密歇根新闻广播 汽车保险出新规

 

A recent study by the University of Michigan found auto¹ insurance rates are unaffordable for residents in 97% of Michigan counties.

The high rates are especially tough on low-income residents in Detroit, where auto insurance rates average $5,414 a year. So, would recent changes to the state's auto insurance law, passed by state lawmakers last week, help those drivers most in need of relief?

Patrick Cooney is the assistant director of the University of Michigan Poverty Solutions' Detroit Partnership² on Economic Mobility³. Stateside talks to him about how the recent auto insurance reforms might impact low-income households, and the tough choices low-income Michiganders have to make when they can't afford auto insurance.

Michigan residents pay an average of $2,610 a year for auto insurance. That's nearly twice the national rate. Detroiters pay more than double that, an average of $5,414 a year. Cooney says he thinks that the recent legislation passed by the state Legislature, which Governor Gretchen Whitmer has pledged to sign, is a step in the right direction.

The legislation implements⁴ a tiered system for auto insurance. Previously⁵, all Michigan drivers were required to pay for unlimited⁶ lifetime personal injury protection. Now, drivers will be able to choose from different levels of protection, based on the price tag and their own preference.

Another major change under the legislation is that insurance providers can no longer use some non-driving factors to set rates. These factors include marital⁷ status, zip codes, credit scores, and gender⁸. However, providers can still use geographic⁹ location to set rates. Some Democratic state legislators think this could provide a discrimination loophole for insurance companies.

Critics of the latest reforms say that allowing drivers to choose lower levels of personal injury protection will just lead to increased costs in health care and car repairs down the road. But Cooney says the benefits, especially to low-income drivers, outweigh¹⁰ the risks. Without reliable transportation, he says, economic mobility is almost impossible.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post inaccurately¹¹ stated that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had signed the legislation passed by the state Legislature last week. That is incorrect. She has said that she does plan to sign the legislation. The story has been corrected above.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

4 implements   

n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• Primitive man hunted wild animals with crude stone implements. 原始社会的人用粗糙的石器猎取野兽。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They ordered quantities of farm implements. 他们订购了大量农具。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

7 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

11 inaccurately   

不精密地，不准确地

参考例句：

• The money mechanism began to work stiffly and inaccurately. 贷币机构开始周转不灵和不准确了。
• Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eyewitnesses'see. 法庭记录每天都显露出“见证人”看得多不准确。