NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey drivers still pay more for auto insurance than residents of any other state, but the gap is shrinking.

According to a study released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the average Garden State driver paid $1,184 to insure each car in 2005. That’s about $10 per year below what motorists paid two years earlier.

The Garden State edged out the District of Columbia by $2 dollars per vehicle.

Still, New Jersey’s rates are 43 percent higher than the national average of $829.

State Assemblyman Louis Greenwald tells The Star-Ledger of Newark that a 2003 law designed to increase competition is working.

Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger