According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2002, 42,815 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes and 2,926,000 people were injured. This makes deaths from motor vehicle accidents the leading cause of death for people aged 2 to 33.

Also, in the same year, drinking and driving caused 17,419 traffic deaths, representing 41% of total traffic fatalities. (Experts estimate 1 out of 3 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related automobile accident in their lifetime.)

In addition, in 2002, 4,808 pedestrians were killed and 71,000 pedestrians were injured in vehicle accidents. On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident every 109 minutes and one is injured every 7 minutes.

What's more, in 2002, in vehicle accidents where nobody was injured or killed, 4,348,000 of them involved property damage. The economic cost of motor vehicle accidents to our society was more than $40.4 billion for that year.

These statistics are frightening, wouldn't you agree?

Like some drivers, perhaps you haven't had a car accident since the first day you started driving.

If so, congratulations!

Unfortunately, even if you do have a perfect driving record, statistics shows your chance of being involved in a vehicle accident over the next six years is a staggering 51%.

Now, while there's a chance that you or someone you know might never be involved in a car accident in your lifetime, no one can guarantee that.

Some states also realize the chance of being in a vehicle accident is very high, so they enact laws to make you carry a minimum amount of auto insurance to protect the other drivers in case you're involved in a traffic accident in which you were at fault.

Like most people, your vehicle may be your main means of transportation. You probably use your car, van, or truck several times a day. So the more time you spend on the road, the greater your chance of being involved in a traffic accident.

Besides your home, your vehicle might be the next most expensive asset you own. You probably have worked for years to save the money to buy your car, van, or truck. So you want to protect it with the right kind of auto insurance, right?

Please listen closely, while your vehicle can be an extremely useful piece of machinery, it can also pose an enormous risk to you? even when you use it properly.

You see, although you're confident you won't cause any accidents, you have no control over the other drivers. So it's better to protect yourself, your passengers, and your vehicle (as well as your other valuable possessions) with the right type of auto insurance.

Otherwise, if you or your loved ones got in a traffic crash (whether it's your fault or the other driver's), you may have to suffer financial hardships.

Imagine what would happen if, while driving one day, you lost control of your vehicle and it hit a pedestrian, injuring, or worse, killing him or her.

First, you probably would feel terrible about the accident even though your car just skidded off the road and you had no control over it, wouldn't you?

Second, the injured or killed individual (or his or her family) probably would sue you for millions of dollars.

Unfortunately, because we're living in such a litigious society today, even if this person has suffered only minor injuries, he or she probably would take advantage of the situation and sue you for a fortune. So if you don't have the proper auto insurance coverage, even a minor vehicle accident could cause you to lose everything you now own.

Worse, in some cases, besides losing all your valuables, you might even have to work for the next ten or twenty years to pay for the damages, injuries, or deaths that you ?accidentally? caused to others. If so, this will destroy your family's dreams and future, won't it?

Let's now look at the situation from the other side.

What would happen if you were the victim of a vehicle crash, and you didn't have the proper auto insurance protection?

Well, you probably won't get enough money from your insurance company to pay for the injuries or damages done to you, your passengers, and your vehicle.

If you got hospitalized for an extended period, this may cause a major financial burden on you and your family members. You might not even have the money to pay for the medical and hospital bills, let alone the mortgage, car payment, and other living expenses.

Your only option may be to sue the individual who caused the accident for payments. But if he or she didn't have enough (or any) auto insurance and also had no assets, you might end up getting nothing.

Please pay close attention. Even though most states require vehicle owners to carry minimum auto insurance coverage, many drivers can't afford to (or don't buy any) auto insurance at all.

The Insurance Research Council (IRC) estimated 1 in 10 households with vehicles have cars that aren't insured. And other experts put the number even higher, stating up to 20% of vehicles on the road have no insurance. (Exact figures are hard to get since few people want to admit to driving without insurance.)

If you include the number of vehicles that don't have enough insurance, these figures will increase substantially.

So, to fully protect you, your loved ones, and your valuable assets, in addition to having enough insurance to cover the damages you may do to other people and their properties, you also need to buy enough insurance to pay for the damages others might cause you, your passengers, and your properties.

For more information regarding how to protect yourself properly check out our website at www.poinsettgeneral.com

There is lots of info about auto insurance and much much more!