Car Insurance in El Paso

With a name that literally means “the pass,” El Paso serves as a kind of crossroads between two U.S. states and the Mexican border. More than 681,700 Texans live in this historic border city, which is located on the Rio Grande. Every year, thousands of vehicles make their way through El Paso, and this has caused congestion worries. Auto insurance is essential for drivers in El Paso, as sitting in traffic delays for several hours can increase the likelihood of accidents occurring. In recent years, two El Paso roads — specifically, the stretch of I-10 that runs from North Mesa Street to U.S. 54 and the stretch of North Mesa Street from Executive Center Boulevard to Texas Avenue — have ranked among the top congested roadways in the state of Texas. Spending several hours sitting in traffic delays is pretty common in El Paso.

Quick Facts

Two factors generally determine how much you’ll pay for car insurance: your zip code and your age. When insurers calculate premiums, they look at where you live to determine how much traffic your neighborhood experiences, how many people are living there, how much they typically earn, and whether the area’s affected by crime. All of these factors influence how much you’ll pay.

How old you are also influences how much you’ll pay. Insurers assume older drivers have much more experience behind the wheel than younger ones. That’s why older drivers typically pay much less for car insurance than younger drivers do.

How well you drive is another important factor insurers consider. Someone with a clean driving record and no accidents or tickets during the past three to five years will pay lower rates than someone in a crash or ticketed a time or two during that time.

How Many Fatal Accidents Happen in El Paso?

In 2019, Texas reported 1,764 fatal crashes that resulted in 1,867 deaths. Compared to state statistics, El Paso had a much lower number, with figures from the Texas Department of Transportation showing that the city reported a total of 65 fatal crashes resulting in 67 deaths that year.

Of those 2019 fatal crashes in the El Paso area, 17 were alcohol-related, with blood-alcohol levels well above the legal limits. These DUI-related crashes resulted in 18 deaths. That’s roughly 3.97% of the 428 crashes that occurred throughout the state of Texas in 2019.

How Are the Road Infrastructure and Bridges in El Paso?

El Paso’s highway and transportation network is served by two Interstate Highways, I-10, which runs east to west, and I-110, which runs north to south. San Antonio drivers also have access to several other roadways, like U.S. Highway 54, which leads to Alamogordo, New Mexico, as well as U.S. Highway 62, U.S. Highway 85, or U.S. Highway 180, which all lead to cities and towns in Mexico.

The El Paso County Public Works Department maintains and repairs the area’s infrastructure and roadway system. Its transportation program carries out several county-wide projects that aim to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and provide residents greater mobility and quality of life.

In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave Texas an overall grade of C for its infrastructure. While the organization gave the state’s bridges and public transit a B-, it gave Texas’ highways and roads a D+ for not properly distributing the funds and resources generated by the state’s gas tax to keep up with projected growth.

Even though Texas is an at-fault state, its insurance requirements make it more of a “comparative fault” state. In Texas, every driver must assume financial responsibility for any crash in which they are more than 50% at fault. That’s why Texas drivers carry liability insurance.

Texas Transportation Code §601.072 details the minimum amount of car insurance that drivers must carry in the state, which is 30/60/25. That means car insurance coverage must provide:

Insurers across the U.S. use specific criteria to calculate their car insurance rates. In El Paso, Texas, the criteria typically used include:

Insurance companies typically extend discounts to their policyholders. If you’re an El Paso driver looking to save money, you might want to consider looking into these offers, like a:

In Texas, auto insurance is mandatory. All drivers must carry the minimum amount of coverage or pay hefty penalties. The first time you’re caught driving without insurance coverage, you can expect to pay fines between $175 and $350. That’ll grow somewhere between $350 to $1,000 if you’re caught driving without insurance a second time within three years of the initial offense. Repeat offenders also risk having their licenses revoked and their vehicles impounded. As they say: Don’t mess with Texas.