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.

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

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

Free car insurance

As always free insurance quotes saves money get cheap teen car insurance.

As always free insurance quotes saves money-why wait?

In the old days you had say for 20 or 30 years, if you wanted a car insurance quote, arrange an appointment with and meeting with agents give him information about you and your car. He would later a lot of paperwork and us then process immediately with you with a couple of days. Comparison shopping was virtually completely unknown: after all, you would want to see them, which had the best deal on car insurance multiple times? Probably not. Nowadays it is much easier to free insurance quotes online at low prices on car insurance to find by going online.

There are two ways that you free insurance quotes can get online.

1. Go to each car insurance website and fill the same information each time.
2. Visit a quote aggregator such as CheapCarInsurance.com to multiple car insurance quotes at the same time to get.

Option one is time consuming, and you can get the best price not by you directly to a car-insurance Web site. Sites like CheapCarInsurance.com have negotiated special rates with the same insurance companies, so if you buy on our site, you can actually pay less for the same policy, which could buy directly to the website of the company.

If you are quotes from several insurance companies, what can be difficult to keep it happy to you of each institution. Make up a simple spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel or another program and list any company you are considering to buy a policy. You can then columns for different things that you compare, like:

Total comprehensive policy CostA mount or collisions CoverageOther benefits, including discounts on StoresOther cover options, such as emergency roadside assistance

Colors you-each column for each insurance company either red or green, depending on whether you find the information useful or not. For example, if the insurance company offers A a great rate (make the green box), but it provides no assistance, that you want (the box make red), can you easily see, how many functions based on color search provides for this company.

Once you have finished, an insurance company is than the other box hopefully more green. This is probably the company that you buy from your policy.

There are several advantages to shopping to free insurance quotes:

You can compare prices and cover under different InsurersYou can see what some companies offer that others do NotYou can find great discounts, how good student or good driver discounts with many of the best insurance companies in the CountryYou can save hundreds of dollars in car insurance

Know car insurance companies with so many competitors they fighting for your business. Because the power to free insurance is now receive quotation marks in your hands, these insurers want to offer you to get special savings for your offer to CheapCarInsurance.com. We want to help save you, which is why we are in partnership with the best insurance companies in the nation, they offer hundreds of dollars in savings on car insurance have.

Get your free insurance quotes here, by adding a to the Get quote link above. Give us a little information about you, other drivers, you want that your vehicles and discounts, that, which you may be eligible for, to assure, and you will be delivered offers instantly to your Inbox. Happy savings from Santa!!

Different regulations prevail based on the state you live, but car insurance companies follow the same rules. Increase your car insurance based on the points on your license.

Think of it as working ahead for extra credit: In some states, you can soften the blow of your next ticket before the cop even pulls you over. Massachusetts, for instance, gives those with three years of clean driving a one-point break on their next violation. Virginia automatically cuts one demerit point for each year of ticket-free driving, and careful motorists can accrue points that may be applied to future tickets.

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles offers this scenario, starring the usually careful “Molly:”

“For five years Molly followed all the safe driving rules and always obeyed the speed limit. She accumulated a safe driving point each year, for a total of five points. But, one day Molly ran a red light. DMV assigned four demerit points to her driving record. However, since she had earned five safe driving points, she ended up with one safe driving point left on her record.”

“It rewards those who become better drivers and helps us find unsafe drivers in advance, before they cause serious problems. We want to make sure you’re a better driver and our highways are safer for everyone,” says Virginia DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes. “It’s really about as simple as that.”

Authorities assess points as a negative indicator of your worthiness to drive, which is seen as a privilege. Based on a point total, a driver’s license can be suspended or revoked. The amount of points given for each violation varies from state to state; reckless driving, for instance, will saddle you with five points in New York, while Wisconsin adds six points for the same infraction.

Of course, most motorists don’t think about points until they’ve racked up a few, and then they worry as much about their  car insurance rates  as they do about their driver’s licenses. There are only two ways to take the sting out of a ticket: a long period of violation-free driving and traffic school.

If you’ve already got a few points, traffic school can keep you from racking up a license suspension or veering into “driver responsibility fees”–where states ;evy huge fees  on bad drivers.

Virginia and a few other states offer “driver improvement clinics.” Bad motorists take these courses either voluntarily or under orders from the DMV or a traffic judge. Stokes points out that the Virginia DMV will trim as many as five demerits for completing the eight-hour class provided by private, DMV-approved firms. You can take the class and qualify for point reduction once every two years.

Here are a few examples of how other states approach points:

In North Carolina, you’re assigned to a driver improvement clinic by the court or a “driver license hearing officer” after accumulating seven points. Three points are deducted after completing the course. Drivers can also voluntarily participate in a clinic once every five years to drop the three points. A driver license hearing officer reviews class results and determines if the points are cut.In Pennsylvania, drivers must take an approved training course after hitting six points on their record. But the good news is that two points are stripped from their record after course completion. Beyond the class, three points are removed for every 12 consecutive months (from the date of the last violation) a motorist is violation-free.Utah subtracts half of your accumulated points if you drive safely for a full year. If you drive without a moving violation for two straight years, all points are removed. Points are automatically removed three years after the violation.In New York, you can take a Point and Insurance Reduction Program (PIRP) course to subtract four points from your record. Points associated with a violation are automatically removed after 18 months.California automatically subtracts the demerit points for a violation after three years of safe driving. As with many states, driver classes are offered to remove a specific violation from your record shortly after receiving a ticket, but the state does not have a catch-all program similar to Virginia’s driver improvement clinics.

But it’s not the points that erase your opportunity for the cheapest car insurance , really; it’s the conviction itself.

Even in places that allow drivers to remove points from their driver’s license records, the conviction can remain for your insurer to see and base its rates on. The key is to use your traffic-school options to keep a conviction off your record in the first place.

The point system is a good one, says Pete Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California, because it gives auto insurers insight into who would be a risk. Higher premiums, insurers note, simply reflect the risks they must take on to provide coverage for motorists with problem records.

“In California, the fact that the point from a violation is removed after three years is a good incentive for people to be better drivers,” he says, adding that the option to take a driver improvement course is an additional positive.

Stokes also notes that Virginia’s point-reduction program helps guarantee motorists are insured when they take to its highways. The logic is simple: Some drivers may drop coverage, even though it’s illegal to do so, when faced with sky-high premiums. If they can lower their points, they lower their car insurance rates.

“You could argue that this keeps more insured drivers on the road,” she says. “You brush up your skills, drop points, show that you’re responsible and insurance companies are going to look quite favorably on that.”

Yes, your driving record is the key to getting cheap car insurance. Get your car insurance or auto insurance quote now.

 Snapshot Car insurance from Progressive: what is the catch?

Response : Barbara a lot of programs similar to snapshot have been started by insurance companies for teen driving discounts, teen drving monitoring, mileage montoring and they do contribute to teen saftey. As a parent of a teenager personally also I do approve of these progrmas- more from the point of their safety and picking up driving skills faster and snap shot is for all of us any age. Of course most of us are still not mature drivers.

Yes, Progressive almost tells you” Ready, have your auto insurance, to ride shotgun for a chance at a discount?” That’s the idea behind the progressive snapshot program.

“This is a new concept for car insurance.” “Allows you, the consumer, to share your trip around a discount”, says Richard Hutchinson progressive of the general manager of the usage-based insurance. “And it is a purely voluntary program.” “So you have to do it, if you don’t want.”

After he has connected to the mains in the computer system the snapshot transmitter device (most of the vehicles since 1996 have the required diagnostic port), monitors time day and speed, and the frequency of hard braking as many kilometres are driven. It also reports if the device is disconnected.

The idea is simple: drive carefully and save. Drive less save more. And if you travel during the peak hours accident (progressive says, which is between midnight and 04) avoid, save some more. The device must be to leave at least 30 days, with the option for a broader profile and perhaps installed a larger discount in more. The company claims that it is possible to have up to 30 percent.

Consumer ‘Snapshot’ concerns

Progressive says that the worst result of snapshot installation for an additional car insurance discount to qualify would become.

But some skeptics questions what is progressive with the information, which collects the electronic eavesdropper. They make to ensure that interest rates can actually rise if they are not good or that compromised their privacy can be, if the information is shared with others.

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director for the electronic privacy information center (EPIC), says his group has still no specifically saw the snapshot program, but it has reservations, if gathered information for the consumers.

“We would be concerned that (collected information) could be passed on to third parties”, which could endanger the driver says Rothenberg. Another concern of privacy with these programs is that the information in advertising home or together with the police in connection with driving studies might be used.

Some potential customers share the suspicion that blind quest to could backfire the cheapest car insurance after.

Here is a typical comment from “Wildblueflyingbear” on SlashGear snapshot Forum: “() the program had probably relatively benign intentions.” But how large companies and the Government might change? There is much opportunity for mischief, if we give blind, up privacy rights, only, to a rebate check. It might work now, but later you could (sorry) the day that the progressive saw for the first time advertising. “

Progressive website addresses directly they ensure.

“No, snapshot will not increase your rate,” the company says, adding that “we parts snapshot data with a third party will not, if it, to the use your insurance policy is required to comply with fraud protection, performing searches, or the law.” “We will use not snapshot data to resolve a claim, unless you or the registered owner of the car gives us permission.”

Hutchinson adds that progressive can track where you go, because the device is not using GPS technology. The worst that can happen what he claims qualification is not for a discount.

A snapshot snapshot

These assurances were enough for William Parsons, recently took part and came immediately with almost 15 percent rate cut. “I have problems,” says Parsons, lives in New York. “After a week or so I forgot kind of, that it was there.”

Parsons, who in 2005 has a Honda Accord, says he is optimistic about what would qualify the results because he fits the profile of a driver for a premium cut. “I’m pretty anal, when I’m driving.” Slow and steady, 10 k miles per year. “

Parsons adds that he does not “very concerned” about the company, the a detailed report about him.

“When I was with a bad driver, I probably different would feel,” says Parsons. “But I would not sign up if this was the case.”

Progressive recommends that only cautious customers that much, or at least avoid the peak hours, should log accident.

Easy on the brakes

Although generally met, says Parsons, the brake monitoring seemed incompatible. “There were trips where I know I have not hard braking, but it showed that I’m not.” (Other times) I think I made them a little difficult, but I’m not sure whether she are registered. “Not really a big deal, at the end”, because he still got the discount.

“Linda FOSS,” a poster on SlashGear, had to brake issues. “I connected it to 2 days and was shocked by the number of brakes, hard it recorded,” she wrote. “Apparently they use your brakes my by ‘hard braking’.” I coast, most stops. But I tap the brakes from potholes and road patches the size of the Bremsschwellen. “I’m still hoping for a good discount, I will be going not much / far.”

Progressive, behind snapshot, say all the monitoring information, including statistics, braking is however exactly.

Snapshot in 39 States, with plans to offer it in more in the coming months currently is available, the company said. Here for a list of the participating States on progressive website.

Hutchinson establishes that has been the progressive fine-tuning the program for a few years; It is considered an improvement in the company’s MyRate program, which is a six-month registration may qualify for a discount.

“Snapshot easier to understand is as MyRate,” says Hutchinson. “We know from our research that this version will be more attractive because drivers, can… save money after 30 days” “Plus, only to us customers provide an overview of their drive for a contract, then they don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

These are just views on this and each of us has to decide what is right for us. Become a good driver and get good discount or you are a good driver and get you car insurance discount.

Compare auto insurance quotes here.

brandon roy : What happens if a car gets totaled in a test drive? Have you heard of any incident like this ?

Car insurance : Totaled on the test drive: Who pays?

Response : A very interesting question. Car insurance for that matter insurance is always interesting though most people think it is a very dry subject. Since it touches most aspect of human life, you hear of all sorts of interesting incidents of accidents and claims. Car insurance and car accidents are no different.

Yes, I know of such an incident. It was 2008 when three students — or maybe four — walked onto the lot at GRT Motors, a used-car dealership in the Atlanta area. Steve Lang, the owner, was there to greet them.

The kids liked a 1992 Mazda Protégé and wanted to take it for a spin. As he usually does, Lang copied their driver’s license information before handing them the keys so they could take it for a test drive. He didn’t ask for proof of their car insurance .

Not every dealer will let you take a test drive without accompanying you in the vehicle. But Lang does. “People can always take a vehicle nearby for an inspection if they wish. That’s how it works,” he says.

The kids drove it for nearly an hour — into the next county, says Lang. They liked the Protégé. They phoned from the road to say they wanted to buy it. But it turned out they’d been driving with the emergency brake engaged all that time.

When they returned to Lang’s lot, the brakes were gone. Right in front of his eyes, “they took a corner and they literally slid across the street into a bush.”

He pulled the car out of the weeds and got it back to the lot. Two of the quarter panels were scratched. The kids, undaunted, wanted to haggle over the price of the car. Since it was damaged, they reasoned, he should bring the price down some. Lang chased them away and chalked it up to the life of a car dealer.

He paid $150 to fix the scratches and replace the brake line, fluid and a caliper rather thansee his car insurance rates go up for filing an insurance claim.

Who pays?

Not every test-drive misadventure ends so well. But here’s the question: If Lang had made the claim, would his insurance have paid? If you’re out on a dealer test drive and you wreck the car — or even total it — who pays for the damage?

It sounds like a complicated problem, but it’s not. Here’s a rule of thumb on car insurance: The coverage usually goes with the vehicle..

Generally, the insurance belonging to the auto’s owner — car dealers keep what’s known as a “garage policy” — is ultimately responsible for the claim, says Bob Passmore, spokesman for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

That doesn’t mean you or your insurer won’t get stuck with the cost. It’s not unusual for a dealer to require you to sign a waiver before letting you drive one of his or her cars.

That’s because, while it’s not exactly common for someone to wreck a vehicle on a test drive, it’s hardly unheard of. An unfamiliar car, an implicit mission to test its limits: What could go wrong?

Waivers for test-drivers

Laws differ from state to state. In the states that allow it, the waiver asks you to agree that your insurance will be “primary.” If an accident happens, your insurance pays first.

Fred Buchi, a sales associate at Liberty Bay Auto, a used-car dealership in Poulsbo, Wash., says his company asks every customer to sign a waiver before test-driving a vehicle. “They sign a document showing that they have car insurance and that it would cover them on the test drive. If we didn’t do that, our insurance would be so expensive,” Buchi says.

Should you sign a waiver and wreck a test-driven car, “your liability coverage would pay for whatever you ran into with the dealer’s car,” up to your coverage limits, says CarInsurance.com consumer analyst Penny Gusner.

Suppose you have an old car and, in your quest for the cheapest car insurance , have just $10,000 of liability coverage and you crash into a Jaguar and total it, says Passmore. Your insurance would pay for the first $10,000 in repairs (or replacement cost.) After that, the dealer’s insurance pays.

Damage to the shiny car you wrecked would be covered by your insurer only if you carry collision coverage, and then probably only up to the actual cash value of the car you have insured, Gusner says. If you have a Civic and are test-driving a Lamborghini, you might have a problem.

The Craigslist scenario

What if the car you’re driving belongs to a private party — say, someone who advertised a car for sale on Craigslist? Suppose you’re out for a test drive and run the car into a tree. Now what?

Generally, the seller’s insurance is responsible if that happens, says Passmore.

That’s why, when you sell a car, you’d be smart to keep it insured. It’s tempting, if you’re not driving it, to let the coverage lapse and save money. But not only could someone hit it while it’s parked on the street, you also might need that insurance if a potential buyer bangs it up on the test drive.

Also, cautions Passmore, “Don’t cancel the liability coverage if you’re going to be operating it at all or letting someone test-drive it.”

That’s because, basically, “when you give somebody your keys, you give them your insurance,” Passmore says.

Yes. the key is always have your car insurance or insurance coverage on especially a car at all times- infact it would not hurt even when you are borrowing or renting a vehicle to find out about the car insurance on the vehicle.

Stay informed and get your cheap teen auto insurance quote here- now.

Called In-Drive, the voluntary program is similar to Progressive’s Snapshot . You stick a device in the vehicle’s diagnostic port, usually under the steering wheel (most vehicles from 1996 on have this), and State Farm monitors your driving habits. Participants could qualify for discounts up to 50 percent on their auto insurance premiums if the data shows what good drivers they are, says Kip Diggs, spokesperson for State Farm.

So, what does In-Drive track? How far you drive and when, how fast you accelerate and turn, and how hard you brake.

In other words, pretty much the same criteria used by Snapshot, which Progressive says can reel in up to a 30percent discount if the motorist is top-notch and doesn’t drive too much or during high-accident hours (the worst, the so-called “vampire hours,” are from midnight to 4 a.m.).

Missy Lundberg, a State Farm spokesperson, says that participants will immediately receive about a 10 percent discount on premiums for liability, medical payments, collision and comprehensive coverage. She added that up to a further 20 percent could be trimmed if you don’t go above the national average of 12,000 miles a year.

Additional discounts would come over time, depending on how safely you drive and when you drive. Customers can track their performance, and the progress of discounts, at State Farm’s website. Progressive’s Snapshot users can do the same.

The OnStar connection

One of the big differences between these insurance giants’ usage-based programs is that Progressive’s Snapshot is just that, a temporary peek at your driving habits used as the basis to calculate your rates. After six months, you unplug the device and ship it back.

State Farm takes the game a step further by wrapping In-Drive inside OnStar, the popular onboard telematics device until now found mainly on General Motors cars. OnStar provides one-touch emergency response, roadside assistance, help locating a stolen vehicle, vehicle diagnostics alerts and maintenance reminders, and family-friendly features like mapping and speed alerts.

“This combined offering represents a first in our industry,” says Mike Wey, State Farm’s senior vice president. “It will provide … for a smarter vehicle and even smarter driver.”

The OnStar/In-Drive combination reports data for as long as the motorist chooses to have the program on his teen auto insurance policy , allowing State Farm a longer-term look at a driver’s habits.

In-Drive is currently offered only in Illinois, but Diggs says more states will be added next year. The insurer plans to announce exactly which states in the coming months.

Despite the discount promise, the devices do come with a price tag, mostly for the OnStar service. Diggs says the package is free for the first six months after a $10 activation fee. After that, there’s a $5 to $15 monthly charge, depending on the extent of the OnStar service.

If you were to buy OnStar separately, General Motors and Best Buy offer a stand-alone unit that costs $300 plus $75 for installation and $199 for an annual subscription.

Discounts versus privacy

Some wonder what State Farm and Progressive will do with the information gathered in pursuit of discounts — and worry that privacy could be compromised if the information is passed around.

“I’d probably go for it, but I’m a very careful driver,” says Jessica Ruiz, who is insured by another carrier but might give State Farm a look because of In-Drive. “I imagine I’d qualify, but it makes you feel uncomfortable that they are creating a file on you. … Doesn’t everyone know too much about us already?”

Another motorist, David Sanderson, was also concerned about In-Drive’s intrusiveness. But he, too, loved the possibility of a discount and the OnStar advantage. “I’m sort of feeling like giving up (on the privacy issue) because it just seems hopeless for the consumer,” he says. “I’ve already looked into (Snapshot) and will probably look into this one (In-Drive) as well.”

For privacy details, State Farm representatives point you to the company website, which says the insurer “may share policyholder information as required or permitted by law and as stated in the State Farm Privacy Policy, as amended from time to time. State Farm will not sell your information to a third party.”

Marc Rotenberg, the executive director for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), says his group hasn’t investigated programs such as In-Drive or Snapshot in great detail, but red flags go up whenever information on consumers is compiled.

“We’d be concerned that (gathered information) could be shared with third parties” that could compromise the driver, Rotenberg says.

Sharon Goott Nissim, EPIC’s consumer privacy counsel, was more specific, saying that the information could be used in advertising targeted at consumers or shared with the police in driving-related investigations, especially those involving accidents.

“There is the question of how this collected data is retained,” she explains. “We don’t know how the company is dealing with this data — they could be turning the data into your (driving) score and then discarding the raw data as they use it to update the score.

“However, they could also be retaining the data,” Goott Nissim says. “They could be disclosing the data to commercial partners, particularly locational data, which is very valuable to advertisers. Also, law enforcement may seek out data — and insurance companies may be willing” to give it.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author Kamlesh.

Get your cheap teen auto insurance quote here.