(MONEY Magazine) – Motorists from coast to coast are boiling over about the runaway cost of auto insurance. In New Jersey, where premiums are the nation's priciest (estimated current average: $604), the activist group Citizens Auto Insurance Revolt sledgehammered home its point last February (see photo). In California, where rates rose nearly 60% between 1982 and 1986, seven separate advocacy groups are collecting signatures for November ballot initiatives that would put on the brakes. Nationwide, auto insurance rates have accelerated four times faster than inflation during the past two years. In Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and several other high-crash, high-crime metropolitan areas, annual tabs can run to more than $3,000. What heats up premiums? Regulatory chaos and surging medical costs, according to a new report from the watchdog National Insurance Consumer Organization (NICO). Unfortunately, those are problems with no solutions in sight, and meanwhile you have to insure your car. You can, however, lower your expenses without sacrificing the protection you want. Major cost savers, starting at the auto dealer's showroom: -- Buy a conservative workhorse rather than a racy thoroughbred. Allstate trims policies up to 55% for drivers of AMC Eagles, for example -- and tacks on a surcharge of up to 55% for Pontiac Firebirds. Check your insurer's hit list. -- Comparison shop. Identical coverage can cost up to 50% more or less for drivers with similar backgrounds and safety records, reports NICO. So get estimates from three or four insurance companies. You might compare any policy you are considering with a similar one from Geico or State Farm, two insurers that are competitive pricers, according to NICO. -- Fine-tune your collision and comprehensive coverage. For a new car, you may want to carry a hefty amount. But as it ages, there is less value to protect. For a car more than five years old, consider dropping this coverage altogether if your premium cost exceeds 10% of the car's current market value. (You'll find an estimate in the Blue Book, which lists average prices of used cars and is available at your library.) -- Raise your deductibles. They range from $50 to $1,000 for both collision and comprehensive. At Allstate, switching from $100 to $500 can save you 26% on collision. -- Check discounts. You can shave rates by as much as 10% for a flawless driving record, 5% for taking defensive-driver training, and up to 40% for adding automatic seat belts and air bags. You may qualify too if you log less than 7,000 miles a year, are a single woman head of household or insure your home and car with the same company.