Poizner pushes for green, 'pay-as-you-go' car insurance - Sacramento Business Journal:

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Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner saidWednesdayt he's planning to make a new greehn automobile insurance option, known as "pay-as-you-go," available to Californi a drivers as early as the fall of next year by proposin new regulations that will make the new option Poizner, a Republican, describesd this as a way for consumers to "more accurately" pay for the coveragr they need, by linkint their auto premiums more closelt with the number of miles they actually drive. By encouraging consumers to drivefewefr miles, and thus reducing their insurancew costs, the new insurance option could help reduce both greenhouse gases and vehiclw accidents.
"As a strong advocate of healtht market competition and ahealthyy environment," Poizner added, "I am especiallyt pleased to encourage this kind of innovation and additionaol options for consumers." The Environmental Defense Fund estimates that if 30 percentf of Golden State drivers participate in this new form of voluntary the state could avoid 55 million tons of carbon dioxide betweebn 2009 and 2020 -- the equivalentf of taking 10 million cars off the This would save an estimated 5.
5 billiojn gallons of gas and $40 billionm dollars in car-related And the has recommended the adoption of this mechaniskm as a way to meet futurw climate change gas reduction targets, according to Californiaa insurance regulators. Similar policies are availabler in about30 states, according to published accounts. Currentt regulations require that auto insurance rates are based on estimatedannuapl mileage. The new regs would provide an additional option foractual mileage, or pay-as-you-drive allowing insurers to offer the voluntary option to consumers.
As a result, consumer s could verify mileage byodometer readings, automotive repair records or a technologicaol device used to collect mileagw data. But they explicitly prohibit insurance companiesw from forcing policyholders to participate ina pay-as-you-drive program, or for insureras to use global positioning devices to track driving habits, out of privacy concerns. "As major priority for the Department of Insurance is harnessinb this technology tobenefit consumers," said "At the same time, it is vital that the privacy of drivers remains intact.
I will not approvre any auto insurance policy that aims to utiliz e GPS devices in order to obtain locatiojn datafrom consumers." Public input into the proposed new regulationd is encouraged under California law, the DOI said. Afted that process is completed, the regulations will take probably bynext fall. "Insurerx will then be able to apply to offeer this productin California," accordingy to the commissioner's office.