Head-on Collision Leaves Families Grieving

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 Bill Gough's All American Agency 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.

Here is a link to the rest of the article written by Molly Moorhead.ftp://mostftp.gotdns.com/Head-ONCollision.pdf

Teens and Cell Phones

People don't want to be inaccessible for even 15 minutes driving up the street," said Harrison, 19, a sophomore at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. "They're so used to being accessible all the time.

"Targeting inexperienced motorists, several states have passed laws during the past five years restricting cell phone use by teenage drivers.

But a recently released insurance industry study looked at whether teens are ignoring such restrictions contends enforcement and parental influence are just as important as new laws. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied specific state laws which fine motorists under age 18 who are caught using a cell phone.

Researchers who watched as high school students left school found that teenage drivers used their cell phones at about the same rate both before and after the laws took effect.

"Cell phone bans for teen drivers are difficult to enforce," said Anne McCartt, the institute's senior vice president for research and an author of the study. "Drivers with phones to their ears aren't hard to spot, but it's nearly impossible for police officers to see hands free devices or correctly guess how old drivers are."

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, according to the government's auto safety agency, and teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers.

The institute says 17 states and the District of Columbia have cell phone restrictions in licensing requirements for teen drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board in 2003 recommended that states limit or bar young drivers from using cell phones, leading many states to act.

Harrison, who serves with Students Against Destructive Decisions, an advocacy group focused on highway safety issues, said few of her friends know about laws banning cell phone use by novice drivers.

Bill Bronrott, a Maryland state delegate who sponsored a successful bill in 2005 prohibiting rookie drivers under 18 from using cell phones, except to make 911 emergency calls, said a "combination of education and enforcement" was critical. So, too, parental involvement. Added Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association: "What these kinds of laws do is send the message to the parent more than anything else."

In the North Carolina study, researchers found that 11 percent of teenage drivers observed departing 25 high schools during the two months before the ban took effect were using cell phones. About five months after the ban took effect, during the spring of 2007, nearly 12 percent were observed using phones.

In the North Carolina phone survey, 95 percent of parents and 74 percent of teenagers supported the restriction. But 71 percent of teens and 60 percent of parents felt that enforcement was rare or nonexistent.

In North Carolina, 37 citations were issued in 2007 by the state highway patrol to teens using a cell phone while operating a vehicle. Twenty-eight citations have been issued in 2008.

Selena Childs, executive director of the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, said in an e-mail that with many child safety laws in the state, "knowing that it's against the law is enough for many people to choose to comply with a law."

Childs said the state's driver's license system for young drivers has been effective "not so much because of law enforcement/citations, but because parents and teens self-enforce the law, resulting in reduced crashes."

Matt Sundeen, a transportation analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said many state laws on cell phones are new, making it difficult to assess their impact. He said more states are considering similar restrictions.

The institute conducted two separate telephone surveys: the first, before the cell phone restriction took effect, was in November 2006 and involved 400 pairs of parents and teenagers; the second, after the law had taken effect, was in April 2007 and involved a different sample of 401 pairs of parents and teenagers. Each survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Teen Drivers at Risk

I came across this article today and thought I would share it with you. This article is from a journalist that is adament about making people aware of the growing problem of teen driver deaths in this country.

Teen driver deaths and injuries litter our country's automotive landscape like a junkyard of wasted lives. No driver safety problem plagues us more than this one. Too many young drivers are dying. In spite of the safety advances of the last few decades -- seatbelts, airbags, improved crash standards -- teen driver death rates remain unacceptably high.

What can be done?

We find no automotive-related topic more pressing, no need more urgent. We intend to lay it bare, folks, to get at the root of this problem.

The teen driving crisis goes beyond our interest in accident rates and fatalities and runs to the very core of American identity. Since the post-World War II boom, we've flooded our freeways with metal, crowded them with chrome. Mobility -- that magic elixir of freedom, spiked with gasoline, peppered with burnt rubber -- defines Americans not only to ourselves but to the rest of the world.

It is in those communities, in those families, that the phone call comes one night, against all logic and all hope: a child has died behind the wheel of a car. In smaller communities, an officer might come to the house, hat in hand, knocking on the screen door on an otherwise peaceful evening.

This call frequently occurs in several homes at the same time, for young drivers increasingly die in groups.

Case in point: A couple of years ago, in a suburb of Los Angeles, an entourage of several cars loaded with young people bolted down the Antelope (14) Freeway. The 14 runs north-south, a main commuter artery connecting the upper desert communities of Palmdale and Lancaster to Los Angeles. Anyone who has driven this freeway knows to watch their downhill speed when traveling southward, not just for law enforcement concerns but to keep their velocity in check. These students apparently didn't.

They were on their way to an amusement park, dodging in and out of traffic, driving recklessly. Several of the passengers had neglected to attach their seatbelts. One of the cars lost control and rolled off the freeway. Five young people died.

Statistics are a good place to start, since they give us a picture of what's happening. We've included a few sobering facts below from NHTSA. We tried to pare down this list, but they all seemed so important that we've included them all.

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers.
• In 2001, 5,341 teens were killed in passenger vehicles involved in motor vehicle crashes. Two thirds of those killed were not buckled up.
• When driver fatality rates are calculated on the basis of estimated annual travel, teen drivers (16 to 19 years old) have a fatality rate that is about four times higher than the fatality rate among drivers 25 through 69 years old.
• In 2001, 3,608 drivers 15 to 20 years old were killed in motor vehicle crashes, and an additional 337,000 were injured.
• Young drivers (16-20) were involved in 7,598 fatal crashes in 2001.
• In the last decade, over 68,000 teens have died in car crashes.
• Sixty-five percent of teen passenger deaths occur when another teenager is driving.
• In 2001, 26% of fatally injured teen drivers (16-20 years old) had high blood alcohol concentrations (0.08 percent or more), even though all were under the minimum legal drinking age and are not legally permitted to purchase alcohol.
• Two out of three teenagers killed in motor vehicle crashes are males.

Whatever we may feel about reckless driving and teen fatalities, it's clear that the system is broken. The relationship between new drivers and their transportation needs repair.

Those repair efforts begin with something we find woefully lacking in most states throughout the Union: adequate driver training.

Unless a young person gets early exposure to the physics of an automobile, and understands the forces that play upon it, we believe the death toll will remain too high.

If you would like to view this article visit http://www.edmunds.com/advice/womenfamilies/articles/44908/article.html

We at Bill Gough's All American Agency believe in preventing teens from being just another statistic. Give us a call at 888-765-2201 or come by our office to talk about our Teen Driver Safety Program. For more information visit www.teendriverinsurance.com/AllAmerican.

Product Recalls - How Can You Keep Up?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission will point to the growing number of product recalls and tell you that their system of oversight is working. But consumer compliance with recalls is often as low as 15%. Are people just not getting the message? Is it just too much of a hassle?

There are lots of reasons; many recall notices are low tech and require the consumer to discover the recall on their own, some recalls require the consumer to disassemble the product and ship it back and let’s face it, few people will go to that trouble for a large item. Of course many products are bought used at yard sales and on ebay and those consumers have no connection with the manufacturer so they will never be notified of a recall.

Recent changes signed into law by President Bush will help this problem a bit but really more steps are needed. Much of the manufacturing rules are voluntary and the ways that the manufacturer is required to notify the consumer is often not efficient. So what can you do to protect yourself and your family from using a dangerous or defective product?

Well one way is to check the recalls yourself. You can sign up for automatic alerts from the Consumer Product Safety Commission by going to www.cpsc.gov. Another site that has a broad range of recalled product is www.recalls.com. If you suspect a specific product of having a recall posted, you can visit the retailer or the manufacturer’s web site for this information.

At Bill Gough's All-American Agency in Florence, Al, we want all consumers to be informed and safe. There are hidden dangers in every insurance policy that you purchase as well. Insurance is not a do it yourself product, please get help from a licensed professional agent. If we can be of any help to you with any of your insurance policies from car insurance to home insurance or life insurance or business insurance, please call our office toll free at 866-765-2200.

Stressed?

You barely went to bed and already your alarm is going off.Actually, it went off 30 minutes ago, and now you are stuck rushing through the shower (or deciding you won’t take one), fishing for clothes and your bag, and finding your keys. Out the door you are – which shouldn’t have taken more than 5 minutes, yet it’s already 10 minutes later! Darn!! Out the driveway you go and find yourself “stuck” behind the car in front of you, who is “only” doing the speed limit. And time is ticking …

Stress can come from various sources – school, work, friends, family, girlfriends, boyfriends… you name it. The trick is to learn to deal with stress, especially on the road. Most everyone who’s on the road is on some, more or less, important mission. And most everyone would like to get their mission done a.s.a.p. Not everyone will pay attention to you and your mission!!! So:

1. Take a deep breath, have your favorite music playing, and take some comfort in knowing that you are above it all. Speeding and other kinds of frenzied behavior = not cool.
2. Be nice. Got cut off? Someone tailgating you? Refer to Point 1, above, – and do your best to let it go. Focus on your driving and don’t push. Honking, signaling, or reacting to aggressive behavior will not teach anyone a lesson. People will ignore you – or, worse, you will provoke road rage. Not worth it. You just want to get to your destination - safely.
3. Don’t speed. Speeding is the number one reason for accidents that involve (and kill) teen drivers. Even going 20% faster than the limit won’t save you more than a minute or two. Apologize if you are late – people will understand. And try to leave earlier next time…
4. Treat yourself well. Make time for things that you enjoy doing, even if you have only 5 minutes. It will help you deal with everyday life, and relieve stress.You deserve it!

Top 5 Motor Vehicle Insurance Fraud Schemes in 2008

A recent newsletter reports that 2008 statistics show a 30% fraud increase in Pennsylvania. The Top 5 motor vehicle insurance fraud schemes include:

1. Falsely claiming injury from staged motor vehicle insurance accidents.

2. Falsely claiming that your car was stolen.

3. Driving without insurance, having an accident, buying insurance and lying about when the accident happened.

4. Falsely claiming your car was hit while parked and unattended.

5. When an accident was caused by someone listed as an "excluded driver" on an auto policy, falsely claiming that someone else was driving.

Why You Want To Keep Your Teen Driver On YOUR Policy

One of the options that parents consider in order to save money on their auto insurance, is placing the young driver on a separate policy. They think if they buy a separate policy for their teen driver, the rates for their other cars won’t go up.

Actually, that part may be true. But the flipside is that on a separate policy, the rate for the teen driver’s car goes way up for two reasons:

First, there won’t be a multi-policy discount for the single car on the teen’s policy

Second, you will have to buy a policy from a “high-risk” insurer. “High-risk” insurance companies charge rates that are more than double of a standard company.

Not only that. Placing your teen on a separate policy can cost you much more than higher rates. The most dangerous problem when insuring your teen with a high-risk insurance company is that you can’t buy high enough limits for a teen driver. The liability limits offered by these companies are usually no higher than 100/300/50, that means $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 for property damage.

Some parents think that’s fine - that in case of a big claim, the other party will only sue their child’s insurance company if there’s a big claim. That's wrong! Any good attorney will go after the parents too, as long as the child is living in the parent’s home or is a dependent. The smartest way to insure your young driver is to keep them on your own auto insurance policy, with the highest liability limits you can get.