Thursday, October 30, 2008

Good Student Discount


If your young driver qualifies for the Good Student Discount, your premiums can be significantly lowered. Typically, the qualified student is required to have a 3.5 GPA or B average and the transcripts are then sent to the respective company.

Other ways you may be able to lower your premium? An alarm system, accident prevention course (or defensive driving course), pay-in-full, if you're young driver is a distant student, or get a quote 6-30 days before you purchase your policy (hint: 30 days will give you the best discount opportunity versus 6 days will give you the lowest discount opportunity).

Some companies even give a discount for a tracking device, such as a LoJack or a Teensurance GPS tracking device (which is and FREE device and FREE professional installation!) Call us for more details on Teensurance or you're welcome to check out www.teensurance.com

Please check with your Sav-on Special Agent to be sure you're receiving all the discounts that you qualify for!

A special note from your Sav-on Insurance Teen Driver Specialist: Please be weary of your teen on Halloween night. The crash rate for teenagers doubles between the hours of 9:00pm and 6:00am.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

National Teen Driver Safety Week is about Awareness

It's National Teen Driver Safety Week, and I feel that it couldn't come at a more appropriate time of the year. The weather is changing and many teens are just getting their license after their summer enrolled driver's education courses have ended...it's a scary and exciting time of year for young drivers and parents alike.

This week is to concentrate on teen driver safety. While we at SAV-ON always try, year round, to drive home the point that sometimes the worst can happen, many parents feel that they trust their teen driver. After all, it is their child. But many of you also know that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens. In 2005, 12 teens aged 16-19 died every day due to motor vehicle crashes.

The 16 to 19 year-old age group is 4 times more likely to crash than older drivers and statistics do show that they have the highest crash rate. Those especially at risk are
  • male drivers; one and half times greater than females in 2005
  • teens driving with teen passengers; the risk increases with each added teen passenger, especially males
  • newly licensed teens; crash rates are are extremely high within the first year, especially within the first 6 months of new licensure.

    Teen drivers are more likely to underestimate the danger of a situation or recognize hazardous situations (ex. snow, rainfall, etc...). They are more likely to speed and tailgate; male passengers increase the chances of the driver partaking in these dangerous activities. Teens are also the least likely group to wear a seat belt.

    Although drinking and driving rates have dropped among young drivers, it still remains a problem that cannot be overlooked. Young drivers with any level of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) run a higher risk of crashing than older drivers. In 2005, 23% of drivers aged 15-20 who died in a motor vehicle crash had a BAC of .08 or higher.

    Male drivers between the ages of 15-20 are particularly at risk. In 2005 38% were speeding at the time of crash and 24% had been drinking.

    This week is not only to instill safety, but also to spread awareness of the dangers of inexperience, distraction, passengers, cell phone use, even drug and alcohol use. Use this time to talk to your teen...and take advantage of the many resources we have to offer at www.teendriverinsurance.com/sav-on.


    Thank you to CDC.gov and IIHS.org, and Happy National Teen Driver Safety Week!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

National Teen Driver Safety Week Oct 19-25

Congressmen Charlie Dent (R-PA) and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) passed a resolution establishing every third week in October to be National Teen Driver Safety Week this last year.

Many states have their own planned activities, many year-long, which focus on teen belt use, graduated licensing, and underage drinking. Washington is not on the list, although Sav-on Insurance personally does our part by speaking to young drivers at the A-Team Driving School. To see the complete list click here.

The theme for this years Safety Week is passengers with findings showing that the chances of a fatal crash increase exponentially with each teen passenger. Few teens view their friends as inexperienced drivers and teen passengers tend to act wild or encourage the driver to speed or make other unsafe driving decisions.

Please visit our safe teen driver page at www.teendriverinsurance.com/sav-on for more tips on making your teen a safe driver.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Daughter's fatal crash leads to education effort

In Spanaway Washington, a young man has been charged with supplying alcohol to teen girl who consequently died in a car crash.

He's been sentenced to a year of probation and community service.

See the full article here: Daughter's fatal crash leads to education effort

Thursday, October 9, 2008

What will your teen's first car be?

So your teen got their license. Now what? You've been waiting patiently for months, dropping them off at driver's education, letting them take the wheel on the way to school....now the pain is off you. You're free! And so are they. But now what car are they going to be driving?

You have options....if you already have an extra car maybe you'll allow them to drive that. But if you don't, it goes back to the old vs. new.

Here are some pros and cons:
With a new car, you've got reliability, looks, comfort. But you've also got large payments, higher taxes and registration fees, and insurance costs.

With an older vehicle, the reliability may not be there, it may not have looks, and it may not have those comfortable, heated leather seats...but you may save on insurance costs, registration fees and you'll surely save on car payments.

However, if you do decide to go with a new vehicle, MSN Money has compiled a list of safe and "less-than-safe" vehicles that I would suggest:

Upscale and large sedans
Safe: Lexus ES300, Audi A4, BMW 330i
Safe?: Buick LeSabre Limited, Chrysler 300M
Family sedans
Safe: Volkswagen Passat GLX (V6), Toyota Camry XLE, Pontiac Grand Prix GT, Oldsmobile Alero, and Pontiac Grand Am
Safe?: Volkswagen Passat 4 cylinder, Nissan Altima 3.5 SE, Subaru Legacy
Small cars
Safe: Volkswagen Golf TDI, Honda Civic EX, Volkswagen Jetta GLS TDI
Safe?: Hyundai Elantra GLS, Chevrolet Cavalier LS
Pickup Trucks
Safe: Toyota Tundra SR5 4.7, Dodge Ram SLT 4.7, Ford F.150 XLT 5.4, Toyota Tacoma TRD (V6), Nissan Frontier (V6)
Safe?: Dodge Dakota SLT, Chevrolet S-10 L5 (V6), GMC Sonoma 5LS (V6)
Extra note: Pickups usually don't do well in vehicle assessments usually due to poor brakes and sloppy handling
SUVs
Safe: Saturn VUE (V6), Honda CR-V EX, Hyundai Santa Fe GLS (V6), Lexus RX300, Acura MDX, Toyota Highlander
Safe?: Chevy Trail Blazer, GMC Envoy, Jeep Grand Cherokee)
Minivans
Safe: Honda Odyssey EX, Toyota Sienna LE, Mazda MPV LX
Safe?: Chevrolet Venture LS, Oldsmobile Silhouette GLS, Pontiac Montana

For more information, check out the full report at http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/P63955.asp

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

CA Commissioner Proposes Pay-As-You-Drive

The Insurance Commissioner of California, Steve Poizner, has proposed an option for California consumers: pay-as-you-drive. If implemented, this would give motorists the chance to pay how far they've driven-- and theoretically, the more miles driven the more risk.

The mileage is based mostly on estimation, however the mileage would now be verified by odometer readings, automotive repair records, or a technological device.

The regulations would prohibit insurance companies from requiring policyholders to participate in this program, however companies may give discounts for participating.

The proposition is also supposed to have a green effect. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, they estimate that if 30% of California residents participate, California will be spared 55 million tons of CO2 between 2009-2020-- the equivalent of taking 10 million cars of the road. And furthermore, this would save $40 billion dollars in car-related expenses for vehicle owners.

In addition to the vehicle savings, the pay-as-you-drive program may be perfect for a large demographic of part-time drivers: teens. Since some companies do not offer part-time operator discounts, this would ensure that the young drivers are literally paying only what they are driving which would theoretically save them (and parents) huge premium every year.

Thank you to Insurance Journal.