Now that our state government has seemingly tackled the problem of high insurance rates, it should concentrate on reforming state laws that supposedly govern some insurance company policies.

Under existing state laws, if one member of a household is considered a high risk, then the entire household is automatically placed in the assigned risk group -- regardless of the driving records of the other members.

As examples, suppose your spouse is cited once too often for speeding or your teenage son is responsible for an accident: the entire household pays the price -- and it's a high price. Liability insurance alone for one car is approximately $2,400 per year for three years under the assigned risk group rate.

And if you are unfortunate enough to have your car(s) financed and thus are required to carry comprehensive/collision insurance, the price could be $3,600 to $4,400 per year for three years.

The actual cost would vary with the number and value of your car(s). You say you couldn't afford that amount, so what do you do?

Well, the next logical step would seemingly be to have the offending driver voluntarily give up driving for awhile -- even if doing so results in the major inconveniences of driving that person to wherever.

After all, if you couldn't squeeze $4,000 per year from your budget for the next three years, what choice do you have, right? Wrong! Even if you agree to sign a waiver relieving the insurance company of any responsibility for the high-risk driver, "state law" prohibits the insurance company from offering this option.

As long as the high-risk driver is a member of the household, even if he is willing to give up his driving privileges, the other members are placed in the assigned risk group; and no waiver can or will be allowed.

Any other options? Well, you could sell your house to pay the insurance company . . . or you could quit your job(s) and go on welfare so you wouldn't have to drive . . . or you could walk or hitchhike to work and the grocery store. These options have shortcomings.

Hmmmm . . . better yet, you could kick your teenager out of the house (too bad if he has another year of high school to complete!) or you could divorce your spouse (is receiving a speeding citation legal grounds for divorce?).

Actually, these actions seem a little extreme, so you could consider lying. You could just tell the insurance agent that your son no longer lives with you or that you and your spouse have separated; and, hopefully, the agent won't ask too many questions.

If telling lies wouldn't sit too well with you, you could drive without insurance, which of course is illegal, until those violations no longer appear on your record.

Well, don't bother waiting for the violations to disappear; and if you decide to lie, do not wait too long. Unless you have proof of being on a current policy within the last 30 days, "state law" requires that you automatically be placed in the assigned risk group (i.e., $2,400 plus per year for three years) -- regardless of your driving record.

You could have a perfect driving record for five, 10, or 20 years; leave your insurance lapse for more than one month; and all of a sudden you would be too big of a risk to be insured under normal rates.

You could even have a perfectly legitimate reason to allow your policy to lapse: you could go away to college for four years and have no need for a car on campus. Or you could have a cash flow problem at policy renewal time.

Or the old junk heap finally gives out and you don't have the money to buy a new car (nor do you have the money or desire to pay insurance on a car that doesn't exist). So you could borrow a car, car pool or use public transportation until you get the money for another car and/or the insurance.

Regardless of the circumstances, you would be faced with the assigned risk group rate for three years.

Perhaps this thought may sound a little radical under a free enterprise system; however, the consumer should have more than the two options presently available -- to either pay out $2,400 plus per year for three years or never drive his own car legally again.

Not all of us have the funds to pay that amount nor do all of us have access to public transportation or can walk to work or the grocery store, but we may have families to support.

Since the state requires that all drivers carry liability insurance, then the insurance companies should be required to offer a waiver to relieve them of insuring the high-risk driver while providing coverage to the other members of the household.

And if someone is not listed on a current policy and would like to have one, then the rate he is charged should be based on his driving record or on the average rate of others in the same age group or category, if he is a new driver.

Perhaps you have never been faced with any of these situations; and, hopefully, you never will be. But accidents do happen.

Please don't wait until it happens to you. Contact your state senators and representatives now to protest the unfair policies. You can obtain their names, addresses, or phone numbers in your local phone book.