Latest Personal Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Mandatory Auto Insurance Does Not Reduce Number of Uninsured Drivers, Says Insurer Trade Group

Jul 25 2004 // Although unlicensed and uninsured drivers comprise a significant traffic safety concern across the country, the solution to the problem is not compulsory automobile liability insurance, according to the Property Casualty...

No Jump in Arrests Under Pa. Drunk Driving Law

Jul 22 2004 // Pennsylvania’s tougher new blood-alcohol limit for motorists has had a minimal effect on the number of people being arrested for driving drunk, according to state police records. About 21,000 people were arrested for...

Atlantic Mutual Reducing Deductibles to Reward Claim-Free Homeowners and Drivers

Jul 22 2004 // Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co.announced that it will reduce home and auto insurance policy deductibles by 10 percent for many customers each year they are claim-free˜providing long-term savings. “So many of our...

Allstate Returns $15 Million to N.J. Drivers

Jul 19 2004 // New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, joined by Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly C. Bakke, applauded Allstate New Jersey’s plans to return $15 million to more than 200,000 auto insurance policyholders....

N.J. FINES DRIVERS ON CELL PHONES:

Jul 19 2004 // New Jersey’s ban on cell phone use by drivers went into full effect on July 1, but police still can’t pull somebody over simply for chattering away while going down the road. Motorists talking on hand-held cell...

Del. Lowers Drunk Driving Threshold

Jul 12 2004 // Delaware lawmakers recently agreed to join the rest of the nation by lowering the blood-alcohol threshold for drunken driving. Lawmakers voted to lower the blood-alcohol concentration considered prima facie evidence that a...

First State Delaware Last on .08 Blood-Alcohol Drunken Driving Law

Jul 5 2004 // Lighting up a cigarette in a bar in Georgetown, Delaware is unlawful, but you can get more drunk in Delaware than anywhere in the nation and still be allowed to get behind the wheel. “Delaware’s got so many...

Fireman’s Fund Threatens Exit from Mass. Auto Market

Jul 1 2004 // The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies has given notice to Massachusetts officials that it intends to withdraw from the state’s personal automobile insurance market on Dec. 31, 2004, because of continuing...

New Mass. Auto Plan On Way to Commissioner; New Safe Driver Plan Questioned

Jun 29 2004 // The board that oversees the Massachusetts auto insurance high risk facility, Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR), voted 11-2 in favor of final rules to convert the plan to an assigned risk plan on June 29. The CAR governing...

N.J. to Fine Drivers Using Cell Phones Starting July 1

Jun 28 2004 // New Jersey’s ban on cell phone use by drivers goes into full effect on July 1, but police still can’t pull somebody over simply for chattering away while going down the road. Motorists talking on hand-held cell...

N.J. Commissioner: Auto Insurance Market Recovering; Drivers Reap Benefits

Jun 28 2004 // New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly Bakke predicted recently that positive financial results for a majority of companies in the auto insurance marketplace will continue to produce returns for New Jersey...

Mass. Lawmakers Eye Tougher Teen Driver Laws

Jun 8 2004 // Massachusetts lawmakers are recommending legislation that would place stricter requirements on teenage drivers and their parents or guardians in an effort to reduce car accidents involving young drivers. The bipartisan...

UTAH COMMITTEE CONSIDERS UNINSURED DRIVERS PROBLEM:

Jun 7 2004 // A committee of insurance representatives and state lawmakers met recently and came up with a possible solution to the state’s uninsured driver problem that is similar to the way that financial institutions deal with...

Elderly Drivers Pose Growing Challenge for States and Auto Insurers

Jun 7 2004 // As the nation’s population ages, states are looking for ways to weed out people who shouldn’t drive. Half the states have passed some form of elderly driver restrictions, usually laws that require older...

PEMCO Releases List of Top Distracting Activities for Washington Drivers

Jun 7 2004 // They may not think it’s safe, but most Washington drivers admit to keeping one eye and one hand on a meal while driving, according to a recently released PEMCO Insurance poll on driver distraction. Eating a meal...

Proposal to Replace Mass. Safe Driver Plan Unveiled; New Merit Rating System Sought by 2006

Jun 4 2004 // As anticipated in an earlier report by Insurance Journal, an arm of the Massachusetts insurance department has come up with a plan to replace the state’s current safe driver insurance plan with a new one by 2006 and...

Mass. High Risk Rules on Commissioner’s Desk; Safe Driver Plan Next on Reform Agenda

Jun 1 2004 // As expected, last week the governing committee of the high risk auto reinsurance facility in Massachusetts approved rules guiding the pool’s changeover to an assigned risk plan. Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers, known as...

Elderly Drivers Pose Growing Challenge for States and Auto Insurers

May 17 2004 // As the nation’s population ages, states are looking for ways to weed out people who shouldn’t drive. Half the states have passed some form of elderly driver restrictions, usually laws that require older...

Virginia Yanks Illegal Drivers Licenses

May 13 2004 // The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has yanked the licenses of 1,016 drivers who failed to verify they obtained their licenses legally from two clerks convicted in a license-selling scam. In December, the DMV sent...

Utah Committee Considers Uninsured-drivers Problem

May 13 2004 // A committee of legislators and state agency and insurance representatives is considering how the state might implement a plan to treat the state’s 120,000 uninsured drivers much the way financial institutions deal...