car-insurance-driving-in-snow.

Driving in ice and snow can be very hazardous. Each year, thousands of insurance claims are filed for drivers who have skidded into other cars or stationary objects while driving in icy conditions.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate the roads safely when winter weather comes to town.

1) Don’t go out. It seems simple enough to say, but many people do not realize just how important it is to stay in when the roads are hazardous.

If you simply have to get to the store for that quart of milk, you might want to think about better planning—lay in supplies of food and do your errands in batches while the weather is good.

If you are going to be driving no matter what, get snow tires. Check your state’s laws about studded tires or chains; some states do not allow them between certain periods. Have your snow tires put on early in the season; make sure they are well-maintained and checked periodically.

2) Decrease your speed. Most accidents on icy roads can be contributed to driving too fast for conditions. This does not mean the posted speed limit; it means driving at a speed which allows you time to correct for possible hazards. You will need at least three times the stopping distance on ice as on dry pavement, so slow down and give yourself plenty of time to negotiate corners and intersections.

When you are driving in ice, you should also brake gently. You should not ever slam on brakes while on ice; this is a recipe for disaster. Instead, slowly brake in increments, giving yourself time to stop safely. Stop well before a stop sign or traffic light; better to be a few feet back than in the middle of an intersection.

3) Use your lights. Even in broad daylight, your lights will help you stay visible to other motorists. Use your windshield wipers to keep your screen free of snow and debris. De-ice your windshield before you begin driving by starting the car, letting it run for a few minutes, and scraping the ice from your windshield.

You should also use lower gears. Many cars and trucks come equipped with four-wheel drive. This has actually increased the problem with driving in snow, because many four-wheel drive owners mistakenly believe they can navigate roads with four wheels they would not tackle with two. Instead of relying on four-wheel drive, engage your low gear to keep traction.

4) Be careful on bridges. Bridges often form icy patches well before the regular roadbed, so use extreme caution when crossing them, even if the temperature is above freezing.

5) Know how to handle a skid. If you begin to skid, take your foot off the accelerator, and steer “into” the skid. What this means is that you turn your front wheels in the direction you want to go, opposite what the rear wheels are doing. If you have front-wheel drive, do not steer but put the vehicle in neutral while you regain traction.

6) Keep sand or litter in your trunk. Not only will this help weight your vehicle down, giving you more traction, but it is very useful if you get stuck. Do not spin your wheels if you are stuck—this only makes the problem worse. Instead, “rock” the vehicle gently by shifting from forward to reverse and back again.

Besides sand, you should also keep an emergency kit in your car. Road flares and a jack can be lifesavers in dangerous conditions. If you are stranded, do not leave your car unless help is within sight.

Instead, turn on your flashers, put out flares if needed, and call for help. Keep blankets and hard candy, as well as water, in your car at all times in case you are stuck for some time.

Enjoy driving- be safe and get cheap teen auto insurance quotes now.

The worst driver on the planet just walked out of the local DMV.

Take young Hannah Abrams. In March 2009, she drove herself to school with her brand-new license. After school, she headed to the Ballston Mall in Arlington, Va., with a friend. Despite her mother’s warning to avoid the circular ramp in the parking garage, Hannah decided to give it a try.

Entering the ramp, she hit another car on its way up, also being driven by a teen driver.

Hannah was devastated, as was her mother, Tamar. Repairs totaled more than $3,000. But the Abrams were lucky. Nobody was seriously injured, and thanks to accident forgiveness with USAA, Hannah’s car insurance rates didn’t go through the roof.

Are teens really bad drivers or only inexperienced-Can we justify teen car insurance?

Your teen — and your insurance premiums — might not be so lucky. No parent wants to believe his or her child is an irresponsible driver, but according to a recent study, newly minted drivers are some of the most dangerous and risky drivers in the world. They are certainly among the most costly to insure.

The U.S National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted the first observational assessment of teenage risky driving by tracking 42 teen drivers and their parents in the Virginia cities of Blacksburg and Roanoke for the first 18 months of licensure. Their vehicles were outfitted with internal and external cameras, along with a system that collected data on acceleration, mileage and GPS positioning.

“The first six months are by far the most dangerous,” says Bruce G. Simons-Morton, senior investigator and chief of the Prevention Research Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH. “New drivers are 12 times more likely to be involved in an accident during their first month of driving than they will be just one year later.”

During the course of the NIH study, the teens were involved in 37 accidents while parents had only two. Near-crash statistics were just as dramatic: 242 for the teens and 32 for the parents. While crash and near-crash rates for teens consistently dropped over the 18-month period, they never approached the rates logged by the parents.

While crash risk drops off dramatically during these first six months, risky driving continues and accident rates don’t drop to adult levels until drivers are in their mid-20s.

It is well-documented that driving is one of the most dangerous acts that a teenager performs.

Auto accidents are the leading cause of death of young people ages 15 to 20, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Teens are four times more likely than adults to be in an accident. They represent only 14 percent of the driving population, but account for 30 percent of all car accidents, says the CDC.

While it’s not startling to hear that teens engage in risky behavior on the road, you might be surprised at the frequency. In the NIH study, teens were five times more likely to engage in risky driving behavior than adults.

Fast driving, rapid starts and hard stops were quite common, but sharp turns were recorded at extraordinary rates. Teens took corners sharply 25 to 30 times more often than parents did. Combine risky behaviors with modern distractions like texting and it is small wonder teens logged such high accident rates.

Simons-Morton recounts one teen accident during the study: “Teens drive fast and brake late. In this case, the driver got up to speed between stoplights, looked at his phone and rear-ended a car in front of him that had stopped for the next light. Inattention is a huge factor in teen accidents.”

The NIH found that while teens improved at driving as time passed, their risky behavior continued even after they were involved in a crash or near-crash. Crash rates declined as they gained experience, the study found, but not because they were driving more safely. They simply learned to control the vehicle better during dangerous maneuvers.

Prepare to pay the car insurance man

All of this risky driving comes at a financial price. Adding a teen to your teen car insurance policy will usually double or even triple car insurance rates. (And yes, you do have to add them to your policy, or specifically exclude them. See our articles on the Mistakets parents should not make. While young drivers’ car insurance needs will vary, premium increases will be significant in most cases. Nancy Donahue, spokesperson at Dowd Agencies, says parents can expect at least a $1,500 annual increase.

In fact, it could be more. Analysis by Carinsurance.com found even bigger increases were possible. In Culver City, Calif., adding a teen to a typical policy upped the premium a whopping $2,854 annually, a 232 percent increase.

These figures assume that your teen driver manages to keep his or her record clean. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), a 16-year-old gets a traffic ticket at about 1.8 times the rate of the average driver. And a simple rear-end collision can raise the rates an additional 25 percent.

New-driver car insurance rates will drop over time as teen drivers gain more experience. According to Steve Witmer, spokesperson at American Family, rates start adjusting downward at 19, 21 and 25 years of age, assuming a clean record.

Delayed driving and parental involvement are the best ways to keep a teen safe during the first years of driving.

When a parent is in the car, the NIH study found, accident rates drop dramatically. In most cases, they fall to levels matching the parent group. Parents help manage the vehicle as well as keep attention focused on the task at hand: driving the car.

Simons-Morton also advises parents to delay licensure as long as possible. “A 17-year-old is more mature than a 16-year-old. GDL (graduated driver licensing) programs are the best and most effective thing that states and parents can do to keep teen drivers safe.”

GDL programs delay full licensure by dividing the licensing process into three stages: a supervised learner’s period, an intermediate period with limits related to driving in high-risk situations, and finally a full-privilege license.

Simons-Morton reminds parents that while learning the basics of vehicle management is fairly easy, developing the judgment and attention to detail necessary to drive safely can take years of practice.

Not all driving conditions are equally dangerous; Simons-Morton recommends restricted driving during the following conditions for at least the first year:

Yes, you as teenager drivers should pass on the message to Insurance companies that you are smart drivers with your smart cars- and Get Your cheap teen auto insruance rate.

car insurance and technology

joe johnson : I heard something about a technnology geek being able to disable cars electronic system- what about this- let me know if you thnik if auto insurance companies would take away the safety car insurance discount?

Response : Joe, recently car insurance website did discuss this.

First the New Threat to your car:

One hundred car owners got an abrupt wake-up call last year when a disgruntled former dealership employee in Austin, Texas, used an Internet-based vehicle immobilization system to reach out and touch their lives.

Electronic boxes installed by the used-car dealer receive a signal through a pager system. The horn honks, for example, when a payment is due. If payments are delinquent, the ignition is disabled.

Working from his home, moving alphabetically down a list of unsuspecting — and paid up — customers, the fired employee remotely set off car horns and disabled engines.

The damage that can be done by a few malicious keystrokes grows as cars become rolling high-tech showcases.  Like any vandalism or theft, any physical damage due to car hacking is covered by your comprehensive car innsurance, , but that doesn’t reduce the creepiness of corporate monitoring, the tedium of repairing a stolen identity, or the nagging fear that your safety has been compromised.

A recently released report from the computer security company McAfee pulled together research done by several universities to evaluate the potential security threats to a cars’ electrical components, which can be found in everything from radios to anti-lock brakes to electronic stability control systems to infotainment systems.

The threat to your car and your privacy is real, the studies find.

“It’s not just theoretical. Attacks can take place,” says Tim Fulkerson, senior director of marketing for McAfee Embedded Security.

Even the auto industry agrees. The subject has “kind of been lurking under the radar,” says Peter Byk, an engineering specialist in the SAE International ground vehicle standards group, which formed a committee this spring to begin discussing safety and privacy concerns.

The McAfee report looked at the potential for cybercriminals to track a driver’s location, steal personal data from Bluetooth, disrupt navigation systems, disable emergency assistance systems and to unlock cars and start them remotely using cell phones.

So far the potential risks uncovered by researchers haven’t translated into major problems in real life.

“We’re not aware that anything like this is happening in the real world,” says Russ Rader, spokesperson for the Highway Loss Data Institute. “There’s no indication that theft claims are going up as electronic systems proliferate; theft claim frequency is going down.”

The National Insurance Crime Bureau also has not received reports of vehicles being hacked, says spokesperson Frank Scafidi. “People should not be losing sleep over the report.”

At the same time, he acknowledges “there is no such thing as a totally secure system.”

Fulkerson says the goal of the McAfee report is to raise consumer awareness of the potential security threats. In addition, as more electronic bells and whistles are added to vehicles, the potential for problems rise.

Even something as simple as an MP3 player that is plugged into your car’s stereo system should have antivirus protection, Fulkerson says.

Virtually every automaker offers some sort of onboard connectivity as mobile technology develops to meet consumer desires and needs. But what are the ramifications of being connected while behind the wheel?

We already know that drivers’ insistence on seamless connectivity with the outside world creates huge safety issues of its own.

But it’s clear that drivers are willing to give up some of their privacy as well. For navigation to work, the computer has to know where you are. For “phone home” to dial correctly, your contacts need to be accessible. Data goes out, data comes in.

More than 6 million drivers in the U.S. use General Motors’ OnStar telematics system to ask for directions, access e-mail, get weather reports and ask for emergency services. Its GPS functionality also allows authorities to track a stolen car.

(They’ll trade their information for cheaper car insurance rates  as well. An OnStar subscription is a key component to State Farm’s In-Drive program , which tracks driver behaviors and mileage and rewards low-risk drivers with discounts up to 50 percent.)

In a telling indicator of the kind of pressures the marketplace will witness in coming years, OnStar recently backed off proposed changes to its privacy policy that would have maintained its data connection to customers’ cars even after they ended their $199-a-year subscriptions. Before customers challenged the decision, OnStar had planned to keep the pipeline open and reserve the right to sell data gathered — aggregated and without private information attached, of course.

Research funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and conducted by the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington found that a cybercriminal with a laptop could access the internal network of two 2009 autos “to take over a broad array of safety-critical computer systems.”

The research found, for example, that brakes could be disengaged while the car was in motion, making it nearly impossible to stop; or activated, forcing a sudden stop.

Another study, by Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina, found that radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, designed to keep track of vehicle tire pressure, can be used to track a vehicle and can pose a threat to passenger privacy if a cybercriminal uses a powerful long-distance reader.

Perhaps worse, the threats aren’t necessarily all linked to the car. A Facebook password stored in the car’s electronics systems, allowing updates on the fly, could tip off a stalker or burglar if he or she gained access to it.

 As the number of electrical components in cars increases each year, it creates an increasing number of avenues for potential hackers to breach auto security, Byk says.

For example, the idea of someone potentially using RFID tags in a malicious manner “probably wasn’t even considered” by automotive engineers, Byk says.

Andre Weimerskirch, chief executive officer of ESCRYPT Inc., one of the partners in the McAfee study, says components must be protected so any potential attacker “needs to get through a security wall.”

Weimerskirch says he’s seen an increase in concern by auto manufacturers in the past couple of years, as they try to “anticipate risks and want to mitigate them.”

The committee formed by SAE International members this year is discussing things such as  testing and design standards for embedded electronic devices, Byk says, and plans to come up with strategies to identify and prevent potential security breaches.

Another topic will be how to mitigate the potential harm if a security breach occurs.

But hacking into an auto isn’t a simple task. “It requires a certain amount of technical know-how to execute,” he says. Cybercriminals not only need to have strong computer skills, they also have to be good at hacking.

Part of the problem for the automobile industry is that the electrical components in vehicles are constantly evolving. The situation mirrors that of a home computer. You need to install various updates and patches when security flaws are found, and the auto industry now faces a similar challenge, Byk says.

“You just don’t put a flag in the ground and say we’re done,” Byk says. “It’s constantly moving.”

Auto insurance comapnies and car safety feature discounts

As an insurance person, I think that auto insurance companies would not remove this discount on the basis of this threat. The makers of cars would take the necessary steps on this alongwith the computer tech geeks to remove such threats. Overall the safety devices have stopped car insurance thefts and hence you can go on with your car insurance discount. Its nice to discuss and stay informed of all such things which are happening around us and these are just our views.

Get your car insurance quote now.

car insurance and black box.

Teens, do you know that there is a spy living in your car?  Car insurance ….hm!. !

Your car’s “black box” knows how fast you’re going, whether you’re buckled up and if you’re on the gas or the brakes.

It remembers these things for only a few seconds at a time–until you hit something. Then, like the airplane black boxes we’ve read about for years, it stores the data and can spill some eye-opening secrets to safety investigators, attorneys and you car insurance company.

Called event data recorders (EDRs for short), these devices are already in many autos–the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in 2008 that 65 percent to 90 percent of all vehicles had them. Virtually all new cars, the agency adds, are equipped with EDRs.

They’re designed to gather information during an accident, much the same way a transponder helps aviation officials piece together why a jet goes down. The EDR is usually placed under the driver’s seat and is wired to other car components, like the air bag.

Starting with 2011 models, automakers are required to tell buyers that a recorder is installed on their cars. (The information usually is in the owner’s manual.) And while each automaker currently builds a box that fits its own needs and standards, NHTSA has recently decided that all vehicles built after 2013 must have standardized EDRs that record a trove of relevant, very specific details, such as:

Change in forward crash speedMaximum change in forward crash speedSpeed the vehicle was travelingHow far the accelerator pedal was pressed)Whether or not the brake was appliedIgnition cycle (number of power cycles applied to the EDR) at the time of the crashIgnition cycle (number of power cycles applied to the EDR) when the EDR data was downloadedWhether or not the driver was using a safety beltWhether or not the frontal air bag warning lamp was onNumber of crash eventsTime between the first two crash events, if applicableWhether or not the EDR completed recording

Officials stress that the information is valuable when compiling federal or state accident statistics and creating safer cars and roads.

“EDRs can provide information about a crash that can’t be obtained through more traditional investigation techniques,” says a statement on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) website. “Police, crash investigators, automakers, insurance adjusters, and highway safety researchers can use this information to analyze what occurred during a crash. The data may help automakers improve occupant restraint systems and vehicle structures.”

But an EDR is also an unblinking eyewitness to any incident that is recorded in its memory.

NHTSA has strict guidelines for EDR use, saying the gathered information belongs to the vehicle’s owner and can be used only with consent in most cases. However, it does note that data could be obtained in a criminal investigation through a court order. (EDRs have provided key evidence in an increasing number of manslaughter and reckless driving cases).

Your insurer needs your consent to access the EDR in your car. However, you may have given the insurer that permission when you accepted your policy and agreed to provide full cooperation in auto insurance claims investigations. Seven states prohibit insurance contracts from requiring policyholders to consent to access. They are:

ConnecticutNew HampshireNew YorkOregonVirginiaWashington

What could an auto insurance company with access to your EDR learn from it? A lot–like whether you really did swerve to miss a deer, or whether the accident was severe enough to cause the whiplash you’re claiming.

R. Brent Cooper, a Dallas attorney who has followed the use of “black boxes” for several years, says insurers often plumb EDR data in their accident investigations.

“They use them primarily to see if what the driver says happened during the accident actually happened,” he explains. “I wouldn’t say they do it across-the-board. It’s not worth it with a fender-bender, but it would probably be done with a major crash.”

Major national insurers have rolled out voluntary programs such as Progressive Snap shot  and  State Farms In- Drive to offer drivers a big discount–as much as 50 percent–for careful behavior that’s verified by data captured by devices installed in their customers’ cars.

But those devices aren’t linked to EDRs in any way.

“Our position on EDRs is that we would only use that data in a claims investigation with customer consent or if we’re required to do so by law,” says Progressive spokesperson Brittany Senary.

Attorney Cooper agrees. “Accident re-creation appears to be the main thrust,” he says.

But others worry that data, once gathered, can serve many ends besides safety research.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., wonders if insurers could try to use the information against policyholders, even drop them after analyzing data.

“Most critically, these data could be used in claims disputes by the insurer and others against you,” he warns. “Police could get access to your driving habits, as could state agencies.”

A forum at Wired.com’s Autopia site shows that some posters are suspicious of what the government and insurers can do with EDR records, while others point to improved safety and legal benefits.

“The problem here is not that the data is being recorded, but that the NHTSA–a governmental body–wants to make it both mandatory and force you to let them and whoever they deem fit get a look at it if they so desire,” writes “Vic83.” The poster adds: “It’s a governmental camel’s nose under the tent, and it’s not to be trusted.”

But “Just Sayin” had this to say: “Let the facts speak for themselves. You driving within the law, we don’t have a problem. You driving like a nut, I can submit the facts to a jury.”

Be careful drive safe for your own safety and to get cheap teen auto insurance. Yes, you are only a click away from Cheap car insurance get your teen auto insurance quote now.

Safe and happy driving during the holidays.

Kamlesh

 camila alves : What would be the cheapest car insurance compared to wages for a young driver or teenager.

Cheapest car insurance and wages for teenager or young driver

Response ; Camila and excellent question. When you are making a statement of how cheap car insurance is it has to be compared with something and what better than the wages- since this would definetly answer the question of whether you can afford to buy a car. Remember one thing, here the focus is only on car insurnce and not on any other cost which might be related with a car like car installments, maintaining the car and so forth.

This is an example given be car insurance site and the same is being given here,

The 1997 Ford Taurus was never an exciting vehicle, and now it is an old and tired one. Worth perhaps $2,500 but still ubiquitous (Polk says there are 242,390 still on the road), it is the choice of someone who has no choice.

Yet even this vehicle — or any similar no-frills ride– represents a huge expense for the 4 million or so Americans working a minimum-wage job.

Minimum-wage workers tend to be young. Half of them are under 25, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.  We priced basic state-minimum auto insurance quotes fromm coast to coast on that proverbial Taurus, driven by a 24-year-old male with no tickets and good credit.

In Springfield, Ill., he would have to work 55 hours at that state’s $8 minimum wage to pay a year’s worth of the state’s minimum liability coverage on his beater car. In Denver, 103 hours.

And in Albany, N.Y., Trenton, N.J., or Hartford, Conn., he would have to work more than a month of minimum-wage hours to buy the lowest amount of car insurance required.

CarInsurance.com looked at bare-minimum policies for a young driver in each state’s capital.

They are, however, a good indicator of the financial hurdle confronting any young driver who depends on his own car to commute to school or work.

What a 24-year-old pays for state-minimum liability

* Data missing or unavailable at time of publication

+ New Hampshire drivers must show proof of financial responsibility in the event of an accident

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, though many states set their own higher and a few go as low as $5.15.

Keeping even an old beater on the road anywhere will consume a large amount of that bare-bones income. Gasoline is a big expense, but ultimately a controllable one:  You can walk, take the bus, combine your trips, or carpool.

But no one will split the cost of your insurance policy, which as a car owner you are legally required to buy in every state except New Hampshire (and even in New Hampshire, most people buy insurance).  States set their own levels of acceptable coverage. Maine and Alaska demand the most: $50,000 to cover the injuries of anyone you might hit ($100,000 total for any single accident), and $25,000 to cover the damage to other cars you cause.

There are very few trade-offs available to save money.

For example, you can’t reduce your limits below these minimum amounts. Mostly these state-mandated policies have coverage limits that are very low anyway — the $10,000 property damage limit required in many states wouldn’t come close to replacing a newer-model car.

And you can’t raise your deductible. There are no deductibles on liability insurance.

The cost of liability insurance has more to do with the driver than the car. (The insurance company isn’t going to fix your car, just the person’s you hit.) In your search for cheapest car insurance, these are the factors you have some control over:

Your driving record: More than one violation or accident is going to hurt.Your credit: If it’s dismal, you’re seen as a bigger risk of a claim and thus charged more in many states.

Your mileage: The less you drive,  the less risk of your hitting someone.Your insurance history: If you’ve let your policy lapse, even for a few days, you’ll pay about 5 percent more than you would have otherwise, according to Insurance.com.Your insurance company: No two insurers offer identical rates, and even on state-minimum policies,  premiums can differ by hundreds of dollars a year.

Compare young drivers car insurance quotes or teen insurance quotes or car insurance quotes and find out which insurance company is providing the cheapest car insurance.

Insurers do look at your car, and if it has a significantly higher rate of claims than most (because, say, it’s driven mostly by young drivers), your liability rates will reflect that risk.

Good luck and happy driving.

Kamlesh