The government might have made some great advances in promoting hybrids for the little people when President Obama put in his order, but let's face it. We've known for years that we need to do something about the amount of exhaust we're pumping out into the atmosphere. Daily pollution was going to start to have some long term effects sooner or later! With the benefits to the environment aside, it's time to take a look at what buying a hybrid can do for your pocketbook-specifically, what it's going to do to the cost of your car insurance.

Most of us love to think of our car insurance companies as money grubbing, impersonal corporate entities, especially when we open our policy renewal to find out our rates are climbing up AGAIN. The thing is, there are people sitting at the heads of these companies-people that want to be able to continue to breathe clean oxygen for the next forty or fifty years. In exchange for your willingness to take a bite out of pollution, many of them are willing to take a bit out of your car insurance rates.

If you take a look at the discounts being offered by major national chains from one side of the country to another you'll find that most of them are offering savings of up to 10% just for slipping behind the wheel of a hybrid. And that's BEFORE you start tacking on all of the safety features and bonus "perks" most of these cars are coming with! (For example, have you checked out the fun gadgets on the new Prius? They're amazing!)

By the time you're done tallying up your car insurance savings just for switching vehicles you will have more than justified the added expense of buying a hybrid rather than the gas guzzling, petro fueled dinosaurs that preceded them.

Speaking of gas guzzling, let's talk about the other ways that owning a hybrid is going to save you money. How much would you say you pay for gas each year? Hundreds of dollars? Thousands? That number's going to climb if you're a commuter, that's for sure. With the never ending need for gas and the fact that it seems like you can't go anywhere on foot these days, driving can get really expensive, really quickly.

Picking up a hybrid can save you a small fortune on gasoline, because once that engine turns over the battery picks up the slack until it runs out of zoom. Studies show that the Toyota Prius is able to get somewhere close to 48 miles to the gallon out on the highways, and that's assuming you're just driving around and not using any of the gas saving tricks that became so popular last summer when gas prices soared.

Picking up a hybrid is both an ecologically and economically sound decision, so if your budget will stretch to a new vehicle it might be time to pick up the phone and see what your dealer has to offer.

Anthony M. Peck is the Senior Developer, Software Project Manager, and Director of Business Development for QuoteScout.com. For more information on how buying a hybrid can help you save on car insurance, visit them on the web at http://www.QuoteScout.com.

Tags: environment, auto insurance rates, hybrids, save on auto insurance