johnny knox : I am worried about my 16 year old son behind the wheel. Getting cheap car insurance is one thing, but I do not want him to become a crash test dummy. Yes, more anxious about this since I work for Highway safety and the crash test dummy team.

How to avoid letting your teen driver become a crash test dummy?

Response : Hey, Johnny, you I think are in a better position to guide your son and us all for this. Teen safety is very important – more than getting cheap teen auto insurance. Here are some clues- will appreciate if you would add your own points to them.

The first 30 days solo behind the wheel are the most dangerous for teen drivers, who are 50 percent more likely to crash during that time than they are after a year of experience on the road, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

They’re also twice as likely to get into a wreck in that first month as they are after two years of driving on their own, the study says. The most common mistakes causing an accident during the first month in which teens were at least partially responsible include speeding, not paying attention and failure to yield.

Teen drivers are inexperienced, which often equates to high teen car insurance rates or young drivers car insurance for parents. But fortunately, teens learn fast.

The AAA study analyzed specific types of collisions in relation to how long the driver had been licensed and found that some types of crashes significantly decreased as experience increased. For instance, wrecks involving left-hand turns were common during the first few months, but declined almost immediately thereafter, according to the study.

“We know that young drivers’ crash rates decrease quickly as they gain experience. What our new study tells us is that there are a few specific abilities that we could do a better job of helping teens develop before they begin driving independently,” Peter Kissinger, AAA Foundation president and CEO, said in a statement.

Car accidents are the leading cause of death among teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths for this demographic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Teen Driver Safety Week kicks off this week, with the theme this year focusing on ways to help parents teach their teens to drive.

“This research serves as a great reminder for parents to stay involved in the learning process even after the law allows teens to drive without a parent in the car,” Kissinger said in a statement. “Continued parent engagement can help teens gain needed driving experience and shape their habits for a lifetime of safe driving.”

There are a few tips parents can use to help inexperience teen drivers stay safe, says Bill Wade, national program manager of Street Survival, a group that teaches teen driving safety. Tips you can use include:

Limiting the number of passengers your teen is allowed to have in the carContinuing to chaperone practice driving sessionsInstructing your teen to wear a safety belt Prohibiting your teen from driving at night

Many states already set limits on new teen drivers by enacting graduated driver’s license rules that include curfews and passenger limits, Wade says. However, parents still need to be vigilant. 

“For a 16-year-old driver, the incident rate goes up 35 [percent] when there’s another 16-year-old in the car, and when there are two passengers that age, it goes up 70 percent, so things like limiting passengers, these things are important,” says Wade. “These kids are not drinking, they’re not necessarily doing anything wrong, they’re just 16-year-olds driving.”

Johnny, your views would be appreciated.

Thanks and do not forget to get your cheap teen auto insurance quote here.

bob sanders : Friends are great but when they are driving your car and crash, it becomes a big deal. What should you do?

Punching someone in the pocketbook can cause more pain than spreading nasty rumors or posting a mean Facebook message. A bad “friend” who crashes your car can affect your finances for years: Auto insurance follows the car, not the driver. And if your so-called friend is uninsured and you have low auto insurance liability limits, you’re both in hot water.

“If you lend someone your keys, you’re lending your insurance, too,” explained Robert Passmore, senior director of personal lines at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an industry trade group.

Here’s how a friend can wreck car insurance havoc.

Scenario No. 1: Your friend crashes your car, and you both have low liability limits.

Let’s say you loan your car to a friend and he crashes it, causing an accident with another vehicle. Both you and your friend have auto insurance with low liability limits. The accident exhausts the liability limits on both policies.

Once this happens, the person who was hit can sue you for medical or property-damage bills that weren’t covered by insurance.

For repairs to your own car, you’ll have to use your collision insurance (if you have it). But you’ll have to pay your deductible on a collision claim, which can be costly.

Your friend may be found to have partial liability for the accident damages, but “states and insurers have different rules for deciding partial liability,” said Passmore. “You’re lending your friend a major asset. You should be cautious.”

Scenario No. 2: Your uninsured friend crashes your car, and you have low liability limits.

This is the worst-case scenario. Your own auto insurance limits will be exhausted, and then the liability shifts to your friend — but you can both be sued.

“Attorneys are looking for liable parties,” warned Michael Barry, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. He adds that when there’s bodily injury to someone else, your exposure for having loaned your car dramatically increases. “It can be open-ended,” said Barry.

And to top it off, your car insurance rates could go up as a result of the claim, depending on your recent claims history.

Scenario No. 3: Your friend crashes your car, and you both have high insurance limits.

This is the best scenario because all damages are likely to be covered, but your insurance limits are still exhausted before your friend’s policy is tapped. As in the first scenario, you’ll have to pay your deductible for any collision claim for repairs to your own car.

In the final analysis, the best strategy is to guard your car like you’d guard your money: Loan it sparingly, and don’t always expect to get it back.

You need to make sure that you must have the optimum car insurance coverage and limits so that you would not have any issues with being underinsured if an accident happens. Check out our post on limits of liability at  the blog teenautoinsquote and we will fill you in up with lots of more information on getting teen auto insurance and information on insurance. For sure, managing risk is equally important and is money in your pocket- since it prevents money going out!! Save on teen auto insurance or car insurance.

Keep in mind when your child began to do his first walk? As much as you feel happy, is it also a feeling which is worried about that he suddenly, you could stumble, that he may be out of balance and hit something. They were there to watch over, but let your baby get up and some steps on his own.

Now, since several years are gone by, you somehow that just feel now that he go to his own car. But this time, you have still something add, your worry and that is your con / daughter car insurance rate.

In fact cost teenage guidelines more than people, 25 years old are, and. Due to its statistically proven high rate of crashes get young people high premium prices. This you can not make now, much to know that parents do something about it, can. It is possible to get a lower price.

How, what before a baby, try that as your child, walking on his own, you must be your young people now that both enjoy the less and less auto insurance premium.

You first connect to your child, that his permission, which you can take with you if it will drive an earlier issue than a help. You must have teen, which also you know how much of your family budget goes to pay his insurance. When your teen know that his trip can heavy amount he/she motivated, do something to pull the rate down.

Make sure that a good example for your teen. Drive safely and you should also know your state rules go. As far as possible with your child, which would in programs such as Schloss driver licenses, your teen premium will contribute.  Encourage to participate in your teen in certain community organization will help.

Nothing beats the premium rate, a clean driving record in reducing. You understand your teen on careful measures not tired, and safe driving techniques to remember.

The type of car that youthful drive you also arrives. Expensive cars, SUVs, give your teen high performance cars or sports cars helps not with your goal. Do offer that your teenager instead of safer journeys with safety devices installed and this insurance will pull in any case your teen car.

Support your teen, good to do, in the academic world also helps. The most car insurance companies offer discounts if policyholders 3.0 or higher GPA has their students. An honor student or dean’s list will consider also such reward.

View the original article here

Teen auto insurance rates soar- drowsy driving

Drowsy when driving? Be attentive otherwise teen auto insurance rates would soar.

Recent study has revealed that teenagers In a recent study, it has been revealed that teenagers crashing while driving are affected by the timing of their school and the amount of sleep they get. It is common that teenagers who are not getting enough sleep are more likely to meet with accidents since they are either working late hours or partying at late hours.

The reason for the varied crash rates as cited by Verona is that the students starting late for schools are more active as they get more time to sleep. As per the studies teenagers need a sleep of at least 8- 9 hours. Those who do not sleep enough face problems in staying alert and this may be the reason for the crashes.

Simply, a tired driver is a dangerous driver. Sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases aggressiveness. This does not yet include the warnings on driving under influence or intoxicated or drugs. You need to know that, just like driving drunk or drugged, drowsy driving causes you to make mistakes behind the wheel — mistakes that can injure or kill the driver, passengers or total strangers. The end result is obvious to all, it leads to accidents, and ofcourse teen auto insurance rates would soar.

Get your cheap teen auto insurance rates here.

Studies on drowsy driving and teen auto insurance quotes

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsiness or fatigue is the principal cause of up to 100,000 police-reported passenger vehicle crashes every year, killing at least 1,500 people and injuring 71,000. Many more fatigue-related crashes go unreported. But don’t blame it on the long-haul truckers: Less than 1 percent of all sleep-related crashes involve truck drivers, who are prohibited, by federal regulation, from driving more than 10 hours in a 24-hour period.

In 2003, New Jersey passed Maggie’s Law, named after a 20-year-old college student killed by a drowsy driver. The law states that a sleep-deprived driver qualifies as a reckless driver who can be convicted of vehicular homicide and serve jail time. While most states don’t have such a law on the books, the dangers of drowsy driving are now getting more attention.

These are just a few examples from the endless list of how drowsy driving is jepodising teen safety, leading to high auto insurance claims with the ultimate results of getting your teen get caught in the high teen auto insurance rates.

Check out the Insurance Forum to get answers to any querries you have or leave a comment on the blog and we will include your answer alongwith your name as a post besides answering you personally vide your email.

What are the causes of drowsy driving, know them, get your cheap teen auto insurance quote

This information is from a recent NHTSA study showed that 20 percent of crashes and 12 percent of near-crashes were caused by drowsy drivers, said Dr. Charlie Klauer, the study’s project manager and a senior research associate at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

How did the researchers determine a driver was drowsy? Each of 100 vehicles was outfitted with five cameras that linked to computers to record driver action and reaction. NHTSA monitored the drivers for more than one year and nearly 2 million miles of driving. Researchers determined that the drivers were drowsy if their eyes closed for longer than a blink, or if their heads bobbed forward and then bolted back upright. Also making the cut were drivers who didn’t move at all, staring fixedly ahead instead of reacting to oncoming traffic or checking the rearview or sideview mirrors.

Interesting results :
Surprisingly, the study showed that the majority of crashes and near-crashes occur during daytime hours, when roads are more crowded, rather than at night. But sleep-related accidents at night tend to be more serious because they are more likely to occur on high-speed highways and rural roads, when the driver is alone.

Among the groups studied, all the age groups had the same percentage of drowsy-driving crashes and near-crashes, except for one. “The 18-20 age group was involved in five times more fatigue-related accidents and near-accidents than any other group,” she said, due to inexperience behind the wheel and irregular sleep habits.

It’s not just age, it’s work schedule. An AAA Foundation study, based on interviews with drivers after crashes, indicated that drowsy drivers were nearly twice as likely to work at more than one job and their primary job was much more likely to involve non-standard hours. Working the night shift increased the odds of a sleep-related accident by nearly six times.

The other main cause of drowsy accidents is because of long hours of commuting. The higher the commuting time the increasing the number of drowsy-driving incidents.

Allergy, cold and flu medicines
Dr. Joel Zive, an independent pharmacist in Bronx, New York, and a spokesman for the American Pharmacists Association, cautions consumers to read their medication labels for a warning about ingredients that cause drowsiness — or ask the pharmacist. Many drivers still don’t realize that legal, over-the-counter treatments for allergies, cold and flu can cause significant sleepiness at the wheel.

For example, the antihistamines Dipenhydramine (in Benadryl), Clorpheniramine (in Clor-Trimeton) and Brompheniramine (in Diamatine) can cause drowsiness. But, the so-called second-generation antihistamines Fexofenadine (in Allegra), Loratadine (in Claritin and Alavert) and Cetirizine (in Zyrtec) are non-sedating and do not cause impairment under normal circumstances, Dr. Zive said.

How to check for signs for drwowsy driving to avoid accidents and teen auto insurance quotes to soar?

You can’t remember the last few miles driven.
You hit a rumble strip or drift from your lane.
You keep pulling your vehicle back into the lane.
Your thoughts are wandering and disconnected.
You yawn repeatedly.
You have difficulty focusing or keeping your eyes open and your head up.
You tailgate or miss traffic signs.
You have narrowly missed crashing.

< h2> Most important for teen safety and getting cheap car insurance- how to prevent falling asleep at the wheel
Here are the top 10 things to do to avoid falling asleep at the wheel, from the AAA Foundation and the University of Iowa:

1. Stop driving if you feel sleepy. Stop and drink a caffeinated beverage.
2. Since it takes about 30 minutes for caffeine to enter the bloodstream and take effect, use that time to take a nap.
3. Get plenty of sleep the night before taking a long trip — at least six hours, though more is better.
4. Don’t plan to work all day and then drive all night.
5. Drive at times when you are normally awake, and stay overnight in a hotel or motel rather than driving straight through.
6. Avoid driving at so-called sleepy times of day. Take a midafternoon break for a short nap and find a place to sleep between midnight and dawn. If you can’t nap, at least stop your drive and rest for awhile.
7. Avoid carbohydrate-laden foods that can make you sleepy, in favor of protein-laden foods.
8. Avoid allergy and cold or flu medications containing Diphenhydramine, such as Benadryl, which can contribute to drowsiness. And don’t take prescribed sleep aids, such as Ambien, until you are finished driving for the day.
9. On long trips, keep an awake passenger in the front seat. Increasing the volume on the car stereo is not a substitute for somebody you can talk to.
10. Take a break every two hours or every 100-120 miles, even if you don’t need a pit stop or gas. Get out of the car, take some deep breaths and do some stretching exercises, especially neck and shoulders, to relieve cramping and stress. And try to set a limit of 300-400 miles of driving per day.
When to take a break
In 2004, an AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey found that nine out of every 10 North American police officers had stopped a driver who they believed was drunk, but turned out to be drowsy instead. Johns Hopkins Medical Center says drivers should be aware of these warning signs:

Teen auto insurance and teen safety

AnikSingnal :

Is October a dangerous month for teen safety and teen auto insurance quotes?

Teen auto insurance quotes and teen safey, it really matters

It is no secret that auto accidents or car insurance claims are directly related to teen safety andteen auto insurance rates. The higher the number of accidents, the higher the cost to the insurance company and the higher would be the cost of teen auto insurance. Auto insurance companies are continuously conducted surveys and examining the data to find out more details on the crashes, so that they can have the correct auto insurance rates assigned to the exposure. The recent data from State Farm claims that October remains the most dangerous month of the year for teen safety and teen accidents are higher in this month. According to claims data spanning the last seven years, the highest number of injury or collision claims filed by 16- and 17-year-old drivers continues to hit a high point in October, spiking by about 15 percent when compared to other months of the year. State- Farm has been evaluating this data continuously each year from 2003 onwards

Why is October a dangerous month for high rise in accidents and surge in teen auto insurance rates?

The high rise in the teen auto accidents and increase in teen auto insurance rates is mainly because the teen drivers 16-17 years old have just started school and the weather conditions do also change in October. However, the fact has been revealed in the survey that the real cause of higher teen auto accidents are that the teens are in conflict. The teens are lacking the awareness and skills of driving and are really nervous. The teens are upset and scared to get involved in an accident and this was revealed by 70% of the teens participating in the survey. Besides this more than 50% agreed to distracted driving.

There is no specific clue on which you can arrive at a conclusion as to why October is the month when the teen auto accidents are higher and teen safety becomes an issue. However, some the reasons for this is because September when school starts the students and teens are precautious in the initial stage, however when October starts it is possible that they are not as attentive on the road as desired. Secondly, they indulge in distracted driving since to them their friends and responding to their friend is very important, hence they do not realize the dangerous of distracted driving.

How can you help reduce teen auto accidents and get cheap teen auto insurance?

As parents you need to guide teens and explain to them the dangerous of distracted driving. It is best to talk to your teens as often as possible about driving safety and tips. Demonstrate to them the driving safety when you are driving your vehicle and they are with you.

It would be a good idea to make them responsible for their own auto insurance payment. This way they would be more responsible when they realize that a single accident can shoot up their teen auto insurance premium through the roof. They would start taking all measures to remain accident free. You would be surprised that they would start taking a keen interest in safety driving lessons, or any online information that they can find. This would help them to get a good driving history which is a pass for cheap teen auto insurance quotes.

Get your teen auto insurance quote now, since comparing teen auto insurance quotes is the second most beneficial way to get cheap teen auto insurance quotes.