LANSING, Mich. – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is pushing back against the state's shockingly high auto insurance premiums.
Duggan spoke Wednesday before the Senate Insurance and Banking Committee in Lansing. He pointed out that Michigan has the highest rates in the nation, averaging more than $200 a month.
"To me, it's one of the fundamental civil rights issues facing this state," Duggan said.
Twenty percent of Michigan drivers, most of them in Detroit, drive without insurance. Which means they have no help if they're involved in a car crash. The mayor believes his lawsuit, launched last year, is having an impact.
"I think the fact the federal judge last week called the state's no-fault statute shameful, that's the judge who's going to decide whether it's constitutional, is about a good start to a lawsuit you can have," Duggan said.
"We had a bill last year that had minimum reductions of 20 percent and anything less I'll not support. I don't want one of these nonsense bills that claim to do something and when people actually get their insurance bill it hasn't changed very much," Duggan said.
The House is clean sheeting the auto insurance issue but you still have a lot of lobbying money fighting against any reform, which leaves a lot of finger pointing going on.
"You've got a lot of medical providers and lawyers making a lot of money and the average citizens are paying the bill," Duggan said.
Duggan said he has never seen more momentum on the issue in Lansing but told the House is tough sell for major and lasting auto insurance reforms. Optimism is considerable, but so is opposition.
