Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Graduated Licensing Laws for Teen Drivers Reduced Fatalities by 26%, Study Finds
Feb 24 2005 // The fatal crash rate for 16-year-old drivers declined sharply after states began enacting graduated licensing laws in the 1990s, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The study found that...
U.K. Chief Driver Examiner Ignites Valentine’s Day Controversy: Men Better Drivers than Women
Feb 14 2005 // Everyone probably has an opinion on what constitutes competence or incompetence when it comes to driving an automobile, but when Robin Cummins, the man in charge of overseeing the U.K. Driving Standards Agency, expresses...
Okla. Lawmaker Seeks to Create Graduated Driver’s License for Teens
Feb 10 2005 // Tired of seeing underage drivers killed as a result of joyriding with their friends, Oklahoma State Rep. Danny Morgan announced legislation to create a new graduated driver’s license for teenagers. Morgan said he...
N.H. Jury Awards $2.6M in Car Crash Suit, Citing Engineers for Faulty Intersection Design
Feb 7 2005 // A New Hampshire jury has awarded nearly $2.6 million to the family of a man killed in a 1999 car crash, saying the firm that redesigned the intersection where it happened was partly at fault. David DeBenedetto was killed...
Driver’s Choice Founder to Head S.C. Insurance Dept.
Feb 3 2005 // South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has chosen Elanor Kitzman, founder and past president of Driver’s Choice Insurance Services, of Columbia to head South Carolina’s Insurance Department. Kitzman has been active...
Virginia Senate Gets Tough on Teen Drivers, Passing Cell Phone Ban, Seat Belt and Curfew Bills
Jan 30 2005 // A bill that bans Virginia motorists younger than 18 from talking on cellular phones while driving and subjects them to tickets if they don’t wear seat belts won easy Senate passage last week. By a 32-7 vote, a bill...
Only 2 Mass. Insurers Offering Good Driver Discounts
Jan 19 2005 // The number of insurers in Massachusetts looking to grant discounts to the best drivers has gone down to 2 from just 3. Of the state’s 20 private passenger auto insurers only Amica Insurance and Electric Insurance,...
IIHS Attributes Saved Lives to Fla. Teen-Driving Regulation Changes
Jan 17 2005 // Nationwide driver’s license regulation changes which took place as a result of the death of a teenage driver in Florida have resulted in a reduction in the number of automobile deaths caused by teenage drivers...
Warning: Drowsy Docs Danger During Driving
Jan 14 2005 // They’re in training to save lives, but medical interns sometimes threaten them: Lack of sleep from very long hospital shifts can make young doctors behind the wheel as dangerous as drunks, researchers found. Doctors...
Driver Alliant to End Contingent Agreements with Insurance Carriers
Dec 23 2004 // San Diego-based Driver Alliant Insurance Services Inc., along with its parent company, Alliant Resources Group Inc., announced that they will be eliminating their contingent income agreements with insurance carriers....
Average Rate Cut Slightly, Inexperienced Drivers to Pay More, Under 2005 Mass. Auto Insurance Decision
Dec 17 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne M. Bowler issued a decision in the 2005 private passenger insurance rate case that will result in a statewide average rate decrease of 1.69 percent next year. The new rate...
NTSB Chairman to Speak at Md. Town Hall Meeting Focusing on Teen Driving Deaths
Dec 16 2004 // National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners will speak to Washington, D.C. area parents about teen driving safety at a town hall meeting on Thursday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. “In Maryland, teen...
N.H. Summit to Focus on Drivers’ Medical Fitness
Dec 7 2004 // Medical people, police, lawmakers and drivers are preparing for a conference on safe driving this week in New Hampshire — tackling driver’s education and road design, but also looking at whether should drivers with...
N.H. Looks to Steer Debate to Drivers’ Medical Fitness to be Behind Wheel
Dec 6 2004 // Medical people, police, lawmakers and drivers are preparing for a conference on safe driving in New Hampshire–tackling traditional topics such as driver’s education and road design, but also looking at an...
N.J. Drivers Receive $300 Million in Dividends
Dec 2 2004 // Acting Governor Richard J. Codey and Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly C. Bakke today announced that nearly $300 million has been returned to more than two million policyholders since the auto insurance reforms...
Study Finds Medical Costs Driving Up Auto Injury Claims
Nov 30 2004 // A new study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) finds that claimed losses for auto injuries have escalated at vastly different rates across four states with no-fault auto insurance regulations. From 1997 to 2002, the...
10,000 N.J. Drivers Opt for Dollar-a-Day
Nov 29 2004 // New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly C. Bakke revealed that more than 10,000 drivers purchased the Dollar-a-Day auto insurance policy during its first year. “Rising sales of the Dollar-a-Day policy,...
Farmers Survey Says Some Drivers Have the Rage
Nov 15 2004 // More than 10 percent of drivers admit they have intentionally cut off other drivers or have wanted to force them off the road during the past year, according to a recent survey by Farmers Insurance Group. Of the 1,001...
GAINSCO Unveils Q3 Report
Nov 12 2004 // Texas-based GAINSCO INC. has reported net income for the third quarter 2004 of approximately $1.6 million. After the accretion of the discount on the Redeemable Preferred Stock of approximately $0.9 million and the accrual...
NTSB Backs Greater Oversight of Drivers with High-Risk Medical Conditions
Nov 11 2004 // In a report adopted this week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that certain medical conditions can increase a driver’s accident risk and are incompatible with unrestricted operation of motor...
