美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Safer Cars Don't Lead To Cheaper Car Insurance ... Yet

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

If you're in the market for a new car, you might have noticed there are a lot of safety features available these days.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It can even help you avoid a collision.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: ...Keep you in your lane.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Automatic high beam is...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Automatic emergency braking...

SIMON: All these features reduce the risk of crashes, so you might assume that would lead to cheaper car insurance. Well, no. In fact, all that safety tech can make your premiums² more expensive. NPR's Camila Domonoske explains.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE³: Some new cars can automatically hit the brakes, steer⁴ around obstacles or peak into blind spots. These features prevent accidents. But they also make accidents more expensive. Consider your headlights.

SCOTT WALLISCH: So a lot of vehicles are moving towards adaptive headlights that'll, you know, kind of look around the corner or, you know, are LED and are very bright.

DOMONOSKE: Scott Wallisch is an auto¹ pricing director with American Family Insurance. He says the benefit of these headlights is obvious; it makes it easier to see. So you're less likely to hit something, but...

WALLISCH: You know, if a headlight gets in an accident, it used to be $200 to replace it. Now it's $2,000 to replace that same headlight because it is adaptive, and it is, you know, LED.

DOMONOSKE: It's the same story for other safety features. If your car is watching your blind spot, let's just say the technology on your side mirrors will be pricier than it appears. And sensors⁵ that help your vehicle detect pedestrians⁶ - they bump up the cost of your bumper⁷. So a safer car will get in fewer crashes, but each one costs more.

MICHAEL KLEIN: And at least thus far, the improvements in safety and accident avoidance hasn't been significant enough to overtake the increase in costs to repair vehicles.

DOMONOSKE: Michael Klein is the president of personal insurance at Travelers. He says, yes, that means premiums go up. But he says that shouldn't dissuade⁸ anyone from choosing safer vehicles.

KLEIN: Not all the incentives⁹ are economic, right? I mean, if you're a person in the market for a vehicle and you have the opportunity to buy a vehicle that has features that should make it safer and make it less likely you're going to get into an accident, that ought to be worth something to you.

DOMONOSKE: It's also important to note that policies vary. Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog says it's crucial to shop around.

CARMEN BALBER: Our research has shown that some auto insurance companies do give consumers discounts for having these safety features.

DOMONOSKE: You might find a deal.

BALBER: But you may have to look around. And they vary state by state.

DOMONOSKE: Automatic emergency braking, where the car hits the brakes if it predicts a crash, is more likely to get you a discount, but you still can't count on it. This could change in the future. The fancy, new technology could get cheaper; it often does. The features could get more popular and reduce accidents more dramatically. Or insurers might simply need more time to understand just how effective the new safety features are. Amy Bach runs United Policyholders, a nonprofit representing consumers. She says insurers are slow to change course.

AMY BACH: Insurance, you know, because it's about risk, insurers tend to be cautious.

DOMONOSKE: Insurance companies make decisions about rates now based on what they know about the past. That's how insurance works. Tom Karol, who works at a group representing mutual¹⁰ insurance companies, says some of this technology is brand new.

TOM KAROL: Not only new but evolving.

DOMONOSKE: A feature might work one way this year then get updated next year. And carmakers don't always like to share details about their proprietary¹¹ tech.

KAROL: It's very difficult to get data on a moving target like that.

DOMONOSKE: But he says insurers are working on it.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

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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 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

5 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

6 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

8 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

9 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

11 proprietary   

n.所有权，所有的；独占的；业主

参考例句：

• We had to take action to protect the proprietary technology.我们必须采取措施保护专利技术。
• Proprietary right is the foundation of jus rerem.所有权是物权法之根基。