About 25 million auto accidents occur in the United States each year. Approximately 5 million people are injured in these accidents; some 50,000 are killed. Auto insurance of course cannot reduce the deaths, the injuries, or the damages, and it does offer 1protection against the financial risks of auto ownership and operation. The principle decisions to be made by auto insurance buyers 2 are what coverage to buy, what amounts of insurance to buy, and what agent and company to buy. 3 Auto liability coverage is essential. No one should drive a carwithout protection against the potential high cost of lawsuits. In 4some U.S. states liability insurance is required by law. Because of 5the size of lawsuits cannot be predicted, there is no way to know inadvancement how much protection will be needed. In deciding 6upon the amount, consumers should realize that the extra cost ofhigh limits is relatively small. Double the cost of the limits, for 7example, does not double the cost of the protection. Agents should be asked the cost of several different limits for the buyer to choose among. Reasonably high amounts of liability protection should be a high priority objective. Medical payments coverage is less important than liabilityprotection. It is most important in the states with strong and 8effective auto no-fault laws; there the mandatory PIP(Personal Injury Protection)provides sufficient coverage for medicalexpenses. Medical payments insurance is also necessary for people 9who has adequate health insurance protection. The minimum 10amount of medical payments insurance in the United States is $500 per person. If the protection is needed, higher amounts should be purchased.