Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Times Have Changed. Are you still driving this business?
Apr 3 2006 // Can independent agents compete in the nonstandard auto market? The big boys are better organized, financed and dominating the byways. They also are not creating a level playing field. More often than not, large insurers...
Institute’s Revamp of Crash Tests Puts Manufacturers in Driver’s Seat
Mar 30 2006 // The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that frontal offset crash tests it has conducted since 1995 have prompted huge improvements in how vehicles protect people in frontal crashes. Now that consumer information...
Sleep-Deprived Teens Drowsy at School, While Driving
Mar 28 2006 // America is raising a nation of sleep-deprived kids, with only 20 percent getting the recommended nine hours of shuteye on school nights and more than one in four reporting dozing off in class. Some 51 percent of adolescent...
Mass. May Toughen Teen Driving Laws, Raise Licensing Age
Mar 28 2006 // It’s considered by many teenagers a rite of passage to start driving when they turn 16. But some parents, police officers and lawmakers are beginning to question whether that’s too young to handle the...
Maine Panel Endorses Mandatory Sentences for Repeat Bad Drivers
Mar 16 2006 // A proposal to curb Maine’s worst drivers moved forward this week in the Maine Legislature as a committee gave its solid endorsement to “Tina’s Law,” which is named for a woman killed in an accident...
Calif. Truck Driver Pulled Over for Falsifying Insurance Claim
Mar 16 2006 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi reported the arrest of Jesus Lerma, 51, from Riverside, after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Fraud Division revealed that it was not him,...
Survey Explains Why Drivers Are Not Turned on By Using Signals
Mar 15 2006 // A new national survey reveals that 57 percent of American drivers admit they don’t use their turn signal when changing lanes, but what is most startling are the excuses drivers gave. According to Response Insurance,...
Measure to Encourage Safer Driving by Teens Clears Okla. Senate
Mar 13 2006 // Teenagers in Oklahoma with learner’s permits could soon face restrictions on cell phone use while driving. That’s the focus of legislation recently approved by the State Senate. Sen. Clark Jolley, who authored...
Texas Cities Ticketing Uninsured Drivers and Towing Vehicles
Mar 2 2006 // More than a dozen Texas cities have enacted ordinances allowing police officers to ticket uninsured motorists and tow their vehicles, the Insurance Council of Texas reported. The policy has begun to spread rapidly as city...
Proposed Car Insurance Rates Pit Urban vs. Rural Drivers
Feb 27 2006 // Urban and rural drivers in California faced off over a new way to calculate car insurance rates that would be based more on how people drive than where they park their cars. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi proposed...
N.C. Police Take Thousands of License Plates From Uninsured Drivers
Feb 21 2006 // At least 5,300 cars across North Carolina have had their tags taken away by police and deputies empowered by a new law to confiscate the plates of uninsured vehicles. The law that took effect Dec. 1 gave local law...
Survey Says Men and Women Differ on Bad Weather Driving Expertise
Feb 16 2006 // Men and women don’t see eye to eye when it comes to rating the driving skills of their significant others, according to a Chrysler Group “Bad Weather Driving” survey that polled more than 1,000 adults and...
Driving Instructor, Delaware Officials at Odds Over Credentialing Panel
Feb 8 2006 // A lawsuit accusing Delaware Department of Insurance officials of violating the Freedom of Information Act has devolved into a war of words between the owner of a defensive driving school and the judge hearing the...
Colo. Drivers Could Pay Extra $10 to Subsidize Ambulances
Jan 26 2006 // Colorado drivers could be asked to pay about $10 extra on their annual car registration renewals in order to subsidize ambulance services under a proposed change to the state’s new car insurance system. First...
Tougher R.I. Drunk Driving Bill Clears First Legislative Hurdle
Jan 26 2006 // Rhode Island House leaders made good this week on their promise to promote legislation to toughen Rhode Island’s drunken driving laws. The House Judiciary Committee voted 10-4 to approve a bill that would increase...
Americans More Fearful of Car Crashes, Terrorist Hits than Avian Flu
Jan 25 2006 // A new national survey of 1,000 Americans revealed that Americans are more fearful of car accidents, natural disasters and terrorist attacks than they are of the Avian Bird flu. The national survey was conducted by HCD...
Driving Scents: A Dash of Cinnamon or Peppermint Keeps Drivers Alert
Jan 24 2006 // The scent of peppermint or cinnamon may keep drivers more alert and decrease their frustration when behind the wheel. That’s according to the results of a recent study led by Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, Director of...
ARIZ. SENATOR WANTS TO DENY FUNDS TO DRIVERS WHO LEAVE KEYS IN CAR
Jan 23 2006 // Glendale, Ariz., Republican Sen. Linda Gray is pushing legislation that would allow insurers to refuse to reimburse drivers if companies can prove that the keys were left anywhere in the vehicle, and not just the ignition,...
NAMIC: Colo. Bill Will Increase Number of Uninsured Drivers
Jan 19 2006 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) said it will oppose a Colorado bill that would mandate emergency medical care coverage because it will increase the number of uninsured drivers, increase...
AAA Study: Teen Driver Crashes Top Threat to Passengers, Other Drivers
Jan 18 2006 // The majority of people killed in teen driver crashes are people other than the teen driver themselves, according to a recent analysis of 10 years of crash data by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The new analysis...
