The technology allowing blind people to drive is actually closer than you might realize, according to MSN’s “Car Insurance for Blind Drivers.” Kat Zeman of Insure.com wrote in the article that a Ford Escape outfitted with “nonvisual interface technology” has been developed by the National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech. The prototype will be released in January of next year, but the possibility of mainstream models on the road is still years away. How will Dairyland Auto Insurance and other companies come up with a way to insure blind drivers on the road? It’s something that they will have to think about soon, if they haven’t already.
Most car insurance companies do not have any policies or guidelines for insuring visually or hearing impaired drivers on the road. Car insurers in California don’t currently charge more for hearing impaired drivers. Companies like Allstate require you to have a valid driver’s license in order to obtain insurance. Since that requires you to pass a vision test, they don’t ask for anything further. If the vision guidelines change in the future, so might the policies of car insurance companies. It looks like they aren’t really sure what they’ll do in the future. It all depends on the development of this vehicle for blind drivers and the direction the government takes.
From press release “Federal and Local Government Cracking Down on Texting While Driving,” drivers should leave their phones alone while on the road.
The three states you are most likely to hit a deer with your car in are West Virginia, Michigan and Pennsylvania according to “Deer-vehicle collisions rise in Pennsylvania.” The article, by Bob Frye of the Tribune-Review, highlights an expensive issue for car insurance companies. With an average vehicle repair cost of $2,950 per incident, living in a high-risk state could effect 