insurance

Auto insurance

The average price of an automobile in the United States increased about 35 percent in the last four years. The cost of gasoline went up about 50 percent. Automobile insurance rose sharply, over 50 percent in many areas, as inflation made auto repairs and medical expenses more costly.

Auto insurance rates for those under 25 years of age are high. This is so because they were involved in well over one third of U.S. highway deaths last year, yet they compose only about one fifth of the drivers. The chances of this age-group having a fatal accident are more than two thirds greater than for those over 25. About one fourth of U.S. drivers had an accident of some kind last year, but of drivers under 25, 42 percent had accidents.