courses worldwide. Sometimes, road maintenance provides some advice on that, for example in France you have different speed limits for wet/dry road. But in other cases drivers ignore that guidance - sometimes highway speed limit is lowered due to lack of hard shoulder or animal fences but very few people understand that and most just ignore the limit.
And then there’s your own condition - if you’re tired, slow down, your kids are crying in the back, slow down, you’re on new road, slow down, have a gut feeling, slow down!
What you’re describing is actually mostly a case for driving too fast for given conditions. Even if you’re not speeding but you can’t read and comprehend signs, road, other cars, pedestrians and navigation - you’re driving too fast, slow down.
So I think both your and OP’s comments boil down to attention. As long as you remember essential driving rules and pay attention to road, surroundings and those rules it’s difficult to cause an accident. But if your attention is slipping then it’s a slippery slope.
And if you observe that you often struggle to pay attention to one of those things, you should review your actions and skills and apply necessary corrections.
Driving is easy in a way that it’s schematic and there are not many rules compared to say aviation. But it’s not mindless! You must think about your skills, capabilities and your state of mind and act according to those. In aviation pilots do thorough risk assessment before and during flight, and drivers should do that as well. What makes driving easier than flying is that when you identify the risk as too high you can just slow down or stop.
So to summarise. For God’s sake SLOW DOWN! It saves lives.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Wow. Not for me. I drive ten hours a day sometimes. Never freaks me out.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
I never said it didn’t suck, but it only sucks because other people are terrible drivers. It isn’t absurdly difficult at all unless you’re incredibly incompetent.
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Also, an accident is just a matter of time / miles. You can be the most careful driver in the world and a car can pull in front of you on the freeway and come to a dead stop. You’ll hit them from behind and the insurance company will blame you.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I legitimately don’t get people who can’t drive.
Setting aside folks with serious disabilities, folks with long term mental decline, folks with mechanical difficulties, folks with rambunctious kids in the back seats, folks in neighborhoods with high speed limits and generally unsafe driving conditions, folks who have to drive through inclement weather, folks who don’t regularly maintain their car’s brakes and tires, folks who drive cars that have poor visibility (big trucks, particularly), and folks who just never learned rules of the road before getting a rubber stamp from a DMV that does not give a shit…
It’s difficult to understand why other people don’t drive as well as I do.
One sec. Sorry. Banging this out on my phone and I had a whoopsie-doodle. Let me clean this up and I’ll finish my post.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
Ok so obviously if you have a medical condition that makes you unsafe to drive, you shouldn’t drive. If you don’t maintain your car that’s entirely on you. If you choose a car with poor visibility you’re purposefully endangering everyone around you so you shouldn’t drive. If you don’t understand the rules, you certainly shouldn’t be allowed to drive but that’s a whole separate issue.
Socsa@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Yet every fucking “car forum” is just filled with people who believe that it is their God given right to do 100mph over on every highway, and that if you slow them down they are then justified to aggressively weave in and out of traffic.
Practice just going the speed limit. It is liberating.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I’m one of those people! I demand passage and all other cars are what I like to call Enemy Traffic. Whenever I encounter Enemy Traffic I just lay on my horn until they surrender.
I’m a real person and not a caricature. I exist.
Also, I blast music when I hike.
Whenever I encounter Enemy Hikers I just stride confidently down the middle of the trail and they bounce off my football pads like ping pong balls.
One time at Chautaqua Park in Boulder a lady asked me to hold her dog’s leash while she used the restroom. So I had a stranger take a quick video of me helping out: youtube.com/shorts/OGBDBl6MuDc
Liz@midwest.social 7 months ago
Let us accept that these people exist. They are one of the many reasons walking, biking, bussing, and train riding should all viable as main modes of transportation. If your town is too small for a train, leave that out. If it’s too small for a bus, leave that out. Ain’t nobody’s town too small for good walking and biking layout and design. We did it naturally right up until we got hooked on cars.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
I totally agree and fully encourage people to not drive whenever possible. Most of the truly stupid drivers won’t do that though
oatscoop@midwest.social 7 months ago
Some people have zero spatial awareness and/or an inability to judge speed and distance – their brains just aren’t wired for it. They’re perfectly normal in every other way, but menaces behind the wheel.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
Yep, and we should have driving tests that actually are challenging so people like that don’t get a license.
ArmokGoB@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I don’t have the gross motor coordination to safely operate a car. I could probably drive one remotely with a controller, but I can’t make the full-body motions needed to press pedals and steer with my arms at the same time.
Daxtron2@startrek.website 7 months ago
I was obviously not referring to people with medical conditions. The average able-bodied person should be able to safely operate a vehicle without causing an accident.
RalphFurley@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I haven’t driven in decades. It’s something I’m terrified of. Luckily I’ve lived in dense urban areas so even well before Uber/Lyft there was always plenty of public transit and cab stands everywhere.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Well, almost slow enough
nebula42@lemmy.today 7 months ago
Where can I find more humor like this?
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Hopefully not on any road near you.
therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
I actually believe this is a real story
sexual_tomato@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I believe it. A childhood friend of mine had totaled like 7 (very cheap) cars by the time he turned 25.
After a particularly brutal crash, he was diagnosed with epilepsy after having an absence seizure in the presence of an ER nurse.
Hasn’t wrecked since.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
If it isn’t a real story, there are plenty of real stories like it. There are just a disgusting number of people who are reckless drivers.
Almost no one in the town I live in uses their turn signals. It’s infuriating. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve almost rear-ended someone who suddenly slam on their breaks in the middle of an intersection and turn off. I also live in a subdivision with no sidewalks and a speed limit of 25 mph. People are regularly walking their dogs and kids are everywhere. I see people flying down the curvy subdivision roads doing at least 50.
I’m amazed I haven’t heard about anyone getting killed.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 7 months ago
There are the “Worst driver” TV shows. There are some real head cases in there.
Akasazh@feddit.nl 7 months ago
I can believe this is not sarcasm
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 7 months ago
Maybe you should learn how to fucking drive?
don@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Pffft, that’s what the insurance is for, so they don’t have to learn.
Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world 7 months ago
My suggestion would be to:
- Move to a place where not driving is a viable way of getting about. If you already live there, great!
- Get a lifetime transit pass and consider getting a bicycle
- Ditch your car and never look back
BirdyBoogleBop@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
From the ampunt of accidents they have had. Maybe start with walking and see how that goes first before getting anything with wheels.
reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 7 months ago
www.marketwatch.com/…/cost-to-move-out-of-state/
Average cost of moving out of state - $4000-$12000
fortune.com/…/emergency-1000-expense-most-america…
Less than half of Americans can currently incur a $1000 expense right now
BilboBargains@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Have you tried reducing your alcohol consumption?
user1234@lemmynsfw.com 7 months ago
The best insurance company for this person is take the bus.
Vej@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I got quoted $840 a month for insurance. Clean accident history. Insurance is bullshit levels of expensive.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 7 months ago
As your attorney I advise you to buy a bus pass.
some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 7 months ago
Sounds like someone should have their license revoked.
tkk13909@sopuli.xyz 7 months ago
How tf do you even get a water bottle under the brake pedal?
FontMasterFlex@lemmy.world 7 months ago
This guy is the reason all of our rates go up.
Treczoks@kbin.social 7 months ago
So, basically, he had one accident per year. And he is not smart enough to understand that the universe is trying to tell him "Don't drive a car, then!"
SomeGuy69@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Sure, keep driving like that, with some luck you kill a person. Fr walk, use bicycle or bus before that happens.
reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 7 months ago
this is markets working. this is why we want police to have to carry insurance.
UncleArthur@lemmy.world 7 months ago
That’s a funny definition of ‘accident’.
MrJozzBoss@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I don’t think car insurance is your biggest problem
postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 7 months ago
4.8 rating on Lyft
Ultragigagigantic@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I saved money on my car insurance by not having a car. Who would want to leave the basement anyways?
creditCrazy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Come to think about it I think the reason why us americans associate giant SUVs and trucks with safety is because we’ve gotten so lazy relying on computers and finicky cameras that get covered in mud that I personally feel safer driving my 56 bel air over modern cars because I’m able to physically move my head to see the crap around me not to mention the transmission being a two speed automatic it has a hard time getting to dangerous high speeds but I suppose that doesn’t really matter when everyone else is blind quite frankly I would love a car with modern crash safety and handling while still having the ridiculous lack of blind spots that 50s cars had I actually praise the vw golf for having not only a backup camera that doesn’t get dirty while not doing that stupid thing where for some reason a lot of auto manufacturers think we have a backup camera lets jack the rear seats so the driver has to use the camera that gets covered in mud or make the rear windshield flat enough to become unusable during winter thank you Volkswagen for not doing that with the golf I can have the backup camera and my physical neck to look behind me
PatFussy@lemm.ee 7 months ago
We should get this guy in a smart car as an option on twisted metal.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
I don’t think this person should be driving. How do you get into 14 accidents?
I’ve been in… I think two? Ever?
I hope that image isn’t one of his… Like, it’s showing a pretty clear day, and he hit a stationary post. How do you mess up that badly?
Gakomi@lemmy.world 7 months ago
If this is real, this guy should not have a driver’s license anymore, he’s a menace on the road. Sorry my dude but I hope your insurance prices goes as high as heaven cause you should not have a car!
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I know these stories are always fake anyway but holy shit, buy a bike and chill out for a few years.
Canopyflyer@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I personally know someone who totaled 4 cars before turning 18. He literally treated the gas as an on/off switch.
So people that bad at driving are out there.
Truth be told, drivers here in the US are TOTALLY untrained for the most part. My oldest is currently in driver’s Ed and it is a joke, in regards to actually how to drive a car. I have spent a lot of time training him as I have a long history taking racing and advanced driving courses. I’ve held SCCA and FIA racing licenses and I have taken some courses that are usually reserved for police officers The only problem is I do not feel that I’m a very good teacher for him. But he has picked up some things, even if he isn’t up for threshold or trail braking.
FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today 7 months ago
Most of the USA also seems to lack options for adults to take a class and be given professional instruction on how to drive, for some odd reason. If you’re out of high school there are no classes for you.
I wonder if it’s like that in most other countries as well?
RedEyeFlightControl@lemmy.world 7 months ago
There was a kid at my high school who was famous for wrecking 7 cars his senior year. Parents just kept buying him new ones. Like, brand new. Off the lot. It was insane.
LordKitsuna@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Ask someone that ended up being the teacher for the majority of my friend group. If struggling with the teaching more than likely you’re trying to give answers to their questions. Which is actually more unhelpful than helpful.
If they’re asking you how to make a certain kind of turn, or how to know how close they are to something. Just giving them an answer isn’t really useful because they don’t know how to arrive at that answer, instead you need to help them ask the correct questions.
" you didn’t quite make it in that parallel park, get out and take a look at where the car is. The back of the car is only just barely in the spot, so clearly you didn’t end up deep enough in the spot. What do you think you need to do to change that"
And have them keep practicing until they start to figure it out, it will seem frustrating for them in the moment but it’s genuinely more useful for them to try things on their own and attempt to reach the answer than it is for them to be handed the answer because then they understand not just the answer but the why of the answer. Why did I not make that turn, what does it feel like to not make the turn properly. Which is very important for being able to apply those same principles of vehicle control to other situations.
One of my favorite things to do with people is to set up some cones or a block of wood or whatever and just tell them to try and park as closely as possible to that object without touching it. I have them do that, get out, go look at how close they were to it, and then try again if they were nowhere near it until they can get it to Within less than a foot. Great way to help train sense of vehicle position.
joel_feila@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yes this. We teach kids, slow down in the rain, but give no guidelines on how to calculate how much they should slow down. Hell I have ran into very few adults that even understand the concept of out driving your headlights.
carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s alright, he probably doesn’t need to know how to do a PIT maneuver or corner drifts :P
PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Yeah, people like this are why my (absolutely spotless record, not even a parking ticket) insurance is so high. They drive rates up for everyone around them, simply due to the fact that you can get hit by them through no fault of your own.
I dated a girl whose brother had four accidents on his record at the time. He was 17 years old, so just barely old enough to have his license, (in my area you can get your permit at 15, and license at 16). After his second totaled car, their parents told him he was buying his third car with his own money. For them, the first totaled car was a fluke; The second was a pattern. So he got a job at 16, bought a junker with his earnings, and totaled it six months later.
The worst part is that two of his accidents happened in the exact same circumstances. Slick roads from an ice storm. He takes one particular corner too fast, hits a patch of ice, and ends up totaled. He totaled two cars on the exact same icy corner, because he didn’t learn from the first accident.
hardcoreufo@lemmy.world 7 months ago
New intern at work was talking about smashing 2 cars while speeding just weeks apart. Then starts talking about wanting to get a motorcycle. Kid isn’t going to make it to 25.
Aremel@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Wouldn’t they have revoked your license by this point?
Neato@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
Not necessarily. Actual accidents don’t always confer citations and many of those can be discharged for simply proving your insurance paid the other person. It’s not illegal to be a klutz, it’s just expensive.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Depends where in the world this is.
FilterItOut@thelemmy.club 7 months ago
I have a friend who has, give or take a couple, wrecked vehicles more than 20 times. Most were minor, barely involving damage to the vehicle he was driving or the vehicle/object he hit, but a couple were catastrophic. I think the majority were because he has roadway hypnosis/narcolepsy. I’ve had him fall asleep mid sentence talking to me when he was a passenger. A perfect candidate to have that license taken, right? The two ways I know of to take a license involve driving while intoxicated or a doctor personally notifying the licensing agency about a person’s inability to drive. Believe it or not, most doctors have a vested interest (because they want clients) in not personally notifying the agency. However, there is no set path to revoke a license for simply being a bad driver.
Gigan@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s surprisingly hard to take someone’s license away.
Neato@ttrpg.network 7 months ago
You’d be surprised…
TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I did know people like this growing up, but they were always driving fucked up one way or another.
WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 7 months ago
That’s bound to work out great with their history of crashing…