Latest Personal Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Maryland May Relieve High Risk Drivers of Premium Financing Cost

Feb 28 2008 // State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, the insurer of last resort for many motorists, to accept installment payments like private companies. Advocates say the...

Consumer Groups: Mass. Auto System Unfair to Many Good Drivers

Feb 28 2008 // The new managed competition auto insurance system being implemented in Massachusetts rewards many bad drivers and penalizes many good drivers based on certain supposedly-prohibited social factors, according to the latest...

Calif. Comm. Poizner Abandons Uninsured Driver Initiative

Feb 27 2008 // By Julie Lake California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has withdrawn support for a proposed ballot initiative that would have required state and local law enforcement officers to remove the license plates of, and...

Oklahoma Uninsured Driver Bill Moves Forward

Feb 24 2008 // A bill that would limit insurance awards for uninsured drivers involved in an accident has passed an Oklahoma House of Representatives subcommittee. House Bill 3380 by Muskogee Republican George Faught was approved by the...

Texas City to Impound Cars of Uninsured Drivers

Feb 24 2008 // The Corpus Christi (Texas) Police Department is going to start impounding the cars of uninsured drivers, officials said. About one in three Nueces County, Texas, drivers are uninsured, compared to about one in five...

Offer Pre-Packaged Personal Auto Insurance Choices

Feb 24 2008 // Like it or not, personal automobile insurance, along with personal computers, has evolved into a commodity product. According to Wikipedia, a commodity is defined as “a largely homogeneous product, traded solely on...

S.C. Senate Approves Tougher Penalties for Drunken Driving

Feb 22 2008 // The fines and prison time that repeat drunken drivers face would hinge on how much alcohol they have in their bodies under a measure that received key approval Wednesday in the South Carolina Senate. Senators also decided...

S.C. Gov. to State Senate: Stop Toying with Drunk Driving Law

Feb 15 2008 // In a written statement Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford reacted to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s refusal to strip harmful amendments from the DUI bill: “We knew going in that some on this Senate...

Virginia Safety Crackdown Catches Fewest Bad Drivers in Years

Feb 14 2008 // Virginia State Police hope some new statistics mean drivers are being more cautious on highways statewide. Officials say the most recent highway safety crackdown produced the lowest numbers of traffic summonses and...

Thousands of Mass. Drivers Involved in Multiple Accidents

Feb 11 2008 // Thousands of Massachusetts drivers with histories of multiple crashes continue to get behind the wheel despite law designed to crack down on habitual offenders. A Boston Globe review of state motor vehicle records finds...

Virginia Repeal of Abusive Driver Fees Gains

Feb 10 2008 // The Virginia Senate has passed its bill to repeal high fees on bad drivers by resolving a partisan impasse over how to rebate fees courts already imposed. The 39-0 vote marks the first passage by the House or the Senate of...

States Look to Curb Text-Messaging Drivers; Could GPS Users Be Next?

Feb 10 2008 // Text messaging is all the rage. Hopefully, not a road rage. An increasing number of state lawmakers are concerned by the rash of accidents caused by text-happy drivers. Although many states already have laws that require...

Ariz. Speed Cameras Slow Down Drivers

Feb 10 2008 // Drivers slowed down an average of 7 mph in Scottsdale, Ariz., six weeks after the city launched its nine-month pilot photo-enforcement program in 2006, according to a new study. The study also showed that during the same...

Okla. House Panel Approves Bill Targeting Uninsured Drivers

Feb 7 2008 // A bill that would limit insurance awards for uninsured drivers involved in an accident has passed an Oklahoma House of Representatives subcommittee. House Bill 3380 by Muskogee Republican George Faught was approved by the...

Encompass Offers Nevada Drivers Accident Forgiveness, More Rating Tiers

Feb 6 2008 // Encompass Insurance is offering Nevada agents a new product, Encompass Edge, that combines accident forgiveness and more discounts with sophisticated rating tiers to help keep rates competitive. “Producers are...

Corpus Christi, Texas, Police to Impound Uninsured Drivers’ Cars

Feb 4 2008 // The Corpus Christi Police Department will start impounding the cars of uninsured drivers, officials said. About one in three Nueces County, Texas, drivers are uninsured, compared to about one in five statewide, Chief Bryan...

Virginia Senate Passes Repeal of Abusive Driver Fees

Feb 1 2008 // The Virginia Senate this week finally passed its bill to repeal high fees on bad drivers by resolving a partisan impasse over how to rebate fees courts already imposed. The 39-0 vote marks the first passage by the House or...

Virginia Still Trying to Abolish Abusive Driver Fees

Jan 29 2008 // The Virginia Senate rejected a bid last week to allow people already ordered to pay state abusive driver fees to go back to court and ask a judge to excuse the penalty. The floor amendment by Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle,...

Bill Would Add Boating Under the Influence Violations to Driving Record

Jan 28 2008 // A bill introduced by Oklahoma state Senator Bill Brown would require a conviction of boating while under the influence (BUI) to be made part of an individual’s driving record. The aim of Senate Bill 1140 is to reduce...

States Look to Curb Text Messaging Drivers; Could GPS Users Be Next?

Jan 27 2008 // Text messaging is all the rage. Hopefully, not a road rage. An increasing number of state lawmakers are concerned by the rash of accidents caused by text-happy drivers. Although many states already have laws that require...