"insurance companies care way more about your driving record and claims history than whether your neighborhood has roundabouts or stop signs."
Yeah, that's been my experience too. A few years back, our neighborhood switched from stop signs to roundabouts, and I thought maybe I'd see a small dip in my premiums—nope. What actually made a difference was when an old speeding ticket finally dropped off my record. Intersection layout seems pretty irrelevant compared to keeping your record clean...
Yeah, totally agree that your driving record is the biggie. But I wouldn't completely dismiss intersection layouts either. Roundabouts do tend to reduce serious accidents compared to stop signs or lights—fewer T-bone collisions and less severe crashes overall. I remember reading somewhere that some cities actually saw a noticeable drop in accident rates after switching intersections to roundabouts. But yeah, insurance companies probably aren't zooming in on neighborhood-level changes like that.
"Intersection layout seems pretty irrelevant compared to keeping your record clean..."
True enough, but maybe insurers factor intersection designs into their broader risk assessments for entire zip codes or regions? Like, if an area has fewer serious accidents overall because of better road design, wouldn't that eventually trickle down into slightly lower premiums for everyone there? Or is it just wishful thinking on my part... Has anyone noticed regional differences in premiums based on infrastructure improvements, or is it always just personal driving history?
As someone who's unfortunately racked up a few tickets (okay, maybe more than a few...), I can confirm your driving record is definitely king when it comes to premiums. But infrastructure does matter—I moved from an area with tons of stop-and-go intersections to one with roundabouts and smoother traffic flow, and my premiums actually dipped slightly. Could be coincidence, but I doubt insurers completely ignore regional safety improvements.
"if an area has fewer serious accidents overall because of better road design, wouldn't that eventually trickle down..."
Exactly—it's subtle, but probably factors in somehow.
I've noticed the same thing—my record's far from spotless, and when I moved closer to a city with fewer accident-prone intersections, my rates nudged down slightly. Could be insurers do factor in regional stats quietly behind the scenes... wouldn't surprise me.
I've seen insurers factor in regional stats plenty of times, but honestly, I think the bigger factor might be the overall claims history in your specific zip code rather than just accident-prone intersections. I had a client once who moved from a busy downtown area to a quieter suburb expecting a big drop, but his rates barely budged. Turns out the suburb had a higher rate of theft and vandalism claims, which balanced things out. So yeah, location matters—but it's not always as straightforward as fewer intersections equals lower premiums. Insurers have their own quirky ways of crunching numbers behind the scenes... sometimes it feels like there's no rhyme or reason to it at all. Glad you found something reasonable though; that's half the battle right there.
