Reader and blogger Ben Martin submits the following data point: The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies, the third largest auto insurer in the country, offers an insurance discount up to 15 percent for low-mileage drivers. (See Progressive’s Virginia promotion here.)
The underwriting logic seems obvious: If you drive fewer miles, you’re less likely to be involved in an automobile accident.
The private sector gets it. Why doesn’t the government? Why can’t the Commonwealth of Virginia come up with a transportation financing scheme — for road maintenance, at least — as logical as Progressive’s? The fewer miles you drive… the less the wear and tear you put on state roads… the less you pay to maintain those roads. Conversely, the more you drive, the more you pay.
Just as an insurance company might adjust your insurance rates depending upon the type of car you drive — certain models are more likely to suffer extensive damage in an accident; certain models do a better job of protecting their occupants than others — why can’t the Commonwealth charge more for vehicles, such as tractor trailers, that cause more damage to our roads than, say, a Volkswagen Beetle or a Ford Focus?
If the insurance industry can do it, why can’t the state of Virginia? Why do our lawmakers devise Rube Goldberg financing schemes that sever the connection between taxes paid and Vehicle Miles Driven? Why is it so hard to sell the entirely reasonable proposition that the more you drive, the more you pay?
