Credit scores and bad drivers

I READ with some anger Bruce Mohl's "State of competition" (Business, Aug. 26) regarding auto insurance rates based on social factors. The previous day, while driving to work (I'm a firefighter) in Newton in my 2004 three-quarter-ton Ford van, I was waiting at a red light behind a BMW. The operator was busy using his PDA. When the light changed, I gave him a small toot with my horn. He didn't move. I tooted again, with more force. He turned his head and flipped me off. When he finally did proceed (I was behind him for six miles), he kept using his device, continually swerving over the double yellow lines and fluctuating his speed from about 30 to 55 in a 40 mile-per-hour zone.

I often experience this behavior in Newton while responding to emergency calls with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Many so-called educated and affluent people are too busy installing DVDs and using PDAs and other devices to operate their luxury automobiles and SUVs correctly.

When the BMW causes an accident, it's going to be much more costly to fix than my three-year-old Ford E250.

So who deserves the higher rates?

RONALD D. CUCCHI
Hudson