Auto Insurance Alert!: Why the System Stinks, How to Fix It, and What to Do in the Meantime

Tobias ( The Only Other Investment Guide You'll Ever Need ) argues for no-fault auto insurance that would be paid for at the gas pump. In his plan, the premium (about 40 cents per gallon--half the current premium, Tobias claims) is collected by state governments, which, when processing auto registration and driver's licenses, also collect surcharges from owners of ``high-risk'' vehicles and from others who must pay higher premiums. Then government divides registered vehicles into blocks of, say, 5000 and lets insurance companies bid for each block. The potential loss of bidding rights, Tobias contends, would force insurers to provide better service than they do now. He also believes that all of this could be managed with `` no new government employees,'' a claim so naive as to be almost endearing. He dispenses remedies with middle-class myopia: his plan is narrow-minded, for example, in that those drivers who would be least able to afford his proposed per-gallon premiums also would be least able to afford new, more fuel-efficient cars. Even when it isn't silly, this argument just about picks itself apart trying to cope with necessary exceptions. The current auto insurance system is badly flawed, but this crusading book is not the light at the end of the tunnel. (Jan.)