Brian there on WNYC, car insurance in the United States is getting more expensive, and that's very

true in our area, no question.

So when Governor Kathy Hokel made lowering auto insurance premiums

a centerpiece of her executive budget for New York State, it might have sounded like an easy win

for affordability for working families. But it turns out to be politically not that simple.

Here's Governor Hockel making her basic argument. Some accidents really are just that. They're accidents. But others are a result of a system that's

just riddled with bad actors and fraud and excessive greed that rewards criminals in

illegal behavior. And that's one of the reasons why New Yorkers pay some of the

highest insurance rates in the entire nation, averaging $4,000 a year, a whopping $1,500 a year

higher than the national average. So rampant insurance fraud is driving up premiums and cracking down on it will bring costs down for

everyone, says Governor Hockel. But to some, there's a catch. Reporting by Streets blog, for example,

and Streets blog, for full disclosure, tends toward being skeptical about all things automobile,

finds that the fraud epidemic that Governor

Hokel is citing may be overstated. And the people pushing hardest for this lowering insurance

premiums proposal happen to be Uber and others in big tech to the tune of an $8 million

promotion campaign, which raises some real questions about who this plan is actually

designed to help. Or maybe Uber and the ordinary Joe and Jane car owner just have similar

interests here. Joining me now is Austin C. Jefferson, Albany Bureau Chief for Streets Blog,

Empire State, and he's been all over the story. Austin,

thanks for joining us. Welcome to WNYC. Thanks for having me, Brian. And listeners, share your

latest car insurance bills. How much have they been going up this year or the last few years?

Help us report the story by sharing your car insurance bills. 212-433, WNYC, or anything on the

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