While Californians are getting squeezed by electricity costs, they're getting the best deal in the country on car insurance because of a unique state law, a new study by a consumer group shows.
Auto insurance prices in California declined 4 percent between 1989 and 1998 while jumping an average 38.9 percent nationwide, according to the survey released Wednesday by Consumer Federation of America.
Insurance premiums have increased the most in Nebraska (up 81.7 percent from 1989 to 1998), South Dakota (75.2 percent), West Virginia (65.8 percent), Kentucky (64.3 percent) and Arkansas (61.5 percent), the survey shows. They have increased the least in New Hampshire (up 2 percent), Pennsylvania (11.7 percent), Massachusetts (12 percent), Maine (13.2 percent) and New Jersey (15.8 percent).
Consumers nationwide spend an annual average of more than $700 per vehicle and $1,500 per household, totaling $100 billion nationwide, according to Consumer Federation.
California was the only state that showed a decline. At a news conference, Ralph Nader and other consumer advocates credited Proposition 103, passed by the state's voters in 1988, which tightened insurance regulation.
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