Do you remember the first time you ever got behind the wheel of a bumper car? The thrill that came the first time you slammed into someone as hard as you could and nothing happened? There's nothing cooler than the feeling of knowing that you're completely protected when you're behind the wheel of your car. Your auto insurance carrier is rewarding you for giving this feeling to your family by offering you awesome discounts on your insurance premiums in exchange for keeping the people you love snug as a bug in a rug.



Wouldn't it be great if you could just drive around in a giant, high speed bumper car for the rest of your life? Since you obviously can't strap a giant set of bumpers onto your car while you're driving (although the hundreds of thousands of people who commute on I-95 every day would be grateful!) you have to do the next best thing- mitigate the damages if and when you're in a car accident. There are very simple features that come with most of today's vehicles that will do wonders to protect your car on impact and ensure that you're never left feeling like a crash dummy behind the wheel.

The first and most important step in protecting your family in an automobile accident (and lowering the cost of your auto insurance premiums) is to be sure that you have the same number of seat belts as family members in your vehicle. Yes, most cars come with their own seat belts; however, four seat belts are only going to help so much when there are five people in the car. Do the math: over 90% of drivers think seat belts are a good idea, but only 14% actually use them consistently. Studies show that over 50% of the deaths resulting from car accidents annually could have been avoided if the victims had been wearing a seat belt.

Secondly, air bags. The first question your auto insurance carrier is going to ask you when you start filling out the safety information for your car is whether or not your vehicle has driver and/or passenger side airbags. You get a discount if the answer is yes. You get a bonus cookie if the answer is both (sometimes). Air bags go a long way toward protecting your face and head from injury in an auto accident, and when you combine that with a working safety belt your chances of walking away from an accident unscathed increase exponentially.

There are hundreds of other small safety features that your auto insurance provider will offer you a discount for, anti-lock braking systems and built-in car seat connectors included. Sit down with your insurance agent and go over the safety features of your car. You might be surprised by how much money you can save just for doing your car shopping wisely, and by exactly how safe your family really is when you get behind the wheel (even if you are on the interstate).