An Example Of Collective Idiocy

Here’s yet another exhibit of the many that shows why I believe we’re utterly doomed unless there is a mass-awakening of the American people.
DETROIT (AP) – Like most Americans, the drivers of Detroit are required to carry auto insurance whenever they get behind the wheel, but many law-abiding residents can’t afford the Motor City’s highest-in-the-nation auto premiums, which top $5,000 a year in some neighborhoods.
So fully half of Detroit drivers do what’s known locally as “driving dirty” – taking to the streets without any coverage. It’s practically a tradition here.
Now Mayor Mike Duggan is trying to do something about the high insurance costs based on concerns that they are deterring new residents and investment from coming to Detroit as it rebuilds after emerging from bankruptcy last year.
The chief reason for the high rates: Michigan is the only state that requires auto insurance policies to come with unlimited lifetime personal-injury protection, meaning that people who are hurt in car crashes get 100 percent of their medical expenses covered, sometimes for years or even decades. The protection applies regardless of who was at fault.
The law also allows care providers to charge much more for treatment of auto injuries.
“Every doctor in every hospital in this state understands … that if you schedule an MRI for a rehab case for somebody who fell off a ladder and has Blue Cross, you get paid a certain amount,” Duggan said. “If that person got hurt in a car accident, you get reimbursed triple.”

This post was published at Market-Ticker on July 23, 2015.