Surprises, not discounts, earned by taking driver’s test at 71

May 01--There's an old joke that goes, "Hi, I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

I propose a tweak on that: "Hi, I'm from a major driving-test company and you will get 10 percent off your car insurance if you take this test."

That is not entirely true. I learned the hard way by actually taking the driving course online.

The New York state version entailed eight different categories with at least five modules on each topic, followed by a 10-question quiz for each category.

I passed it but never did find out what my score was. I received my certificate in the mail and happily trotted off to our auto-insurance agent to receive what I thought would be about $120 off our yearly car insurance.

Not so fast. Turns out any discount is at the discretion of the insurer and only applies to liability and property damage. Not that I am complaining about our insurance company. The local agent has given us great service for many years, keeping us updated on opportunities to keep our rates low.

I paid about $25 for the driving course online. My insurance savings? $19 a year for three years. Yes, over three years I will recover my expense, but $57 compared to what I expected, $360, leaves a very wide gap.

The course will also reduce traffic points on a driver's license. A good deal at any price, I'd say, but I don't have any marks on my license, and I pray not to gain any until I give it up because I'm too old to drive.

I'm generally pretty savvy at sorting out what's a good opportunity and what's not. This one got past me.

Toby said, "Don't worry about it. You took the course. You passed it at your age. That's saying something." (Not so sure about the "age" comment.)

I'm sharing my experience hoping that other seniors won't get sucked in by this offer but first check with your insurer to find out if the savings are worth the expense and stress of taking the test. (It was very stressful knowing I had a time limit on the course.)

Up to now, neither Toby nor I have had a car accident that we've been responsible for, thankfully. His 40 years of driving tractor trailers speak of his experience. I like to say my driving expertise comes from learning on the manual farm tractor. (We won't talk about when I was driving the tractor, pulling the hay wagon, popped the clutch, and nearly jerked my father off the top of a stack of hay bales.)

In 2012, New York ranked No. 8 from the top with the highest auto insurance premiums. An online check at insure.com states that the national average is $1,318.

As of July 2017, New York now has an average insurance rate of $1,352, ranking 17th. That is some improvement that I don't understand, but will take their word for it.

Don't move to Michigan, however. They have had the highest car insurance rates five out of eight years. In 2017, Michigan auto owners paid an average of $2,394 a year for car insurance. Lowest state for car insurance? Maine.

Remember, this is not insurance advice; just senior citizen observation. Always check with several auto insurance insurers to receive the best rate.

All I can say is Toby should have listened to me when I wanted to move to Maine many years ago. Our car insurance would have been cheap. I wouldn't have felt compelled to waste my money or insurance on a driving test at 71 years old.

His argument was that we would have been paying more to live near the ocean. Guess I have to let him win one debate, right?

One last thought, as always, please be kind to each other. The world needs more kindness.

Susan Tobias lives in Plattsburgh with her husband, Toby. She began her employment in the newsroom with the Press-Republican in 1977. The Tobiases have six children, 18 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. They enjoy traveling to Maine and Colorado, and in her spare time, Susan loves to research local history and genealogy. Reach her by email at [email protected].

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