Auto Insurance

Course Offered to Cut Auto Insurance Get a 10 Percent Discount By Passing a $40 Online Course, With Conditions.

ATLANTA - Almost anyone with Internet access, six hours and about $40 can shave 10 percent off their auto insurance costs, under a new online driver's education program offered in the state.

The 10 percent discount lasts three years. For a 40-year-old male driver, that amounts to a $560 savings, based on Georgia's average insurance rates.

An online version of training that for years has been offered in a classroom setting, the course puts drivers through six hours of written text and videos on the basics of vehicle safety and defensive driving, with questions at the end of each section. Tests do not need to be completed in one sitting. Test-takers must answer at least 80 percent of the questions correctly in order to receive the discount.

"It really is not difficult to pass the course. It's just a matter of paying attention to the information and answering the questions," said Angie LaPlant, senior project manager of AAA Auto Club South, which administers the test.

But not all drivers warmed to news they could pay to get a discount.

Ron Haberkorn of Augusta said the course wouldn't be worth it because his insurance rates are already very low.

"I'm over 40. There's not much to save there," Haberkorn said.

Anyone can take the course. But to receive the discount, drivers must be at least 25, have a Georgia license and insurance, and have no accidents or traffic violations in the three years prior to taking the test.

"It's a huge benefit to the safe drivers of Georgia to be able to give them a break on their auto insurance," LaPlant said.

The savings applies to premiums on the more expensive aspects of auto insurance - liability, first-party medical and collision coverage, LaPlant said. The cost is $39.95, but AAA members can take the test for $29.95.jake.armstrong@morris.com, (404) 589- 8424aaasouth.com FIND more information about the online driver's education course