Today’s cars are packed with cool, new technology that keeps their occupants entertained and safe in the unfortunate event of an accident.
Technology that helps drivers avoid collisions is being packed into all kinds of cars, even ones from mainstream brands like Honda (HMC) and Toyota (TM) . In fact, Honda’s Honda Sensing system packs cars like the CR-V and Accord with tech like Lane Keep Assist to keep you in a lane, Collision Mitigation Braking System to help slam the brakes to avoid a head-on collision, and Blind Spot monitoring to name a few.
However, as cars get the latest and greatest in safety technology, it has a boomerang effect on drivers when they get into a crash.
New data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 27% of cars involved in accidents were totaled, a huge jump from just 19% in 2018.
Safety tech is making it easy for insurance companies to total cars, says LexisNexis
According to a recent report from Axios, many factors are helping make it more likely than ever that your car will be deemed a write-off if owners get into a wreck.
Their analysis of data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions shows that 27% of cars involved in accidents in 2023 are considered totaled, a significant jump from 19% in 2018.
Though replacement parts and loaner cars got more expensive during the COVID-19 pandemic and led to higher costs for insurance companies, LexisNexis blames advancements in crash-prevention technology for the increase, as today’s cars need much more than replacing bumpers, lights, and plastic trim to be fully repaired from an accident.
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Nowadays, modern cars are stuffed with expensive electronics, such as cameras, lidar, and radar sensors, that make their safety systems function.
For example, the Collision Mitigation Braking System in the 2025 Honda CR-V and Accord is partially operated by a radar sensor behind the Honda emblem on the front grille, a part with a catalog price of nearly $2,500.
According to its own technical, Honda recommends that the sensor be checked, recalibrated, or replaced in the event of a frontal collision or if the vehicle “strongly strikes a bump, curb, chock, slope, or embankment that could jar the radar sensor.”
Even if sensors or other car-mounted electronics don’t need to be replaced or repaired after an accident, replacing the part they are attached to requires expensive procedures to make them roadworthy again.
Chris Rice, the vice president of strategic business intelligence for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, told Axios that advanced driver assistance systems like lane-departure warning and rear-cross traffic alerts “have to be recalibrated with any accident.”
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Because expensive repairs require expensive parts and services, insurers often decide that they’d rather write off a damaged car completely and help owners buy a replacement car than repair it.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon contributes to rising insurance premiums. Axios reported that data from Insurify full-coverage insurance rates jumped by 15% nationwide in 2024, with American drivers paying an average of $2,313 for full annual coverage.
Insurify predicts that rates are likely to increase 5% around the country in 2025.
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