Massachusetts Car Insurance Legislation

What to do when bike and car collide

Bicycling in Boston is a dangerous business, no matter how bike-friendly the city’s becoming. Just about every cyclist has a near-death story, or scars from colliding with a vehicle. Cyclists cause their share of accidents, too, usually when they ignore the rules of the road. (Harvard Square bikers absolutely make me cringe.)

In my last column, I wrote about the rules of the road both motorists and bicyclists alike should follow. This week we’ll cover, from both perspectives, what to do when someone causes a bike-related accident.

Somehow Dickenson wasn’t seriously hurt: She escaped with a bloodied arm and some other minor scrapes. But the story doesn’t end there.

“The woman who hit me kept saying she wanted to take me to the hospital, but I kept saying ‘No, please don’t do that,’ ’’ Dickenson recalled.

Instead, the driver got back in her car and drove away, leaving Dickenson and her bent bicycle in her dust.

Leaving the scene of an accident, whether you’ve hit another car or a bicyclist, is obviously the wrong thing to do, said Brian Simoneau, a Framingham lawyer who specializes in motor vehicle law.

“If you leave the scene after knowingly causing personal injury, that’s a crime’’ punishable by up to two years in jail, he said. Regardless of who’s at fault, a motorist must report any accident with another vehicle, a bicyclist, a pedestrian, or property where there is more than $1,000 in property damage or a personal injury. Dickenson’s injuries were visible, but even if a cyclist merely complains of pain, the accident must be reported to the police.

“I think if a person’s claiming injury, that’s a fact to be tried in court,’’ Simoneau said. “The motorist is really not being smart if they say, ‘No, you’re not injured’ and drives away. You, as a motorist, want to wait for the police to come and document that there are no injuries, at least no visible injuries. That’s for your own protection. And when you think about it, a person could have internal injuries … soft tissue and the like.

Will New Massachusetts Car Insurance Rate Regulations Backfire ...

In many states, your car insurance rates are partially based on your profession, education and credit score. Statistically, engineers are less prone to car accident than say, bar hops, so it makes sense to charge a lower insurance rate to the former. Those with a college degree have fewer accidents than the less educated, and those with better credit scores are more likely to pay the car insurance bill in the first place.

Massachusetts Car Insurance Rate Regulations

Massachusetts outlawed socioeconomic rating long ago, allowing insurers to charge based on driving history only. In April 2008, facing pressures from insurance companies that said the rates were squeezing them out of the state, Massachusetts changed to a competition based system in which insurers set their own rates within the Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner’s guidelines. So far, commissioners have stuck to the socioeconomic rating ban. But should a commissioner with sympathies towards insurance companies take office; that could change.

Legislation Seeks to Ban Socioeconomic Rating Practices

The Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents wants to prevent that with a recently proposed 2012 ballot referendum and a legislative measure that ban socioeconomic factors when calculating car insurance rates. The association tried for legislation last year but failed, so it’s trying again and adding a ballot initiative this time. To be successful, the association needs nearly 69,000 signatures before December 8.

Insurance Companies Balk

Insurance companies believe the measure goes too far. Not only does it ban practices not allowed under current rules, but it’s also vague about what factors can be used for discounts. Such language could be interpreted to eliminate good student discounts or special group discounts. That would certainly backfire for residents, eliminating helpful discounts in place today.

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