Nighttime driving is becoming more hazardous for American teenagers and the likely cause is talking and texting on cell phones while operating a vehicle, according to a study released May 6.
The report by the Texas Transportation Institute said the proportion of fatal crashes at night involving drivers 16 to 19 years old nationwide increased 10 percent from 1999-2008. The percentage of nighttime fatal crashes involving drivers 20 years and older rose nearly 8 percent from 1999-2008.
While the increase in nighttime crashes in the older age group can be attributed primarily to alcohol use, the study authors pointed to driver distraction caused by talking and texting on cell phones as a likely cause of the increase in fatalities among younger drivers.
“We know driving at night is dangerous.
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A renewal rights agreement and its growing specialty lines business helped The Hanover see a 62 percent, first quarter jump in profits to $41.8 million, up from $25.8 million in the year-ago period.
“It was a difficult weather quarter for the insurance industry as a whole, and accordingly, we had an elevated level of catastrophe losses,” said CEO Frederick Eppinger. “However, our core loss performance improved over prior periods and we were able to deliver a combined ratio below 100.
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The oil slick befouling shores in the Gulf of Mexico is also set to sully the insurance industry’s bottom line.
The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is estimating insured losses related to the April 22 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig at $1.4 billion. Although the explosion killed 11 workers, I.I.I. s
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The California Department of Insurance (CDI) had begun an effort to assess the validity of the claims data used by Anthem Blue Cross to justify future rate filings.
“As Anthem readies its new rate filing, I have directed auditors at the Department of Insurance to determine whether the underlying information used by Anthem to prepare these documents is fair and accurate,” Commissioner Steve Poizner said. The review will investigate whether there are problems with the company’s claims payments systems and data controls.
The examination, started in early April, is scrutinizing Anthem’s accounting and claims systems in regards to the recording and documenting of premiums and claims data, and a review of the information systems and controls in place.
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Laws enacted in the just-concluded 2010 Hawaii legislative session will increase insurance costs and possibly affect premiums for Hawaii consumers and businesses, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America said.
“Hawaii is facing difficult state budget problems, and we realize that the Legislature had to take action to address the state’s fiscal woes. However, PCI believes that some actions taken by the Legislature will drive up the costs for insurance coverages that Hawaii families and businesses need,” said PCI Vice President Sam Sorich.
SB 2159 nearly triples the fee from $7 to $20 for insurers to obtain a driving record copy.
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National fire officials say northwest Wyoming could see more wildfires this summer after a season of light snowfall.
The National Interagency Fire Center said the light winter in the region means drier fuels in the summer that could increase wildfire potential. The center said fire danger last year was minimized throughout most of the country by heavier moisture.
Teton Interagency Fire fuels specialist Mack McFarland said conditions can still change between now and the beginning of fire season. McFarland said that while the fire prediction is useful, he noted that no one has “a crystal ball” for the wildfire season.
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The federal Small Business Administration recently granted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s request to issue an economic injury disaster declaration for Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes, and Jindal has asked that for 13 additional parishes be added to the list.
The declaration makes Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) available to small businesses – including fishing businesses – that have been impacted by the ongoing oil spill that began with a fire and explosion that occurred on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20.
The 13 additional parishes are Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Livingston, St. Cha
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The Personal Lines Growth Alliance (PLGA), a coalition within the independent agency system, announced that Mercury Insurance Group is a founding financial partner.
Mercury is the first of many insurance carriers that will become financial partners, according to PLGA Chair Steve Brooks, also president of Steve Brooks Insurance Services based in Westlake Village, Calif.
“Our singular mission at PLGA is to work with the entire industry to grow the independent agency channel market share in personal lines,” Brooks said. “This is a coordinated communications movement to invigorate independent agency attitudes on personal lines.
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