The city of Las Vegas, as in the rest of the state of Nevada, requires by law that all car drivers have a minimum level of auto liability insurance and driving in Las vegas, Nevada, as with all other US states, without any car insurance can cause you to face a hefty fine and also the possibility of having your driving license suspended if you are caught. A minimum level of liability cover is required to cover a level of medical expenses for any persons injured in a road traffic accident that is deemed to be your fault. Further levels of more comprehensive cover are available to meet more of your own medical expenses, damage caused in the event of an accident and also car theft for example.
In 2006, Las Vegas was recorded as the No.1 hotspot for car theft in the US by a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and many drivers without theft cover would have been left with a hefty bill to cover the costs of damage or replacement where the vehicle was written off due to malicious damage or fire. Recent reports have shown that in Las Vegas, Nevada, your car is potentially more likely to be stolen if its relatively old ie. more than 10 years old. The National Insurance Crime Bureau releases a “Hot Wheels” annual report that statistics for care crime at state and national levels.
In 2008, more than half the vehicles listed as the most stolen vehicles in Nevada were over 10 years old:
1. 1992 – Honda Accord
2. 1995 – Honda Civic
3. 1990 – Toyota Camry
4. 2005 – Dodge Ram Pickup
5. 1994 – Nissan Sentra
6. 2006 – Nissan Altima
7. 2006 – Ford F150 Pickup
8. 1994 – Saturn Sl
9. 1995 – Acura Integra
10. 2001 – Chevrolet Extended Cab 4×2 Pickup
It seems that Las Vegas’ car theft is getting better relatively however since it had dropped in the rankings for the top car theft hotspots for the third year running. Las vegas dropped to the No. 7 spot on the list of top hotspots for car theft in 2008 with 13,662 thefts whereas it was the No. 2 car theft hot spot in 2007 with around 16,000 thefts and No. 1 in 2006.
Even taking into account the falling theft statistics for Las Vegas and Nevada as a whole, you are still likely to face a higher car insurance premium if your vehicle is listed as high risk of theft, such as the vehicles listed in the top ten above. If you are looking to find cheaper car insurance then take into consideration the make and model of the vehicle you drive – SUVs, sports cars and those models listed above, especially if they are older than 10 years old it would seem, have a high theft rate are a bigger risk to the car insurance companies and so naturally the cost of insuring these vehicles will be higher. If you are currently considering buying a car and need to budget for your insurance then find out which makes and models are in the high insurance groups first and consider removing them from your list.
