Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Del. Lowers Drunk Driving Threshold
Jul 12 2004 // Delaware lawmakers recently agreed to join the rest of the nation by lowering the blood-alcohol threshold for drunken driving. Lawmakers voted to lower the blood-alcohol concentration considered prima facie evidence that a...
First State Delaware Last on .08 Blood-Alcohol Drunken Driving Law
Jul 5 2004 // Lighting up a cigarette in a bar in Georgetown, Delaware is unlawful, but you can get more drunk in Delaware than anywhere in the nation and still be allowed to get behind the wheel. “Delaware’s got so many...
Fireman’s Fund Threatens Exit from Mass. Auto Market
Jul 1 2004 // The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies has given notice to Massachusetts officials that it intends to withdraw from the state’s personal automobile insurance market on Dec. 31, 2004, because of continuing...
New Mass. Auto Plan On Way to Commissioner; New Safe Driver Plan Questioned
Jun 29 2004 // The board that oversees the Massachusetts auto insurance high risk facility, Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR), voted 11-2 in favor of final rules to convert the plan to an assigned risk plan on June 29. The CAR governing...
N.J. to Fine Drivers Using Cell Phones Starting July 1
Jun 28 2004 // New Jersey’s ban on cell phone use by drivers goes into full effect on July 1, but police still can’t pull somebody over simply for chattering away while going down the road. Motorists talking on hand-held cell...
N.J. Commissioner: Auto Insurance Market Recovering; Drivers Reap Benefits
Jun 28 2004 // New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly Bakke predicted recently that positive financial results for a majority of companies in the auto insurance marketplace will continue to produce returns for New Jersey...
Mass. Lawmakers Eye Tougher Teen Driver Laws
Jun 8 2004 // Massachusetts lawmakers are recommending legislation that would place stricter requirements on teenage drivers and their parents or guardians in an effort to reduce car accidents involving young drivers. The bipartisan...
UTAH COMMITTEE CONSIDERS UNINSURED DRIVERS PROBLEM:
Jun 7 2004 // A committee of insurance representatives and state lawmakers met recently and came up with a possible solution to the state’s uninsured driver problem that is similar to the way that financial institutions deal with...
Elderly Drivers Pose Growing Challenge for States and Auto Insurers
Jun 7 2004 // As the nation’s population ages, states are looking for ways to weed out people who shouldn’t drive. Half the states have passed some form of elderly driver restrictions, usually laws that require older...
PEMCO Releases List of Top Distracting Activities for Washington Drivers
Jun 7 2004 // They may not think it’s safe, but most Washington drivers admit to keeping one eye and one hand on a meal while driving, according to a recently released PEMCO Insurance poll on driver distraction. Eating a meal...
Proposal to Replace Mass. Safe Driver Plan Unveiled; New Merit Rating System Sought by 2006
Jun 4 2004 // As anticipated in an earlier report by Insurance Journal, an arm of the Massachusetts insurance department has come up with a plan to replace the state’s current safe driver insurance plan with a new one by 2006 and...
Mass. High Risk Rules on Commissioner’s Desk; Safe Driver Plan Next on Reform Agenda
Jun 1 2004 // As expected, last week the governing committee of the high risk auto reinsurance facility in Massachusetts approved rules guiding the pool’s changeover to an assigned risk plan. Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers, known as...
Elderly Drivers Pose Growing Challenge for States and Auto Insurers
May 17 2004 // As the nation’s population ages, states are looking for ways to weed out people who shouldn’t drive. Half the states have passed some form of elderly driver restrictions, usually laws that require older...
Virginia Yanks Illegal Drivers Licenses
May 13 2004 // The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has yanked the licenses of 1,016 drivers who failed to verify they obtained their licenses legally from two clerks convicted in a license-selling scam. In December, the DMV sent...
Utah Committee Considers Uninsured-drivers Problem
May 13 2004 // A committee of legislators and state agency and insurance representatives is considering how the state might implement a plan to treat the state’s 120,000 uninsured drivers much the way financial institutions deal...
PEMCO Releases List of Top Distracting Activities for Washington Drivers
May 10 2004 // They may not think it’s safe, but most Washington drivers admit to keeping one eye and one hand on a meal while driving, according to a PEMCO Insurance poll on driver distraction released today. Eating a meal turned...
Driver-Alliant Acquires Gaddy Ward
May 5 2004 // Operating out of a single location in Lodi, Calif., Gaddy Ward & Company Insurance Brokers announced the sale of their agency to Driver-Alliant Insurance Services Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut-based...
MetLife Auto & Home Promotes Safer Teen Driving
May 4 2004 // Nearly all states have enacted graduated driver’s licensing laws, requiring parents to spend many hours in the passenger’s seat with their teens behind the wheel. For parents and teens alike, the prospect may...
R.I. Senate Votes to Close Drunk Driving Loophole
Apr 30 2004 // The Rhode Island Senate has unanimously passed a bill to hold drunk drivers accountable for injuruies and deaths they cause. Under the legislation, DNA laced blood, fluids and body tissue could be taken from suspects who...
Automakers’ Product Could Help Prevent Drowsy-Driving Crashes
Apr 19 2004 // Volvo is trying to retain its image as a leader in safety with new technology designed to help drowsy drivers. Volvo and its owner, Ford Motor Co., released results of a study on the problem at the New York Auto Show and...
