Safety Tech Doesn’t Lower Your Car Insurance Rates as Much as You Think

Car insurance providers love it when a new policyholder insures a car with advanced safety and security features. Having these technological features on your car shows them that you are making an effort to be a safe driver in a safe vehicle, thus less of a risk to insure. Every year, these anti-theft and driving safety devices have become more and more advance. The main goal behind this tech is to make a fully autonomous car that can avoid accidents and reduce injuries and deaths. Insurance companies often reward having such tech features on your car with savings on your monthly auto insurance premiums. However, recent studies and investigations have found that these anti-theft and safety features aren’t rewarded with as big of a discount as you think. 

Why Doesn’t Safety Tech Lower Your Car Insurance Rates?

It has been found that new safety and security devices only save drivers nearly 1% on their annual insurance rates. In fact, driving aid devices like motion sensors, bumpers, and a rearview camera don’t even affect your rates at all. Most of the difference comes from anti-theft devices like tracking systems and alarms. Even then, you’re likely to save less than $10 a year. Despite this, insurance companies and drivers still see this technology in high regard because driving is made significantly safer. Even though you may not get the safety tech discount, you can get a safe driver discount sometime down the road. 

What is Safety Tech for Your Car?

Let’s look at some of the safety techs you can have installed on your car. Note that only one of these devices provides an annual premium discount:

Electronic stability control –

This system has the ability to brake individual wheels to maintain vehicle control in unsafe driving conditions, like when the road is slippery. This is the only safety tech that saves you money on your auto insurance, albeit only about $7 a year. 

Collision preparation system –

This device uses an AI and camera to identify imminent accidents and how to minimize the damage. 

Blind-spot monitoring –

A computer system can put digital eyes on your car’s blindspots for added safety. Several accidents occur when someone merges into what they thought was an empty lane. 

Driver alertness monitor –

This device is a camera that is placed on the steering column and tracks the driver’s face so it can tell when they aren’t looking at the road. This is a great safety tech for the spacey driver. 

Lane departure warning –

Again, several accidents emerge from lane discrepancies. This device motion tracks the car and lets the driver know when it’s drifting out of its lane. 

Rear-view camera –

This is becoming a regular feature in cars. Rear-view cameras help thousands of people out of tricky parking spots every day. It helps to have an HD picture of what’s behind you rather than driving with your head turned. 

Heads-up display –

This handy device projects information such as the car’s speed right on the windshield, so drivers don’t even have to move their eyes to monitor their driving. 

Park assist –

Another great automated device that helps with treacherous parking spots. They can even make something as tricky as parallel parking slightly easier for the driver. 

Night vision –

A thermographic camera is affixed on the dashboard with greater perception than high beams for nighttime driving. This can save the life of a driver who frequents rural roads with no lights. 

What is Anti-Theft Tech for Your Car?

Now, let’s look at some anti-theft tech that can be installed on your car. Unlike safety tech, these features can save you a little bit of money on your car insurance premiums:

Passing disabling device –

This device disables your car whenever the keys are not in the ignition. This would mean if it was broken into, the car would not start. This can save you about $9.60 annually. 

Tracking device –

GPS tracking devices are available for your car should it be stolen. These trackers are often hidden and small, so they aren’t discoverable. This can save you about $7.53 annually. 

Active disabling device –

Another great anti-theft device that disables your engine with the touch of a wireless button on your keys. This can save you about $5.38 annually. 

Alarm –

There’s always the good old-fashioned alarm system. Nothing deters theft like loud noises. This can save you about $5.04 annually. 

Another Con to Safety Tech for Your Car is The Maintenance Cost

A repair job for a standard car bumper can cost anywhere from $300 to $700, depending on the severity of the damage. Meanwhile, a motion-detecting bumper can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,500 for a fix. Needless to say, some tech advancements for your car aren’t exactly cheap to maintain should anything happen. This also makes the car more expensive for your insurance company to cover, so there may be some added premiums. 

The Safety That Car Tech Provides is Priceless

As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot that safety and anti-theft features can do for your car insurance premiums. However, drivers and insurance providers continue to endorse and invest in anti-theft and safety devices for their vehicles. While they don’t offer big breaks in your premiums, the improvement in your driving safety can be priceless and earn you a safe driving discount someday. But remember that even with all these advanced features, there is always room for driver error -so be the safest driver you can be.