Are the Actuaries Right?
The State Farm Insurance Company provided this data about age-related traffic accidents:
Age <20
- Number of drivers: 9,396,000 (4.7%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 6,300 (10.1%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 2,490,000 (13.5%)
Age 20-24
- Number of drivers: 16,886,000 (8.4%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 8,900 (14.3%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 2,640,000 (14.3%)
Age 25-34
- Number of drivers: 36,003,000 (17.9%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 11,300 (18.1%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 3,820,000 (20.8%)
Age 35-44
- Number of drivers: 40,394,000 (20%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 10,400 (16.7%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 3,420,000 (18.6%)
Age 45-54
- Number of drivers: 39,851,000 (19.8%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 9,600 (15.4%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 3,060,000 (16.6%)
Age 55-64
- Number of drivers: 29,685,000 (14.7%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 6,600 (10.6%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 1,610,000 (8.8%)
Age 65-74
- Number of drivers: 16,492,000 (8.2%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 4,200 (6.7%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 800,000 (4.3%)
Age >74
- Number of drivers: 12,793,000 (6.4%)
- Drivers in fatal accidents: 5,000 (8%)
- Drivers in all accidents: 560,000 (3%)
The company then claims that teenager insurance rates are higher because they "account for less than 5 percent of the drivers, but are involved in more than 13 percent of all traffic accidents and more than 10 percent of fatal crashes."
Question: Is this claim valid? Using this reasoning sort the age categories by who should pay the most insurance...and then check with an insurance company if this sort is "followed"?
Source: GoodNeighbor, Summer 2008
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