Support Aired For 'Pay As You Drive' Auto Insurance Bill
State House News Service
April 4, 2007
Legislation that would set auto insurance rates based on the driver's mileage was heavily favored today during a hearing before the Committee on Financial Services. After listening to testimony favoring the measure, including from an assistant attorney general, the committee assigned both bills relative to cost-per-mile auto insurance to a study.
Rep. Stephen Smith of Everett will chair a subcommittee studying both bills. Glenn Kaplan, chief of the insurance and financial services division in the Office of the Attorney General, spoke in support of both bills filed by Reps. James Marzilli (D-Arlington) and Carl Sciortino (D-Medford).
"Pay as you drive" would encourage consumers "to find alternatives to automobile transportation," said Kaplan. Consumers would also be treated "more fairly," he said, as people who drive less and pose less of a risk for auto accidents are charged less. Marc Breslow, executive director of Massachusetts Climate Action Network, said paying by the mileage system would be beneficial to the environment and to the consumers because it would encourage people to drive less and lessen traffic congestion and car accidents in the state. He said other states have been experimenting with the idea of a pay-as-you-drive auto insurance. Kristina Egan, director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, said the proposed auto insurance system would reduce the state's dependence on oil.
After the hearing, committee co-chairman Rep. Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) said the "pay as you drive" proposal is a fairly new topic to the committee. "I think it's an interesting concept," said Mariano. The issue surfaced first so urban drivers who were only using their cars on the weekends would get a better auto insurance rate and now it has evolved as an environmentally friendly proposal.
"We need to look at this issue but this is not a scenario that would work for everyone." He said people who live far away from the city may be harmed by the proposed new system. He also said he is concerned about privacy issues in allowing auto insurers to monitor mileage by inspecting vehicles' black boxes.
Asked if sending both bills to a study was a way to kill them for his session, Mariano said "No. It warrants a study. We may not get it through this session. This is a radical change."