The Cost of the Mafia

By
eric
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This is a follow-up to the piece the other day about “coverage” – at gunpoint. It is almost exactly what the cosa nostra – the mafia, as portrayed in movies such as The Godfather – does, with the difference being that what the insurance mafia does is not only legal but legally required.

You must hand them over money as one of the many conditions of being allowed to use the car you think you own on roads you’ve paid to use (and which you are effectively forced to use, as the government has taken over what used to be the public right-of-way that everyone once had an understood right to use into something you’re allowed to use, if you abide by the various conditions stipulated by the government).

The last column dove into the wrongness – as a purely moral matter – of forcing people to buy “coverage” (and anything else, for that matter). It isn’t a transaction when force is involved.

It is extortion.

And you don’t get much for it, which is why it is very profitable – since the extortioner gets to tell the victim how much he’ll be paying. And he’d better pay up.

How much is a thing that doesn’t bear looking at, unless you enjoy feeling your blood pressure skyrocket. Well, maybe that’s a good thing in that it might move us enough to defend ourselves against these mafiosi.

Let’s consider for purposes of this discussion the average victim of the mafia’s strong-arming. He isn’t a teenager or an oldster and so he falls into the “lowest risk” category, especially if he’s married and a homeowner and has a “clean” record, which means he hasn’t been “ticketed” within the past three years for having transgressed one of the government’s various use-conditions, such as driving faster than the government says is permissible. He has a middle-of-the-road car, nothing unduly obstreperous.

A Camry or Accord sedan, let us say.

Let’s assume the victim described above pays an absurdly modest $500 annually for “minimum” (sans collision) “coverage” that doesn’t really cover anything, except any damage he may cause to someone else’s property. If his car is damaged, he pays for the repairs himself – with whatever he’s got left after he’d paid the mafia. If he does not cause damage to someone else’s property, all he’s got to show for what he spent – for what they took – is the ethereal “coverage” provided by the mafia, which had to pay nothing but got a lot in return for it.

How much, again?

Well, let’s take that postulated $500 per year – deliberately lowballed to make the point – and factor it out over ten years. The sum is $5,000. Let’s factor it over a driving lifetime, say 60 years.

It is $30,000.

That’s for “inexpensive” – bare minimum (legally) “coverage” that doesn’t actually cover anything unless you damage someone else’s vehicle. (It is like paying for a warranty on your neighbor’s roof.) A policy that “covers” you – that will in theory pay to repair your vehicle, if you have an accident – would cost at least three times that ($1,500 annually, also lowballed for purposes of this discussion) assuming an average car and assuming a driver neither very young nor very old, with few if any tickets on his record.

Now we’re looking at $90,000 paid out over a lifetime – real money, as the saying goes. It does not factor in what this money might have earned had it been invested in something that generated rather than lost money (all of it).

Even considered without that, $90,000 is a sum that could have paid for about half (or at least, a third) of a modest single family home. It certainly would have paid for a down payment sufficient to escape mortgage insurance, for instance – another mechanism of enserfing via “covering.” The loan principle would surely be paid off sooner, too –  thereby saving a fortune in interest payments.

But what if . . .? is the rejoinder. Yes, what if? In italics to emphasize the hypothetical nature of the proposition. What if you win the lottery? Of course, you just might. But probably, you won’t. Just as – probably – you won’t incur a loss of $90,000 (or even $30,000) over the course of your driving life.

The insurance mafia knows this, of course.

It is the business of the mafia to know such details. It is how the mafia balances its books. Less must go out (in claims payments) than comes in (via extorted payments). And much more must come in to provide the C suite salaries of the captains, consiglieries and dons of the various families – the Geicos, the State Farms, the Progressives and the (of all things) Libertys. Most of all, to pay for the politicians that the families carry around in their pockets, as Sollozzo (“the Turk”) admiringly said of the Godfather, in the movie. These politicians being a necessary expense since the insurance mafia would otherwise be forced to live within its means – and ours – if it lacked the muscle to make us pay as much as they say.

Which, as it turns out, is a lot more than many of us ever thought.

. . .

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Related posts:
  1. The Original Mafia (and How it Begat the New One)
  2. Proof That “Insurance” is a Mafia
  3. Mafia Profiling
  4. Reader Question: The Mafia
  5. The Mafia contra the Other Mafia

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

72 COMMENTS

  1. I almost forgot. Perhaps the biggest fraud the auto insurance companies perpetrate is the notion one must have liability insurance on each vehicle you drive. Why? Am I not the only entity that is liable? How can a vehicle be liable, and so require its own individual insurance? Why should I not be able to buy vehicle liability insurance, even if I don’t own one? It would be a simple thing for insurance companies to charge one for personal liability instead of vehicle liability. Simply charge for the vehicle with the worst actuarials, and leave the rest alone. I can only drive one at a time, so why do I have a liability bill for each and every?
    Pretty simple really. In most States the insurance companies own insurance regulators. Kind of like Pharma owns its regulators, only a much older scam.

    • Hi John,

      Yup – and motorcycle people often have it worse because we generally have multiple bikes. I own four. Three rarely go out and all four are garage-bound for about a third-to-half-the year (winter). Yet I am obliged to “cover” each one as if I rode it daily and nothing else.

    • Excellent point John. Why wouldn’t a personal liability plan suffice for autos?
      My liability policy has far higher coverage than my auto insurance and costs less.
      Many professionals have liability protection at pretty reasonable rates.

      One policy covering anything you may do. What a concept, but not a great money maker I bet.

  2. A lot of folks are starting to question and or ignore the diktats of the uppers, Bidens folks appear to be insane, congress not much better. It will grow more so as the economy collapse’s (again).

    People will do anything to protect/help their kids and grand kids. Do the best you can to be prepared, learn something, save something, grow something. Always be ready to fight or run. In most situations to run away is better as you can live to fight again. If you are in a situation where you have to fight, remember, no rules! Fight to win with what you have. If you lose make sure they pay. Unlike Stalin’s Russia we can make them pay as the Kulaks could not. That is why we have this insane wave of school etc. shootings.

    Best defense against it is the one our dear leader, Fuhrer Biden uses, have lots of armed guards. They the whatever that leads them are terrified by the people in this country, the only country in the world that has embedded the right of the common people to keep and bear arms, or arm and keep bears in the psyche of the people that make up the real America. They are correct in being afraid, they should be afraid very afraid. As the free men and women of this country are armed and ready to defend themselves and their freedom.

    Key Point. Make the pay the ferryman’s price. The expense.

  3. Tire slashers on the march and Amerika is in a death spiral.

    https://nypost.com/2023/04/21/climate-activists-deflate-tires-on-suvs-in-boston/

    https://tyreextinguishers.com/

    “Why Are You Doing This?

    SUVs and 4x4s are a disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate. Bigger and bigger cars are dominating our towns and cities, and all so a privileged few can flaunt their wealth. Because governments and politicians have failed to protect us from this danger, we must protect ourselves.

    We want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4×4 in the world’s urban areas.

    We do this by deflating the tyres of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience and expense for their owners.

    SUVs are a climate disaster: Because SUVs are bigger and heavier than other cars, they are more polluting and use more fuel. This makes them a disaster for our climate. International Energy Agency researchers were shocked in 2019 to find that SUVs are the second-largest cause of the global rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade – more than shipping, aviation, heavy industry and even trucks. The increasing pace of SUV buying is cancelling out all the carbon savings from people switching to electric cars. If SUV drivers were a country, it would be the sixth-largest emitter in the world. Source: International Energy Agency

    SUVs cause air pollution: Larger cars belch out more toxic fumes, worsening air pollution in our town and cities. Scientists increasingly link air pollution to a whole range of health problems, from heart attacks, strokes, cancer, lung problems, miscarriages, even mental health problems. Evidence is constantly emerging that air pollution is worse for us than we thought – and big polluting vehicles are the main culprits.

    SUVs are dangerous: SUVs are much more likely to kill compared to normal cars when striking pedestrians. Psychological studies have shown SUV drivers take more risks, putting other road users and pedestrians in danger. Even SUV drivers and passengers are more likely to die in accidents.

    SUVs are unnecessary: Three quarters of these ‘off-road’ vehicles are sold to people living in towns and cities. They exist purely for the vanity of their owners, who see them as a status symbol. For the sake of this vanity and conspicuous consumption, climate change is made worse, we breathe in polluted air, and more people die in accidents. This is unacceptable.”

    • Well, if they come to my neighborhood they might leave in a body bag. The dog might also take exception, if they are lucky and get first bite. The manifesto. Written by really smart scumbags for idiots to use (probably paid idiots, low hourly wage enough to cover food and drugs). It has been a pattern in recent years. Find a few idiots, pay them to be in masks and do whatever, make sure the “news” covers it, make up a story and blanket the media with the story. Many people completely ignore the “news”.

      Polls are another thing completely fabricated. They are made up. Most people, if they still have a landline, either don’t answer or hang up immediately. Cell phones are not called. It is utter Bullshit. Made up. That is what will kill them. It is why they keep making up crises. Only fear supports the lies.

      But the fairy tale is true. If you cry “Wolf” to often, well sooner or later the cry will be ignored. We have definitely reached that stage.

  5. Eric, there is a way to beat the insurance racket. Fleet insurance for one. Without admitting anything, make your own insurance card.

    The uniformed pig asks for proof of insurance, so you give it proof. Works every time I have found. I took my USAA insurance card and reproduced it, and made the USSA insurance card. LOL Yes, really. And it is an intentional joke United Socialist Senor Association – just call toll free 1-800-EAT-SHIT to file a claim.

    Does any driver in Africa or India have insurance? Yeah right.

    BTW since when do cops work for insurance companies? The logical thing States should do is charge a $20 fee at registration so everyone has minimal insurance so long as the registration is current. New York State purportedly did that one time, but I can not confirm it.

    And there is more to this racket. When you are born, you get a CUSIP number on your birth certificate, see here:

    https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=CUSIP+number+on+your+birth+certificate&iax=images&ia=images

    I believe the racket is far worse than you can imagine.

    • Speaking of monopolies, they are impossible without the assistance of the state. Given a free market economy, your monopoly will only last until some one else does it better and/or cheaper than you. Which usually ain’t very long.

      • Hi John.

        Exactly. Keep in mind who said “Competition is a sin”. In the absence of the Gang’s (government) support they would all have to compete. Competition is one of the factors that keeps a free market free. Which is way the various cartels own so many politicians and other government drones.

    • You too can support doctrinaire leftist expropriators in Latin America with an EeeVee purchase.

      Or stick to liquid-fueled vehicles, and leave the LatAm leftists to starve and impoverish su propia gente.

      Not a hard choice for anybody with a lick of sense, or a conscience. ¡Chíngate, Boric!

  8. When they exported all the production and skilled labor offshore that went with it the only thing left to make a buck was slavery and extortion. The only production left was war production which is why the US wages war everywhere and billions, trillions are made by the parasites and all paid by you my taxpayer brother, sister.

    The Nazi German scientists brought over from Germany after the war is who designed our jets and put us in space. Now they’re dead and we cannot get a hypersonic vehicle to work while Russia and China has had them in mass production for over ten years!

    Our schools are crap and only teach wokeism. All corporations that remain are seeking the lowest denominator of employee. Seeking the highest denominator has been classed as racist and bigoted.
    Studies such as math, science (except “the science”), language etc have been classified as racist in order to cover up the switch of real education for woke education in the classrooms.

    We can not define a women,,, we kill unborn children by the millions,,, we mutilate children in the name of gender dysphoria which is utter BS,,, we make theft legal claiming its a form of reparations,,, we force medical experiments on the citizenry including children,,, we allow same sex marriage thus ruining the concept of family,,, our election system has been scuttled allowing charlatans like Biden, Trump, Obama etc,,, members of con-gress today represent the money changers who are about to bring in a whole new concept of tyranny introducing digital currency.

    After that,,, it’s Katy Bar the Door!

    • The only exports from the US are weapons and dollars. And it doesn’t look like the US is holding onto the market for either very well.

    • Arrogance is the Mother of Ignorance by Dr. Sean Hross Phd.

      @ 1:18:29 the white man has been in slavery longer then any other race…..

      @ 1:22:00 only the white man was stupid enough to remain a slave that long…

      @ 1:37:33 the white slaves on the bottom are now accused of racism..but…….it was the pharaoh blood/elite ruler slave owners on the top that are to blame

      @ 1:39:00 rape and torture in the elite nobility ruler’s castles….pharaoh blood/elite rulers look white on the outside now…… but they are different then the white slaves on the bottom….the problem is the white slaves on the bottom are getting blamed for all the world’s problems now….because of the actions of the pharaoh blood/elite rulers……the pharaoh blood/elite rulers hate the white slaves and so do all the other races….the white slaves are the most hated people….

      @ 2:20:43 man is a bred race….the control group is breeding out the warriors…

      @ 2:24:30 getting rid of the patriarchy

      https://ugetube.com/watch/arrogance-is-the-mother-of-ignorance-by-sean-hross_DxX7Enx55PYO3AK.html

  10. When you leave the country and drive into the city, and you see that awful city skyline, and as you get closer, you see these god awful huge buildings of brick and steel, giant banking corporations, giant insurance companies, giant cathedrals, giant hospitals, and you wonder, who pays for those huge monstrosities?

    You do.

    That is why nuclear war is salvation from the beast system.

    Have you ever noticed that the Sasquatch has no job, pays no taxes, doesn’t go to church and tithe, no holy book, doesn’t read or follow orders, doesn’t march off to war, doesn’t drive a car or pay insurance, pays no rent or mortgage, has no courts or cops.

    Why is that? Bigfoot is covered in fur and you are not.

    Whoever made us screwed us, they took away our fur and made us slaves. If you think we evolved out of fur in an ice age, then why do all the monkeys and apes have lots of fur? Fur is a huge advantage in keeping warm on an ice age planet.

    It is obvious (to me at least) that we were created as a slave specie. And it is obvious we are being manipulated from a very high level, above our specie.

  11. It’s no coincidence that most of the tallest buildings in cities are owned by insurance companies. Another one of their dirty tricks is canceling you if you ever dare to file a claim. We’ve been in this same house since 1974, almost 50 years, paying out premiums every year since then. In 2015 there was an incredible amount of snow, and the front of the house had several thousand dollars worth of damage from water infiltration. So I filed my first (and only) claim to recoup the cost of repairs. They paid the claim (about $20k) without too much hassle, but then decided to drop me as a customer. Fortunately I have a good agent and she found me another company for about the same price/premium but money flow is definitely a one way street for the insurance mafia – from you to them.
    I’ve never done the math of how much I paid to them in total over the past 50 years but I’m sure it’s way more than I paid for the house.

    • Funny you should mention the giant buildings in the cities. Last week I spent some time in the rat colony of Denver. After several years of construction the new Golden exit off I70 was fully open, and already there’s a very large building being framed just off the interchange. I took one look at it and thought “Oh, yet another hospital” without knowing anything about it. Sure enough, zip tied to the security fence was a big sign stating future home of xxx health, or words to that effect. Along with that sign were all the financing “partners,” I’m sure included plenty of state sponsors too.

      The first thought was why one would need a security fence around a hospital construction site? What sort of demon would steal from such an altruistic venture? Is that the sort of society I would choose to live in? Yet here we are.

        • At face value, hospitals aren’t supposed to be profitable. That’s why they get tax exempt status. That’s why they usually get some sort of public funding. I know calling them non-profit is like calling Dylan Mulvaney a woman, but honor is completely gone today. There was a time when even the worst mafia goons would leave charities alone, and even contribute to churces. Now? The thief is beholden to the fentanyl dealers and nothing else matters.

    • Just like the elimination of silver certificates and silver coins in the early 1960s heralded a two-decade surge of inflation, this latest proposed debasement by treasonite ‘senators’ shows that Big Gov is planning to inflate its way out of its hopeless $31 trillion debt.

      Coinage debasement once carried the death penalty. Think about that, treasonite RINO Joni Ernst (R-IA).

      • Maybe I’m trippin’ but the newest coins not only look different but already feel lighter, and sound different when they hit the change pile. Remember the “coin shortage” signs that were around the last few years? You know, because coof or something. They were probably melting down the old ones to thin the mix. Methinks the further debasement is a done deal and this is some ex post facto window dressing.

    • The usefulness of coins as we know them (1, 5, 10, 25 cents) has been inflated away. A handful of “change” is more burdensome than its worth.

      Whenever I see an old black and white movie with a breakfast scene in a diner where the bill is like $0.79, it makes my blood boil that the Fed has destroyed the dollar to the extent it has. A cheap breakfast in a diner probably runs at least $12.00 now.

      • Just another milestone on the road to perdition. It’s especially amusing in light of the fake debt ceiling kabuki currently going on. Borrow gazillions more for Keeeev and other cronies but save a nickel coining the nickel. That dead behind the eyes cipher republitard Ernst is a piece of work. Forest? Trees? The bill has “bipartisan” support. LOL.

        Brings to mind my favorite Barky quote: “raising the debt ceiling doesn’t add one penny to the national debt.”

    • where do your taxes go?….this is very interesting….

      In the U.K. the money goes to Citibank in Germany…….then 40% goes to the IMF…the rest goes to the vatican…the IMF is a branch of the BIS….which is part of the control group….

      The Swiss/davos/templars/freemason/vatican/banksters/ control group at the top….which includes the IMF, BIS, WEF, U.N., NATO….which are part of their machine….

      @ 1:26:20 where do your taxes go?

      https://www.bitchute.com/video/5fjIzrpBsqO5/

    • they already debased the currency a long time ago…the paper dollar was redeemable for gold or silver…at the bank…..not anymore….it is just a promissory note now…an illegal one….

      the silver was removed from the coins a long time ago….replaced by cheap metal….now to be replaced by even cheaper metal

      at this rate an old copper penny will be worth a million fake/paper/fiat dollars soon….lol

      the worthless paper money that you actually owned will be replaced by pure digital fictional money….. in the cloud somewhere…..soon….controlled, turned off, confiscated in one second……lol

  13. The Geico family is moving beyond insurance to get a bigger piece of the action in the all EV future by getting into the charging station racket via control of Pilot/Flying-J.

  15. Power line poles were 330 dollars before the Covid madness, now they are 900 dollars each. The power company raised the rates and also the access charge. The access charge is now 700 percent more than in 2007, when I first began using electricity at the rural residence. Thanks to government and its ever intrusive and invasive tactics to make you pay more, I now pay close to 700 dollars each year to have electricity fed to the electrical panel, then the cost per kwh for the electricity. What was once a charge of 96 dollars per year, 960 dollars over ten years, the cost is now 7000 dollars in ten years time.

    Thanks to Obama and the gov, you now pay through the nose just to have access, like you are paying by subscription, not much more than that.

    I can quit and not have electricity, will have it for a few more years, that’ll be it for me.

    Becomes a situation where the cost is at ripoff levels and is extortion.

    The cost of insuring the premises is still increasing.

    The weather is not warming at all, there are three inches of snow on the ground and a temp of 29⁰ F. Just plain miserable weather for April. The record temp for this date is 98⁰ F.

    • My coop set a goal of 100% renewable power by 2025-30, and put a bunch of incentives to install grid tie solar that brought the cost down to just above half retail and a payback in 6-8 years if paying cash, if using kWh rates at the time. So after two years of solar going in all over their distribution grid, they’re finding that it is getting harder to buy peak demand power, and they’re not able to cover expenses. So now they’re proposing to alter the deal, which will push out the payback to at least 10 years and in some installations 20+ if you take it. Or leave things the way they are and deal with increases in the flat rate “service fees” as needed.

      They’re basically mimmicing California’s raw deal and pushing people into battery storage. That’s fine but then try to get a house battery installed today. There’s still a massive backlog because of grid instability and CA’s rules. Plus all the risk of having lithium batteries in the house. The coop does subsidize Tesla power walls if you agree to let them pull stored power during peaks, but you have to install 30 kWh (3 units) and they want you to have a million dollar general libility insurance policy. So if you’ve got the space and don’t mind paying the insurance mafia instead of the utility it’s a good deal. Otherwise forget it.

      • There’s also the possibility of building your own battery bank/”powerwall.” You can buy used medical-device and/or tool battery packs at a relatively low price. Shuck the 18650s out of them and rewire them as needed. 1 kWh of 2000-mAh cells takes 135 cells. An 18V tool battery will have 10 cells in it; some might be bad, but most will probably still be good. (I disassembled one recently and got 6 good cells out of it.)

        A while back, I ordered 20 lbs. of medical-device battery packs. IIRC, I got somewhere around 100 18650s out of it, plus some LiPos of varying sizes and a few lithium-manganese primary (non-rechargeable) batteries. Cost with shipping was about $61; without shipping, it would’ve been closer to $35…under $50/kWh. You’d need equipment and materials to spot-weld the cells together, and you’d need a BMS, a charger, and an inverter, but I suspect all of that would come in for a whole lot less than what Tesla is charging.

        • Still a massive step backwards. Electricity service should be like air. Once installed it should just work and only pop a breaker once in a while when you do something stupid like bind up a saw.

          I have a -48VDC system on my server/router stack, made from lithium iron phosphate medical pulls and scrapped rectifiers/inverters. Backs up my network for over 12 hours without any drama. But building it was pretty easy and cheap. I wouldn’t be interested in devoting the time required to build out a house battery, especially if I wanted it to be reliable enough to back up everything. So I have a manual transfer solar battery and gasoline generator that can be used for camping or emergency if needed, sized to run the freezer, fridge, gas boiler and a few lights. That’s good enough for me.

    • JB,

      One of the pillars of communism is no private property. Biden’s Bolsheviks happily march towards that great manifesto.

    • Hi John,

      Of course, naturally. The object being to systematically impoverish those who are not dependent on government, so as to make them dependent upon government. When everyone is poor, only the government is rich.

      • Eric,

        Not only are governments, including the U.S. government, trying to impoverish the general public, they’re also trying to STARVE them under guise of “Saving the planet from climate change”. I read a piece on technocracy.news recently about how even RICE FARMING is now being targeted for carbon reductions. Ordinary farmers in other countries around the world have already been under attack by their OWN government for similar INSANE climate change goals.

        • Meanwhile, the ongoing chemical poisoning of the planet goes on unabated. I wonder, how much does DuPont, Bayer/Monsanto contribute to the “climate change” fraud to distract the greeens from that poisoning?
          Honey bees used to be thick as flies in my fruit tree orchard. Now I don’t see any. Consequently, little to no fruit.

          • John,

            That kinda sounds like my experience with hummingbirds when I lived in an apartment. Before the state of Oregon (through its Public Utility Commission) decided to shove smart meters down everyone’s throats a few years ago, there would be hummingbirds around to get feed from any hummingbird feeders my neighbors would have outside. I even had one at my patio. However, after smart meters were installed at the apartment complex and even just a few feet away from my patio, the hummingbirds have all but disappeared, leaving me to wonder if those smart meters emitted something that disturbed the hummingbirds. Nevertheless, the electric company sent out (Undoubtedly state approved) propaganda that smart meters were “Safe and Convenient!” or even “Safe and Effective!”

    • Also punishing those who can make a substantial down payment. How dare you live beneath your means and have money in the bank and a good credit rating.

    • ‘effectively PUNISHES homebuyers with good credit to subsidize high risk mortgages’ — John B

      This is the financial version of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron.”

      Like the talented ballerina forced to wear punitive ankle weights, the prudent must be punished for saving and paying their bills on time.

      If these defiant ‘good citizens’ would just respond to the incentives Big Gov has provided, they’d be shoplifting all their groceries and toiletries, and livin’ free and easy like the “Biden” family does.

    • I read that, John. Nothing like punishing those of us with good credit to subsidize those who do not. Didn’t anyone learn from history? Didn’t we go down this road once before? The end goal is that no one is allowed to own a home. Just as no one in Soviet Russia ever owned one.
      And yeah, banning rice for the environment? Good grief, get me off this merri-go-round, I want off already!

      • Shadow,

        There’s going to have to be MASSIVE pushback or even lawsuits against this rule (among other insane rules and outrageous ideas) from the Biden Thing.

        • Is it not pathetic, that a law suit is required to correct such blatant tyranny? And the tyrants know it, so they leap into it without fear. Knowing they own the courts.

  17. In 1978 I was 25 when the wife (of a 18 months) and I moved from Ohio to Florida. I was a commission salesman and had, for years, carried $1Million in liability coverage. My Dad, who was in the same biz, told me to have it just in case. If I hit someone and they found out I was driving for “business” they might sue me AS a business and take me to the cleaners. Ohio, at the time, did not require by law that you even HAVE any insurance.

    When we got to the Sunshine State we went to get car insurance. Florida law required it. For more than double the cost of my insurance in Ohio we were able to get the absolute MINIMUM coverage that was offered in the state.

    I will add that in the five years we lived in Florida every one of my cars was hit while sitting still…twice by people that had no insurance…and one was totaled by a person that turned left in front of me…five incidents in all.

    We moved to North Carolina…

  18. “It isn’t a transaction when force is involved.
    It is extortion.”
    I would downgrade it further, to armed robbery. Your money or your life. Literally. That is the threat from any government edict. Obey or we will kill you.
    In this case, capital punishment for not buying insurance at whatever rate the insurance companies choose to charge. Disobedience pursued to its final conclusion results in you lying dead on the ground, or in your car.

      • Eric,

        If the insurance mafia is “Just scraping by”, it could be from all the payouts they had to make over the past 2 years for “Sudden deaths” which just happened to coincide with the rollout of the COVID jabs. And now, the government and corrupt public health bureaucracies are pushing the “Updated bivalent booster jabs” that have only ever been tested on a handful of mice but the FDA nonetheless deemed “Safe and Effective”.

        • Not to mention payouts for the spontaneous combustion of very expensive EVs, and the totaling of any that get much of any damage at all.
          I briefly dipped my toe into insurance sales once upon a time. The agent commissions were ridiculously high. My conscience couldn’t take it, so I bailed out of it.
          Curious that insurance bought on line, with no agent involved, is little to no cheaper than insurance purchased through an agent.

            • Hi Mark,

              Yup. And while Ford goes to great lengths to characterize the problem as being due to a manufacturing problem, the fact is it is an inherent problem. Especially with regard to trucks. It’s one thing to put a huge lithium-ion battery in a car that is going to be used on paved roads, as transportation. But a truck is supposed to be able to take hard knocks, off road. To be able to stand up to physical punishment cars are not expected to stand up to. The truck EV’s battery will thus be subjected to conditions more extreme than would be the case for a car and the associated risk of a fire resulting from excess jostling (especially over time) is almost certainly higher.

              PS: I am surprised Ford has not yet recalled every Lightning made thus far as they all probably have the same issue.

              • Even if the vehicle never leaves pavement there’s still plenty of battery pack abuse possible, even without the extremely poor state of US highways. Just getting that mass moving at a decent acceleration rate draws peak current demand from the battery. Do that in stop-and-go traffic all day, with a full bed or towing a tool trailer, and the battery will be stressed. No bouncing necessary. This was one of the big drivers for Apple to develop their own chips that are optimized for power management. They were seeing a lot of battery failures from iPhone gamers, who use a lot of high power demand apps. “Average” users had far fewer battery issues because they didn’t spike the processor and GPU.

              • Indeed. As anyone who has driven a truck, 2 or 4WD off the pavement to any extent knows, their frames flex a LOT. I would not think that compatible with a 1000+ pounds of battery that will not tolerate any such flexing without catching fire.

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