If all of our neighbors would just drive even less, we’d get lower auto insurance rates.

And that could be in the process of happening. When Americans spend less time on the road, the frequency of auto accidents declines. And when auto accidents go down, so do claims on auto insurance. That gets the ball rolling: When auto insurance companies see their costs on claims declining steadily, they typically respond to market conditions by lowering their auto insurance quotes and, ultimately auto insurance rates in a bid to stay competitive. And voila!, we write smaller checks for our auto insurance premiums.

With run-away gas prices, Americans are already driving less. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) reported in May 2008 that Americans are driving at “historic lows.” The estimated “vehicle miles traveled,” or VMT, for March 2008 fell 4.3 percent compared to March 2007, making it the sharpest dip for any month since the FHWA began tracking traffic-volume trends in 1942. Want to follow driving trends? The FHWA publishes monthly “Traffic Volume Trends.”

When auto accident claims go down, auto insurance companies can usually respond fairly quickly. To adjust premiums, they must file new auto insurance rates with every state in which they operate. They can file new auto insurance rates any time they want to respond to market conditions, and many states offer a “file and use” system, where auto insurance companies can file new auto insurance rates and begin using them immediately without prior approval from the state insurance department. Some states even have a “use and file” system, so insurers can implement new auto insurance rates and then officially file them shortly thereafter. This way auto insurance companies can begin passing on savings (or increases) right away.

The nation’s largest auto insurance companies are the first to see trends in accidents and claims payments due to the sheer volume of their claims data. For example, State Farm, the nation’s largest auto insurance company, handles about 19 million auto insurance claims a year (that’s a little over 17 claims per minute, all day, every day).

Robert Passmore, Director of Personal Lines for Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCIAA), an industry trade group, says, “This is where you see competition kick in.” He notes that if you live in a state that requires “prior approval,” it would take a longer time to see rate reductions. That means Californians and New Yorkers could be tapping their toes waiting for auto insurance rate reductions while everyone else pockets savings.

Auto insurance companies also note that auto insurance rates have been holding steady or declining over the past few years anyway. For example, State Farm customers in all states have seen rate reductions between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2007, and customers in 39 of those states saw double-digit percentage rate decreases. (State Farm policyholders in New Jersey got the biggest drop of 29.19 percent.)

Passmore cautions that other factors could offset the trend in reduced driving  specifically, medical costs from bodily injury claims, legal costs relating to claims disputes and repair costs that are, for now, rising faster than the rate at which auto accident claims are going down.

Darn those repair, medical and legal costs! If it weren’t for those, drivers could already be seeing lower auto insurance rates (as we sit at home). However, auto insurance companies generally agree that if we see significant auto accident reductions, lower auto insurance rates won’t be too far behind.

Perhaps at the $6-a-gallon mark?

Will reduced driving mean lower auto insurance rates?

Insure.com asked the nation’s top auto insurance companies whether high gas prices and reduced driving are translating to lower auto insurance rates yet. Here are their answers.

State Farm spokesperson Dick Luedke notes that State Farm auto insurance rates have been on the decline nationwide since 2004, but reduced auto accident claims are not yet leading directly to further auto insurance rate reductions: “Our actuaries look at claims data not just to see the recent past, but also to see what might change the future, like gas prices.”

Luedke says there’s no hard and fast rule as to what level of auto accident reduction would spark lower auto insurance rates, but says, “If we saw a reduction as big as 10 percent in accident frequency, we would have reacted long before that.”

Allstate spokesperson Kate Hollcraft says, “We have just recently seen a decline in automobile claim frequency and if this continues through the summer months, we would probably be able to attribute it to a rise in fuel costs.”

Progressive spokesperson Leah Knapp says, “We don’t speculate about future rate changes, but it would be accurate to say that we continuously review market and business conditions, including monitoring losses, so that we can ensure our policies are accurately priced everywhere we do business. When our analysis suggests our rates require adjustment, we may seek to either raise or lower rates accordingly.”

Nationwide Vice President & Policyholder, Standard Auto Product & Pricing, Larry Thursby, observes that “customers are having fewer accidents.” But he notes it’s been that way for a couple of years due to a variety of factors, like an aging population that becomes safer drivers, graduated licensing laws for teens and crackdowns in drunk driving. In addition, potential auto insurance rate reductions due to accident frequency are being offset by inflation in the usual suspects: medical and hospital costs, repair costs and legal costs.

Thursby says that Nationwide has been passing along cost savings by offering guaranteed renewability, lower surcharges and broader “forgiveness” for accidents, fender-benders and minor violations.

When it comes to cheap auto insurance, one of the best places to get some, or at least to get the information you need, is through online resources. Your choices are vast, with hundreds of insurance companies and you with the best possible cheap insurance rates and quotes. It can be had as long as you, as an educated consumer, are equipped with the full range of facts and knowledge about how insurance companies come up with quotes for car insurance.

You can go through the comprehensive Web resources of these insurers to learn in detail what the various insurers have to offer and what their comparative cheap auto insurance rates and quotes are. Those seeking auto insurance should be cognizant of the various types of coverage they will be offered and make a decision as to whether any of them are applicable to their situation. There are many different aspects of the business that come into play.

It pays to shop around for cheap auto insurance and there are things you can control when you ask for certain consideration in your price quotes. Some key factors when shopping for insurance is to first make sure you get at least three or four quotes since the price you pay for your insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars.

Choosing the right auto is very important to getting cheap insurance. One of the easiest, quickest, safest and cost efficient ways to save money is getting cheap insurance rates. The best way to get it is to be a good driver.

Other ways you can acquire a cheap auto insurance rate is to group all of your assets together. You can learn more about it policies offered by different insurers online. It definitely pays to do your homework, comparing them provided by different companies.

You can also look in the newspaper and see what companies are advertising it. Cheap auto insurance companies can have some of the best offers on car insurance for young drivers and also extend the best of their services to them. Therefore, auto insurance companies offer discounts and other flexible insurance plans based on driving records, the education level or the drivers, locality, and other areas.

Be on the lookout for advertisements on the radio or television concerning cheap auto insurance. Actually, it helps you to evaluate the insurance options available for your car. But you’re still wondering where to get cheap auto insurance for my son? There are many things to consider before taking out insurance policy.

The person can also check on the rates given by the state’s auto insurance department whether it is in good standing to make sure one will be able to process a claim. You need to know the rules which govern your state, with regard to it. Well, considering you don’t want to move to another state, and you already own a high risk vehicle that you just can’t part with, I suggest you go online and shop the numerous insurance carriers that are at your fingertips.

Once you have chosen the cheap insurance quote that works for you, go through the entire policy in detail. Multi-policy discount – if you have more than one policy with the same insurer, most insurance companies will offer a discount. If you are trying to save as much as possible on your insurance policy and are in search of cheap rates, comparing rate quotes can be very beneficial.

Solving for itself question of the buying the car, future owner will pay attention to its comfort and size, run and consuption combustible. But will here is take he in insurance cost auto insurance? The Prudent american has solved to take into account and this moment and have add the rating most road and the most cheap auto for insurance.

In opinion MSN.com, it will help automobile owners to narrow a circle of search at a choice auto. But the main thing, will allow after returning home on the new car to avoid a shock which risk to go through those who in advance will not consider this article of auto insurance.

The most expensive models for auto insurance of steel: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Mercedes CL-Class, Dodge SRT-4, Subaru Impreza WRX, Jaguar XK (convertible), Lexus IS 300, Honda S2000, Acura RSX, Nissan 350Z, Jaguar XJ.

As the representative of auto Insurance institute of road safety of the USA(IIHS) marks Rass Reider, the cars occupying the top lines of auto insurance rating, appear not only more powerful and expensive, but also the most expensive under repair is more often and in the auto insurance. The choice of the powerful car, for example, means, in opinion of the expert, that his owner will go, most likely, to get in failure more quickly and consequently , to have propensity to a bowl and pay greater auto insurance .USA auto insurers also consider, how much the car is popular at stealers, is how much strong she can be damaged as a result of accident and will cost how much its repair and auto insurance.

Experts on accidents mark, that cars which to a thicket associate with family transport (such as minivans, cars with a body universal or a sedan) get in accident less often ,this cars more cheaply in auto insurance. It is no wonder, that this category of cars has made a basis of the opposite list. Here so looks ten the least expensive cars for auto insurance (concerning probable damage as a result of accident) since least road: Volvo XC90, Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, GMC Safari, Buick LeSabre, Nissan Pathfinder Armada, Pontiac Montana, Mazda MPV, Ford Thunderbird, Pontiac Montana (extended model), Ford Taurus. Compare to the list underwritters’s the companies of the NASTA: Volvo XC90, Nissan Pathfinder Armada (2004 only), Mazda MPV, GMC Safari, Ford Thunderbird. Lists of auto insurance are not exact.

If the car even rather inexpensive, but the big power and is more often gets in accident, all this will for certain be reflected in cost of auto insurance. And it already the signal reflecting on search of other model and about other auto insurance.