States With the Highest Car Insurance

A national survey of premiums lists the most expensive places to get coverage. Is where you live among the leaders of the pack?

By Des Toups, CarInsurance.com

Where you pay more for coverage

You can probably get the same deal, within a few dollars, on a new car in any of the 50 states. But you can't do the same for car insurance. In some states, you'll pay nearly three times as much for the same coverage on the same car, with the same driver. Here's a look at where rates are highest.

Our data from Quadrant Information Services sampled 10 ZIP codes and six carriers in each state, calculating rates on more than 2,000 new vehicles for a 40-year-old single male driver who commutes 12 miles. Coverage limits were $100,000 for injury liability for one person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 for property damage, with a $500 deductible on collision and comprehensive coverage. The policy included uninsured motorist coverage.

These top 10 Highest car insurance rates by state

Michigan

Insurance on a 2011 model tops out at an average of $2,541 in Michigan, the highest rate in the nation. Its no-fault system provides what amounts to unlimited medical care, and about 19% of drivers were uninsured in the Insurance Research Council's most recent survey. "Driver responsibility fees" can add hundreds of dollars to the cost of keeping a driver's license, too. 

Louisiana

Elected judges hear cases for accident claims under $50,000, and you don't get re-elected by being stingy, Louisiana car insurance experts say. That reality contributes to an average bill of $2,453 for a 2011 model car, second highest in the nation. About 13% of Louisiana's drivers were uninsured. Louisiana is one of several states with a "no pay, no play" law that limits damages uninsured drivers can receive.

Oklahoma

Wild weather and uninsured drivers forced rates for 2011 models in Oklahoma up to an average of $2,197, third highest in the nation. Hailstorms routinely pummel thousands of cars in a few moments, and their owners face decisions over whether to wait for the next time or file a claim -- if they have coverage, that is. Nearly one in four Oklahoma drivers is uninsured, the second-highest rate in the country.

Montana

Montana's a big state, and that means more miles and more risk. The cost of insuring a 2011 model averaged $2,190, fourth highest in the nation. Montana's fatality rate of 2.12 per 100 million miles driven is nearly twice the national average. About 11% of Montana drivers are uninsured. A caveat: The highways are wide open, but they do ticket, and the ticket will follow you home.

Washington. D.C.

Rates for full coverage in Washington, D.C., averaged $2,146 for 2011 models, fifth highest in the nation, and about 15% of District of Columbia drivers lack insurance, slightly above the national average. Even a bare-bones, minimum-liability-only policy on a beater car would set you back $1,172 a year.

California

California drivers pay an average of $1,991 a year to insure their 2011 models, the sixth-highest rate in the country. Rampant auto theft and a large population of uninsured motorists -- about 15% of all drivers -- push up rates for all. California does offer a low-cost program for low-income drivers, though.

Mississippi

The nation's poorest state, Mississippi, has the highest rate of uninsured drivers and the seventh-highest average premium for 2011 models, at $1,896. About 28% of drivers in the Magnolia State drive without insurance -- something that's illegal in every state except New Hampshire.

New Mexico

Premiums for 2011 models in New Mexico average $1,837 a year, eighth highest in the nation. The biggest factor? About 26% of state drivers don't carry insurance, the second-worst rate in the nation and the reason why uninsured motorist coverage is becoming more critical.

Arkansas

Arkansans pay an average of $1,836 to insure a 2011 model car, the ninth-highest rate in the country and well above the national average of $1,561. About 16% of the state's drivers are uninsured.

Maryland

In Maryland, the average premium for a 2011 model is $1,807, the 10th-highest rate in the nation. About 15% of Maryland drivers are uninsured, slightly above the national average.

Quoted from MSN

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The Most Expensive US Cities for Parking

10 US Cities Where parking Costs Most

Bring plenty of money when you go to these cities' central business districts. Here's what you'll pay at parking garages around the US, according to a new survey by Colliers International.

No. 10: Seattle
Median daily parking rate: $24

No. 7 (tie): San Diego

Median daily parking rate: $26

No. 7 (tie): San Francisco
Median daily parking rate: $26

No. 7 (tie): Philadelphia

Median daily parking rate: $26

No. 5 (tie): Los Angeles
Median daily parking rate: $30

No. 5 (tie): Lower Manhattan

Median daily parking rate: $30

No. 4: Chicago
Median daily parking rate: $32

No. 3: Boston

Median daily parking rate: $34

No. 2: Honolulu
Median daily parking rate: $38

No. 1: Midtown Manhattan

Median daily parking rate: $41

Quoted from MSN

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Google Sets Kill Dates for 7 Services, Including Wave

Wave goodbye to Google Wave and a bunch of others stuff, says Google, listing a full seven services due to sign off permanently over the next few months. Google’s spin: It’s just a little “spring cleaning,” never mind the mess or inconvenience it may cause anyone who bought into this stuff. Then again, it was offered up gratis, so who can complain?

Google Wave Logo

In the official blog post summing up what’s in store, Google pulls no punches, including a few thrown in reverse: “[We’re] in the process of shutting a number of products which haven’t had the impact we’d hoped for,” admits the company, adding that it’s “integrating others as features into our broader product efforts, and ending several which have shown us a different path forward.”

Here’s a list of what’s out, and when:

Google Bookmark Lists, an “experimental feature for sharing bookmarks and collaborating with friends.” End date: December 19, 2011.

Google Friend Connect, a way to integrate social features with websites “by embedding a few snippets of code.” End date: March 1, 2012.

Google Gears, an open-source multi-browser interface for running web apps and accessing related files offline. Google says it’s all part of their shift to HTML5. End date: December 1, 2011.

Google Search Timeline, the little search timeline that sometimes pops up when you google something. You’ll still be able to see charts, if you like, using Google Trends. End date: Right now, sounds like.

Google Wave, the collaboration/conversation tool I only used a handful of times while contributing to a comics-related column here. End date: April 30, 2012.

Knol, Google’s kind-of-sort-of response to Wikipedia, and while Google says it’s all part of a transition to its Annotum project, I’m not sure if all the stuff that’s in Knol’s going to make the jump. End date: April 30, 2012.

Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE<C), an attempt to reduce the cost of renewable energy. Google says that “[at] this point, other institutions are better positioned than Google to take this research to the next level.” End date: Now, with the results of the project published here.

Source:  Time

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How Germans Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Google Street View

MUNICH — The Silicon Valley "spy" opened shop in Germany a year ago to a firestorm of controversy. It was last November when Google launched its panoramic Street View service of 20 German cities, from Leipzig to Stuttgart. In the lead-up, the U.S. company's project was not only met with mistrust but sometimes also hysterical debates that went on for months, touching on everything from who had rights to building facades to how high fencing needed to be to ensure privacy.

Cars with mounted cameras used for Google Street View are on display
at the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover on March 2, 2010

Altogether, the questions and concerns amounted to an attempt by Germans to work out a definition of the private sphere in the digital age. The result of that debate was that 245,000 people opposed having their home publicly on view, and substantial portions of some well-to-do areas are simply screened out of the German version of Google Street View.

But if Google were to launch the project again now, the picture might look very different. Serial break-ins that some thought would be a result of the service did not materialize. Nor, in the end, did people whose houses and apartments are pictured by the service protest much about having their private residences on display for the whole world to see.

The software is apparently not of interest to wrongdoers and voyeurs. It is, however, popular among people trying to determine if they want to visit an area or buy or rent a home there. Google spokeswoman Lena Wagner said that in Germany, the number of visits to Google Maps, into which Google Street View is integrated, went up 25% during the past year.

Hamburg's Johannes Caspar, the data protection head responsible for making it possible for Germans to oppose Google Street View, said he was happy with the service. "The Google camera car was, for many people, a symbol of a digital world trying to appropriate the analog world," said Caspar. Giving people the possibility of opposing the service, he explained, "diffused the situation and helped Street View gain acceptance."

Another indication of acceptance is that when Microsoft announced it would be photographing German streets for Bing Maps Streetside, its Street View clone, only 80,000 people opposed. "Google Street View did the pioneering work, and now people know what the pictures look like when they're published," said Caspar.

In the meantime, according to the Google spokeswoman Wagner, some who originally opposed having their property photographed now want their homes included in the service. Too late. Google promised German data-protection authorities it would make all opposed imagery unrecognizable.

For now, Google has no plans to further develop the German Street View to include other cities, the company said. If its camera cars were seen on the streets of Germany this year, it was to update Google Maps and route planning.

A Virtual Walk in the Park 

In other countries, however, Google is making increased amounts of information available via its Street View. For example, the service enables users to take virtual walks in six parks from Madrid to Tokyo. Google sent camera persons out on bikes to get the footage.

In California, there's a test program that makes it possible for users to tour the inside of some shops and restaurants. The idea behind this is that potential clients can check out the vibe and the selection on-screen before deciding whether they want to go to a place. Meanwhile, the virtual tours could enhance the Google Ads of the establishments by giving clients more information. Google could eventually offer online table reservations or product orders.

Scenarios such as these don't look realistic for Germany, at least not in the foreseeable future. In fact, because the images date back to 2008, many of the buildings on the German Street View no longer exist. A few examples are Berlin's Palace of the Republic or Cologne's City Archives. In some ways, the much feared "spy" from Silicon Valley has become a picture album for virtual visitors taking a nostalgia tour.

Sources: TimeWorld

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