Alabama House to Debate Texting-While-Driving Ban

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Stacie

The state of Alabama has taken the first step toward joining the anti-texting while driving community. Specifically, a committee of the Alabama House of Representatives has approved a bill banning the reading or sending of text messages while driving.

The bill, which was sponsored by Representative Jim McClendon (R – Springville) passed the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee on February 8th, would institute a fine of $25 for a motorist’s first offense, $50 for the second, and $75 for the third. As well, cited drivers would receive one point on their driver’s license. In Alabama, drivers who have twelve points can lose their licenses.

This is not the first time Alabama has attempted to ban texting while driving. Last session, the proposed bill died in the Senate, but, as McClendon reminded his colleagues, behind-the-wheel texting is as dangerous as driving drunk.

The next step for this bill is for the full House to debate it. If the House approves it, the Senate will get its chance as well.

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North Dakota Passes 1,000,000 Registered Vehicles

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Stacie

It’s no secret that in most states you have to have valid car insurance in order to register your car, but when people think of some states – North Dakota, for example – they tend to assume that there are about five cars registered there.

That assumption, while somewhat amusing, is a gross inaccuracy. In fact, Francis Ziegler, director of the North Dakota Transportation Department, reported last Tuesday that more than one million vehicles were registered last year. That’s a state record, and pretty impressive considering that the population of the state is only 684,000.

Granted, that number isn’t limited to just cars and trucks. It also includes motorcycles, buses, snowmobiles, trailers, boats and motor homes.

Why the increase? Ziegler believes it’s because of the booming oil-production in the western part of the state, and a robust economy across North Dakota.

He also says that vehicle dealers in his state are doing really well this year.

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Stay Safe on Superbowl Sunday

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Stacie

Every year at this time, we take a break from talking about what’s new in car insurance, and enjoy the lighter side of driving. Specifically, we celebrate the great ads that are shown during the Superbowl (it’s this Sunday, if you’re one of the five people who isn’t sure).

So, we’re not going to quote stats about how the higher number of people drinking could lead to more accidents this weekend, or remind you that a DUI will make your insurance rates go up.

Instead, we’re just going to share the latest commercial from Toyota:

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New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission Adopts Facial-Recognition Technology

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Stacie

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) has announced that it is preparing to adopt facial-recognition technology in order to scan approximately 18 million driver’s license photos in order to detect fraud.

If a photo is found to be suspicious, it will be reviewed before the person who submitted it may renew their driver’s license. Among the factors MVC inspectors will investigate are whether or not the person in the photo is a twin, or has changed their name due to marriage or divorce.

Raymond Martinez, Chief Administrator for the MVC told a local newspaper that he believes this new technology will be a valuable asset as the state moves toward online and by-mail license renewals. Once those options become available in New Jersey, he says, drivers will only have to visit MVC office at eight year intervals, instead of every four years, for new photographs.

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Tennessee Has Fewer Than 1,000 Traffic Fatalities For 1st Time since 1963

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Stacie

For only the third time in the last 48 years, there were fewer than a thousand highway deaths in Tennessee last year.

According to preliminary numbers from the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the state had 947 deaths that were traffic-related in 2011, which could make 2011 the safest year on Tennessee roads in almost fifty years.

Even so, last year’s number is still six higher than the total traffic-related deaths from 1963, the last year that saw a total under 1,000. Of course, back then, the state had a much lower population and there were fewer people driving.

Law enforcement authorities in Tennessee say that the lower number is a result of tougher enforcement of both drunk driving and seat belt laws. Specifically, there has been a 32 percent decline in drunk driving-related fatalities between 2006 and 2010.

As well, seat belt usage has also shown a significant increase.

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Missouri Pushes Trucker Legislation to Retain Federal Funds

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Stacie

The Missouri State Senate is rushing to pass legislation that would bring the “show me” state into compliance with federal standards for commercial truck drivers and dwi/dui sentences. Why? Because otherwise millions of federal road construction dollars could be pulled from the state’s coffers.

Two days ago, on January 11th, the state’s Senate Transportation Committee took the unusual step of hearing testimony and approving the related legislation in a single day, in the hope that the full Senate would be able to debate the new law next week.

Why the rush? Because there’s a deadline of January 30th by which states must comply with federal mandates which require truck drivers who cover interstate routes to provide medical certification of their fitness to drive. According to information released by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last year, as many as a third of the states, including Missouri, have said they may not be able to meet this deadline, which would mean losing 5% of their federally provided highway funds. In Missouri’s case, that comes to roughly $30 million. If they remain out of compliance for a second year, that penalty would double.

There may be a little lee way – states still out of compliance as of February 1st must submit a plan demonstrating their intent to gain compliance in a reasonable amount of time.

Missouri already lost $20 million in federal road construction funds during the 2011 fiscal year because state law didn’t meet federal standards for drunk driving penalties. It was one of 15 states that had funds redirected because of such a failure.

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IRC Study Says Auto Claim Costs are Rising

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Stacie

A new report, “Trends in Auto Injury Claims, 2011 Edition,” recently released by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) shows that the cost of auto injury claims is rising.

The report shows that the average cost of such claims, known as “injury severity,” has actually been rising fairly steadily for the last few years, but that those increases were offset by the fact that fewer total claims were being filed. This led to artificial stability in the numbers.

Now, however, new data indicates that across the country the number of claims is increasing as well. Personal injury protection (PIP) claims, for example, have seen an increase in claim costs per insured vehicle of more than 18 percent from 2008 to last year. 2010 was also the first year since 1994 that Bodily Injury (BI) claim frequency rose as well.

According to the report, the three largest states with no-fault compensation for auto injuries, Florida, Michigan, and New York, have seen the greatest change in PIP claims. In Florida, for example, there was a 62% increase in claim cost per insured vehicle between 2008 and 2010, while costs in Michigan have increased more than 120% over the past ten years.

Spokespeople for the IRC have indicated that there is no certainty about whether this trend is the new “normal,” or if there are other factors causing the rise in claim cost.

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