Long-abused New York drivers have paid among the nations highest auto premiums while octopus-like staged accident rings ran amok for years.

But then a funny thing happened: Motorists finally got a break. More than 20 insurers have lowered personal auto premiums 5-10 percent this year. This means about 70 percent of drivers in the state will save a total of $400 million this year, or $50 to $350 per policyholder, the insurance department estimates.

Insurers are passing along the savings from the states growing success in dismantling accident rings, Insurance Department Superintendent Howard Mills believes.

But fraud fighters did it largely on their own, through sheer force of will. Until now, lawmakers in Albany have done little to help.

To be fair, Albany finally did pass two bills this year. Crooked clinics now get booted from the no-fault system if theyre convicted of insurance fraud. Another measure makes it easier for auto insurers to spot swindles when shady lawyers dump a large pile of lawsuits on them just before the filing deadline.

Theyre helpful steps, but hardly silver bullets. Much more is needed. Despite recent progress, accident rings still are spreading upstate to Rochester, Buffalo and other areas. Mills said this year hell push two common-sense proposals that Albany has ignored for years:

Hed make it a crime to be a runner for a staged-accident ring, and for a rings top dogs to hire runners;

Then theres Alices Law. It would make staging accidents a specific insurance crime, and slap swindlers with a Class B felony if the crash hurts or kills anyone. The measure is named after Alice Ross, a 71-year-old grandmother who died in a staged accident in Queens in 2003.

These fraud bills are no-brainers. Theyre not controversial, and everyone agrees theyre urgently needed. But still, they fizzle in Albany year after year. The Senate routinely passes both measures; then the Assembly just as routinely squelches them.

Pushing these bills will stretch Mills political skills like warm taffy. Albanys inbred culture of gridlock plus endless turf battles between the Senate and Assembly leaders will block his path. But voters are also complicit; they dont hold legislators accountable for their actions or inaction. Despite being robbed blind by accident rings, New Yorkers routinely vote lawmakers back into office. Most legislators thus have little fear of voter backlash in this years elections.

Election-year inertia weighs against decisive action, as well. An incumbent isnt seeking the governors mansion for the first time in 24 years. The warring parties will be cautious until the governorship is sorted out next November. No one wants to pass popular laws that reward the opposing party, or its candidate.

New Yorks falling auto premiums also will hand Albany a nice pretext for dithering next year, or any year: Why do we need more fraud laws if auto premiums are dropping, they might ask?

Well, maybe auto premiums will fall faster and farther if Albany raises the heat on swindlers a few more notches. Maybe New York drivers will have even more money in their pockets, less danger on their roadways, and fewer criminals ripping them off. Maybe Albany will actually serve drivers instead of ignoring them.

And if Albany had acted when it shouldve, maybe Alice Ross would still be alive.

Howard Goldblatt is director of Government Affairs at the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. For more information, visit www.InsuranceFraud.org.