Are car insurances incentivized to total cars more frequently? I'm hearing insurances totaling cars with little damages and no frame damages. Is this a push to force people buy new cars or push EVs?
I'm hearing insurances totaling cars with little damages and no frame damages.
99% of all cars are unibody vehicles now. There is no separate frame. The body IS the frame. Once crumple zones have been triggered, it's impossible for the metal to be straightened back out and collapse predictably. (All metals harden after getting crumpled, they are stronger, but, in this case added strength means the opposite of what you're trying to achieve.) You're more likely to hurt someone, because cars are designed to crumple, not stay straight, prolonging the impact time and transferring less of the car's momentum into you. You sacrifice the car to walk away unharmed.
Typically, cars are totalled because there are way too many electronics in cars nowadays and even seemingly minor damage may destroy electrical components.
It's more of a matter of how expensive it is to do repair work on modern cars.
Are car insurances incentivized to total cars more frequently?
I would say that these days with high car prices, cars with 1yr+ wait times or not available at all, that there's more pressure than ever to repair instead of total cars with insurance claims.
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That being said, unibody cars/SUVs with structural damage are usually write-offs. They're just made of sheet metal that crumples.
Take a sheet of aluminum foil and crumple it into a ball in your hand. OK now try to turn it back into a straight smooth sheet again. (wrinkles weaken steel and make it buckle)
Is this a push to force people buy new cars or push EVs?
New cars and EVs are even worse! Those are more likely to be written off in an accident than older cars.
That'd be very expensive!
