In the meantime, here are the minimal amounts you need in place not to end up in jail.

We always feel a little uncomfortable listing legal requirements on a webpage. What happens when this page gets archived, the laws change and someone finds it on a google search 10 years from now. Hate to be the source of bad data. So, keep in mind that the numbers here are from the insurance information institute and were accurate as of mid 2008.

(1) The first two numbers refer to bodily injury liability limits and the third number to property liability. For example, 20/40/10 means coverage up to $40,000 for all persons injured in an accident, subject to a limit of $20,000 for one individual, and $10,000 coverage for property damage.
(2) Low-cost policy limits for low-income drivers in the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan are 10/20/3.
(3) Instead of policy limits, policyholders can satisfy the requirement with a combined single limit policy. Amounts vary by state.
(4) In addition, policyholders must also carry at least $1,000 for medical payments.
(5) May be waived for the policyholder but is compulsory for passengers.
(6) Basic policy (optional) limits are 10/10/5. Uninsured and under insured motorist coverage not available under the basic policy but uninsured motorist coverage is required under the standard policy.
(7) In addition, policyholders must have 50/100 for wrongful death coverage.

*Minimum coverage requirements will increase to 30/60/30 on January 1, 2011.

Source: Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; state departments of insurance.

The proportionally greater drop in personal injury and bodily injury claims as a percentage of all accidents is a further indication of the benefits of safety engineering in todays cars and roads.

On the flip side, the IRC study found that the actual cost of claims placed is growing at an average rate of 3% every year. The rising cost of repairs and medical treatment when accidents do happen has erased most of the underlying cost benefits gained by the drop in accident rates. Elizabeth Sprinkel, Senior VP of the IRC notes that if accident rates should start to return to their historic pace then increasing loss severity “will create upward cost pressure on consumers.”

So, if you want to see your auto insurance rates stay stable, lets be careful out there.