It’s a new year and we have a new look at DriversforSavings.com.  Please, check out our new Facebook and Twitter pages, and take a look below at how we wrapped up 2009.

The push for savings finished strong.

In the Detroit News:

State House and Senate Democrats proposed auto insurance reforms would likely require all Michigan drivers to share in the very high cost of coverage now paid in urban areas, especially Detroit. They are not the best way to reduce insurance rates.

But.

The Insurance Institute of Michigan, an insurance trade association, says requiring less personal injury coverage would do more to lower rates than the Democrats' proposals. That lower-cost option would be especially helpful in Detroit or other urban areas where high crash and theft rates make auto ownership riskier, driving up the cost of insurance. Premiums would drop 15 to 45 percent, depending on levels of optional coverage.

We agree.

In the Detroit Free Press, editors called to “End the standoff on insurance reform”:

Partisan politics in the Michigan Legislature -- and resulting gridlock -- have hurt the entire state. And no issue has felt a heavier dose of it than sorely needed insurance reform…. That means rethinking Michigan's unlimited medical coverage, and considering a fee schedule for medical treatments. No other state has such a comprehensive, and costly, system.

They’re right.

In Jackson, the Citizen Patriot said, “Give public choice to lower auto costs.”

You could start by eliminating the requirement that Michigan drivers carry limitless medical benefits through their auto plans.

That is excessive and redundant. A 65-year-old driver injured in a crash could have hospital bills covered by Medicare, instead. Private insurance can do the same for younger drivers. In fact, Michigan is the only state with such a requirement, according to the Insurance Institute.

Are there alternatives? Yes. Force drivers to carry, say, a minimum of $50,000 in medical coverage, and Michigan's average auto-insurance rates would fall 15 percent to 45 percent, the Insurance Institute predicts. Drivers, of course, could choose to buy more medical coverage through their auto policy if they could afford it.

Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.