Insurance Ruling Benefits Rural, Urban Drivers

Do you live in the central city? In the suburbs? On a remote farm? It doesn't matter. Wherever you live in California, a ruling last week by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster will save you money.

McMaster's ruling upheld auto insurance regulations that require companies to base rates ... on motorists' driving records, not where they live. ...

Back in 1988, voters approved Proposition 103, which was supposed to bar auto insurance pricing based on ZIP codes. ... The initiative required that driving record, miles driven and driving experience be the primary factors in setting prices.

Since then, insurance companies have fought Proposition 103. They have argued ...that compliance would lead to big hikes in auto premiums for suburban and rural drivers. But when "good driver" auto insurance reforms imposed by former Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi finally went into effect last year, auto insurance costs declined across the board. ... The simple fairness voters demanded in 1988 has become a reality in California.

-- Fresno Bee

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