Drivers Seat

Head-on collision leaves families grieving

2008-11-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

Steve Augello is the kind of dad who insisted his daughter call him whenever she left a place and again when she arrived. He’s the kind of dad who had the text messages “Where are you?” and “Call me when you get this message” saved as templates in his cell phone.
So on Monday night, Allie, 17, called to say she was leaving play practice at Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School to head home. Steve knew the trip should have taken 15 to 18 minutes.
She never arrived...

This is another case of two of Tampa Teen Drivers that have been killed in a car accident. We don't know what really happned yet. Where one of the drivers driving to fast? Where they distracted, talking on there phone, texting one of their friends? Are you concerned about your own children?

We at Most Insurance have a lot of tools to help you protect your children please, please, please go read our free reports, and ask for our information that we provide you to help protect your kids. Also take a look at the Teen Driver GPS monitoring system.

Here is a link to the rest of the article written by Molly Moorhead.

ftp://mostftp.gotdns.com/Head-ONCollision.pdf

Tears for My Friends

2008-09-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

Tears for My Friends
By Debbye Butler

I have a friend named Jeannette. She had a daughter and a son, until October 1986. Her daughter tested the odds of the effects of alcohol on her motor skills and judgment versus her knowledge about the roads with which she was so familiar.

The alcohol won.

Cindy never saw her 21st birthday. Jeannette, however, has to live through every one of her daughter’s candles-and-cake days — wondering what her daughter would look like now and what she would be doing with her promising life.

I have another buddy. His name is Bill. He is a devoted family man, and until a dreaded October night in 1992, he had two sons and a daughter. Now he has one son, one daughter, and 17 years of memories of a child who will never grow older. Bill, too, had to live the worst parental nightmare possible — a tired teenager with a set of car keys, a can of beer, and an invincible attitude on a late weekend night.

Both of my friends are incredibly loving people and responsible parents. They were looking forward to graduations, a son- or daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. But they have been cheated out of some of the best and most meaningful adventures in life, and nothing or no one can change that cruel, crushing reality.

Maybe you know someone who has lost a son or daughter because of this deadly combination. Maybe it’s a neighbor. Maybe it’s a friend. Maybe it’s someone in your own family. Maybe the children’s deaths were caused by another person who was driving while intoxicated.

It’s hard for me to believe I would ever have personally known one family — much less two — that would have to live through this gnawing, once-it-happens-it-never-goes-away pain. And it’s even more difficult to know what to say to them. Hugs help. But they’ll never replace the hugs from the children who are gone because of alcohol.

When Bill was saying goodbye to his son during the funeral, he did the most loving, courageous thing that any parent could do in a situation like this. With a lump in his throat that must have felt like the size of a softball, he looked out at the stunned young faces of his son’s high school friends. He said he never wanted to have to come to a funeral for this reason again. He said, “Don’t drink and drive.”

Bill told me later he hoped he didn’t sound like he was preaching. Well … I hope he did. I hope everyone listened. And I hope everyone remembers.

© Debbye Butler. Used with author’s permission. May not be reproduced in any fashion without author’s express permission. Debbye Butler is a freelance writer based in Indianapolis, Ind.

'All I Have Is Photos - And Memories,' Crash Victim's Mom Says

2008-08-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

Monday morning was another tragic day for Tampa Bay Familes, When two seperate Accidents invovling Teen Drivers have left Three Dead. It pains me as I read the paper this morning about two seperate accidents, which could have been advoided.

In the first accident: A 15 year old was driving at 12:10 in the morning, and None of the teens had on seat belts, troopers said.

The second accident a 19 year old who was under the influence struck a pole at 4:30am. Three people were ejected from the car and one was trapped in the rear seat.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/04/2-teen-drivers-die-plant-city-wreck/?news-metro

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/04/dui-charged-crash-left-1-life-support/

Why Insurance Rates for Teens Are So High?

2008-08-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

By Eric Most, Charter member of the Society of Family Insurance Specialists

As an insurance agent, this is probably one of the most frustrating responses I get from parents who are adding their teen to their car insurance. I understand this frustration and after I explain the reasons, they usually respond with “But, my teen is a good driver…”
That may be true and you’ve probably spent countless hours helping your teen become a safer driver. If you have, then you should be glad that the chances of your teen getting into an accident will be less likely than most teens on the road. But let me emphasize… Less Likely Than Other Teens… not experienced drivers.
It takes thousands of hours behind the wheel to get the experience to avoid accidents and become the safest of drivers. And this can take years. Here’s a statistic to prove this point.
The crash rate for 16 year olds is nearly 3 times higher than 19 years and nearly 6 times higher than drivers 20 to 24 years old.
Unfortunately, you are going to have to pay high rates for your teen to drive. But, you can take steps to avoid paying the highest rates and keep them down.
Step One- Use an insurance agent that specializes in insuring teen drivers. Family Insurance Specialists represent companies that offer good rates but most importantly offer quality insurance protection that can help you avoid paying out of your own pocket for an accident if your teen causes an accident.
Step Two- Make sure you are getting every discount you deserve. Available discounts may include safe driver, claims-free, good grades, multiple policies with the same company, and in some states you can qualify for a lower rate by keeping a good credit rating.
Step Three- Buy a safe, older, lower profile vehicle for your teen to drive. Make sure it has airbags and anti-lock brakes and is not considered a dangerous vehicle. Your Family Insurance Specialist can help you decide which vehicles are least expensive to insure.
Step Four- Increase your deductibles or drop the collision on older vehicles. If your teen is driving an older, less expensive car, you can “self insure” the car. That means of course, if something happens, you’ll have to pay for the damages to your car, but it can save you a lot of money- nearly 1/3 to 1/2!
Step Five- Get a Teen Driver Monitoring Device installed in your teen’s car. In some states, some insurance companies offer special discounts for these systems. The greatest advantage of these systems is that this will most likely prevent your teen from speeding. Speeding tickets can greatly increase your insurance rates and jeopardize your insurance coverage. Insurance companies know that if a teen driver gets a speeding ticket, the likelihood of an accident in the near future is great. You could get cancelled and it may be more difficult to get another insurance company to pick you up.
To learn more about how you can get the right protection for your teen driver, find out other ways you can save on your car insurance, and keep your teen driver safe feel free to visit my we site at www.teendriverinsurance.com/most

Tampa Bay named #1 deadliest Metro Area of the America for Teens

2008-07-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

I just got done reading an article which named Tampa Bay as the #1 deadliest metro area in the country for teen drivers, followed up by Orlando, and Jacksonville. Here is a link to the story.

It would seem that my link is not wanting to work so please copy and paste this url in your browser.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/autos/article615027.ece

Study Explains the Staggering Cost of Insuring Teen Drivers

2008-07-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

Ask any parent who has just added a kid to the family's insurance policy and they'll tell you how expensive it is to have a teen behind the wheel. But the overall cost of teen driving is as tragic as it is staggering.

According to a recent report from AAA, car accidents involving drivers 15 to 17 cost society more than $34 billion in medical expenses, property damage and related costs in 2006. AAA also reports, in 2006 drivers ages 15 to 17 were involved in approximately 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541. Here are more sobering statistics:

According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens, accounting for 36 percent of all deaths in this age group.

The risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to 19-year-olds than among any other age group, and per-miles-driven teens ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Risk is highest at age 16, and the crash rate per miles driven is twice as high for 16 year olds as it is for 18 and 19 year olds, according to the IIHS. IIHS statistics show that 16- and 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger.

Parents can reduce the high cost of insuring their teen drivers. There are special discounts that can really make a big difference in how much you will have to pay for your teen to drive. Some of these discounts include:

-Good Student- If you teen driver has a "B" average or better, you can save up to 10%
-Multi-policy- If you insure your home and cars with the same company, you can save up to 15% on both policies

-GPS Teen Driver Monitoring System- There is one company that offers a 15% discount for installing this unit in the teen driver's car
Safe Driver- If your family has a clean driving and claims record, you can save up to 15%

-Good credit- Some companies reward responsible customers based on their credit. This can be very significant and can save you as much as 35%.

The bottom line is that the most responsible families will pay the lowest premium. Stress to your teen that avoiding tickets and accidents is most critical to not only keeping your insurance rates down, but of course, assure the safety of your teen driver and others.

You can learn more about ways to save on your insurance and how you can keep your teen safe by visiting my website at www.teendriverinsurance.com/most.

Wishing you and your family the best in health, happiness and prosperity.

Eric

5 Common Deadly Mistakes Teen Drivers Make

2008-07-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

This is an article my friend, Officer Jim Poer wrote on teen driver safety. I thought you should read it…

The hardest part of my job is having to knock on a parent's door to deliver the worst news they could ever get. After 30 years of investigating accidents, this is the part of my job I wish I never had to do. That is why I am committed to helping you make your teen a safer driver.

This month, I want to share with you the 5 most common mistakes that lead to teen driver accidents and fatalities.

Mistake #1- Speeding. There is a multiplier effect when it comes to speed. The faster you go, the amount of time required to stop is multiplied and at higher speeds, the time required to stop is greatly increased.

Kids don't understand this, the physics side of driving that is. They assume they can stop when they want and unfortunately they don't get this knowledge from their driver's education class.

Speed also leads to other common mistakes such as the second most common mistake.

Mistake #2- Over-Correcting. When a teen driver gets into a situation where they need to correct the direction of the vehicle, they often times, over-correct causing loss of control. When you add speed to this effect, the reaction is almost always an over correction that can't be brought back under control.

Mistake #3- Distractions. This is the subject of my latest blog and you can read more on this at http://www.parentalcourage.com/ The problem these days is that kids have way too many things in their cars to distract them. Cell phones, mp-3 players, and text messaging, to name a few. But the biggest distraction is usually other kids in the car.

Mistake #4- Following too close. Just as I described in Mistake #1, when a vehicle is following too close at a high rate of speed, the ability to avoid a collision is reduced to almost nothing if that vehicle's driver decides to suddenly stop.

Mistake #5- Failure to Yield. Many accidents occur when a teen driver fails to yield to another driver when the other driver legally has the right of way. Failing to check for other vehicles in the blind spot, or not accurately estimating the closing rate of another vehicle are also very common problems.

Sincerely,
Master Police Officer III James Poer

Officer Poer is a 30 year veteran accident investigator with the High Point Police Department. He is also a parent of 4 drivers. His experience, conviction, and advice is demonstrated on his website- www.parentalcourage.com. Please visit his site often and remain vigilant on your teen driver’s safety!

In my next posting, I will share with you what Officer Poer says on How to Prevent Your Teen From Making These Mistakes!

You can also learn more at my website www.teendriverinsurance.com/most.

Wishing you and your family the best in health, happiness and prosperity!
Eric

News Alert! Free Installation of GPS Teen Driver Monitoring System

2008-07-17T00:03:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I just received some exciting news from one of our insurance companies, Safeco. This company has been on the leading edge of teen driver safety and working to reduce the number of accidents involving teen drivers.

Last summer, they launched a new system called Teensurance to help their customers keep their kids safe. This is a GPS based system that is installed in the teen's car and alerts parents of dangerous behaviors such as speeding, driving beyond an allowed territory and breaking curfew.

Well, Safeco just announced that they are now offering this system to any parent that wants to get this system installed in their kid's vehicle. They will pay for the installation and the unit if the parent agrees to a 2 year contract. Similar systems can cost as much as $800.

There is a $14.99 per month monitoring fee which gives the parent website access to create and adjust the parameters for the alerts, view the location of the vehicle and it will even allow you to un-lock the car doors in case your teen gets locked out.

Along with the GPS system comes roadside assistance and other teen driver safety tools.
If you would like more information, visit my website www.teendriverinsurance.com/most or call my office at 813-979-4854.

Eric

PS Safeco is offering a 15% discount for anyone that is a Safeco customer or that becomes a customer. This 15% discount, in most cases, will pay for the monitoring fee just from the savings on their insurance. Call my office to become a Safeco customer and take advantage of this big discount. Considering the high rates for teen drivers, this could really be significant.

"Trunking"- The Latest Danger to Teens

2008-07-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought you've heard it all...

As I was doing my research for this month's issue of my Driver’s Seat e-newsletter, I came across an article about the latest killer of teens.

We all know that car accidents are the number one killer of teens in the US. Now there is a trend going across the country that is adding to the danger of a teen behind the wheel and it's referred to as "Trunking".

As a teen, I remember hearing about kids in school that would climb into a trunk to sneak into a drive-in movie. Of course, I would never partake in such an act. But today, now that the drive-in movie is obsolete, there's another reason why kids are doing this.

Almost every state in the country now has laws limiting the number of passengers during the first few years of a teen driver's experience. These laws were passed to reduce the distractions in the car that have been proven to cause so many accidents. In order to circumvent these laws, kids are now packing themselves in the trunk of the car to be able to go with their friends. The worst part is that they will stay in the trunk while being driven all over town and even beyond.

The dangers are obvious to us and include suffocation, carbon monoxide poisoning, heat exposure, freezing, being crushed or thrown out of the car as a result of an accident. You can just imagine how dangerous this could be for your child.

So what do you do? First explain the dangers and then define the consequences/punishment of this type of action. If your child is guilty, take away driving privileges and inform all the involved kids' parents of the act. You'll also want to pass this article on to other parents, just to let them know what kids are up to these days, so they can proactively counsel against it.

To sign up for a free subscription to my e-newletter, Driver’s Seat, visit my website at www.teendriverinsurance.com/most register for VIP Access. You’ll also be able to learn more about you can best protect your family.