Unfortunately, we've had to cancel the Kids Club Carnival this year. We are slated to do this next year with even more fun and games than we originally planned.
Donations for Northwest Harvest are still encouraged (monetary and non-perishable food items) at all 6 of our locations. You can find our locations and directions by going to our site: www.sav-on.com.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Teen Driver Kills Gentleman, Charged with Manslaughter
16-year-old Brooklyn, New York resident Dervish Nivokazi, was charged recently with manslaughter after he killed 65-year-old Zak Stanislaw who was waiting at a bus stop.
Police say that Nivokazi was speeding in a 2005 Mazda, hit a Toyota, and then slammed into Stanislaw who was pronounced dead minutes after the 9:20pm crash.
Nivokazi had only a junior license (similar to Washington's intermediate license) which prohibits driving after 9pm. He was treated for minor injuries at Lutheran Hospital. The driver of the Toyota was not injured.
According to Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, only 29 drivers in New York State have been charged with negligent homicide from 1994 to 2008 despite thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists that have been killed.
Police say that Nivokazi was speeding in a 2005 Mazda, hit a Toyota, and then slammed into Stanislaw who was pronounced dead minutes after the 9:20pm crash.
Nivokazi had only a junior license (similar to Washington's intermediate license) which prohibits driving after 9pm. He was treated for minor injuries at Lutheran Hospital. The driver of the Toyota was not injured.
According to Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, only 29 drivers in New York State have been charged with negligent homicide from 1994 to 2008 despite thousands of pedestrians and bicyclists that have been killed.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Teen Crashes Cost $34 Billion Per Year
A study released by the American Auto Association (AAA) estimates that crashes involving drivers 15-17 years of age accounted for over $34 billion in 2006 alone.
The study stated that these teen drivers were involved in nearly a million crashes in 2006, injuring 406,427 people and killing 2,541. Fatality costs were estimated to cost $3.841 million in lost wages, lawsuits, emergency response crew wages, and medical expenses while injury accidents post an average of $50,512 per incident.
Washington State requires liability limits of at least $25,000/$50,000 for bodily injury and $10,000 for property damage. If you cause an accident that exceeds these limits you must pay the difference out of pocket.
With a newly licensed teen driver, we strongly suggest raising your limits...and maybe consider an umbrella policy which provides extra coverage to your home and auto in a single limit of insurance; usually $1 million or $2 million is common but some companies offer a limit of $5 million or more. Check back next week for more information on umbrella policies!
Thank you to ohmygov.com
The study stated that these teen drivers were involved in nearly a million crashes in 2006, injuring 406,427 people and killing 2,541. Fatality costs were estimated to cost $3.841 million in lost wages, lawsuits, emergency response crew wages, and medical expenses while injury accidents post an average of $50,512 per incident.
Washington State requires liability limits of at least $25,000/$50,000 for bodily injury and $10,000 for property damage. If you cause an accident that exceeds these limits you must pay the difference out of pocket.
With a newly licensed teen driver, we strongly suggest raising your limits...and maybe consider an umbrella policy which provides extra coverage to your home and auto in a single limit of insurance; usually $1 million or $2 million is common but some companies offer a limit of $5 million or more. Check back next week for more information on umbrella policies!
Thank you to ohmygov.com
Thursday, June 11, 2009
New York Tightens Teen Driving Laws
Albany, New York is in the process of enacting new teen driving laws to bring down teen driver and passenger fatalities.
Currently, teens are able to get their license within the first 6 months of their permit with only 20 hours required of parent observation. The new bill raises that to 6 months of permit driving until even being able to schedule the road test and 50 hours or observed driving with 15 of those being night driving.
The bill would ban the use of electronic devices, handheld or other, and reduce the number of non-family drivers to one until age 21.
The bill also closes loopholes where teens were able to plea-bargain driving offenses to reduce them to non-moving violations, and thus avoiding points being added to their driving record. The only drawback to this is many parents pay for the driver's insurance so maybe having some court appointed volunteer work would actually be more appropriate.
One place the bill may falter, however, is drivers will be able to get their full license at age 17 whereas the federal bill restricts a full license until age 18.
36% of teen deaths are caused by motor vehicle accidents, and teen drivers are twice as likely to die in crashes as are adult drivers, studies show.
Thank you to Buffalo News.
Currently, teens are able to get their license within the first 6 months of their permit with only 20 hours required of parent observation. The new bill raises that to 6 months of permit driving until even being able to schedule the road test and 50 hours or observed driving with 15 of those being night driving.
The bill would ban the use of electronic devices, handheld or other, and reduce the number of non-family drivers to one until age 21.
The bill also closes loopholes where teens were able to plea-bargain driving offenses to reduce them to non-moving violations, and thus avoiding points being added to their driving record. The only drawback to this is many parents pay for the driver's insurance so maybe having some court appointed volunteer work would actually be more appropriate.
One place the bill may falter, however, is drivers will be able to get their full license at age 17 whereas the federal bill restricts a full license until age 18.
36% of teen deaths are caused by motor vehicle accidents, and teen drivers are twice as likely to die in crashes as are adult drivers, studies show.
Thank you to Buffalo News.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Teen Crashes: Highest on Saturday and Sunday Night
It's important to educate yourself-- as a parent and a teen driver. Below are 2 tables of information. Look them over carefully and you'll notice 2 things. Crash rates for teen drivers are most risky on Saturday and Sunday nights. Does this come as a surprise to you? Maybe not. But the awareness alone is imporant.
Share this with your teen driver. Do they notice a difference in the way they drive on weekends? Night driving vs. day driving, in general? Are they driving friends? Are they excited to go to a party or event? What is it about night and weekend driving for teens?
*Total includes other and/or unknowns
*Total includes other and/or unknowns
Share this with your teen driver. Do they notice a difference in the way they drive on weekends? Night driving vs. day driving, in general? Are they driving friends? Are they excited to go to a party or event? What is it about night and weekend driving for teens?
| Teenage motor vehicle crash deaths by day of week, 2007 | ||
| Day of Week | Deaths | % |
| Sunday | 953 | 19 |
| Monday | 568 | 12 |
| Tuesday | 531 | 11 |
| Wednesday | 566 | 11 |
| Thursday | 571 | 12 |
| Friday | 795 | 16 |
| Saturday | 962 | 20 |
| Total* | 4946 | 100 |
| Teenage motor vehicle crash deaths by time of day, 2007 | ||
| Time of Day | Deaths | % |
| Midnight-3am | 747 | 15 |
| 3am-6am | 470 | 10 |
| 6am-9am | 393 | 8 |
| 9am-noon | 301 | 6 |
| Noon-3pm | 498 | 10 |
| 3pm-6pm | 822 | 17 |
| 6pm-9pm | 776 | 16 |
| 9pm-midnight | 900 | 18 |
| Total* | 4,946 | 100 |
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Help Your Teenage Driver Make Safe Choices
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. That's a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet. Advice from a father, Polonius, to his teenage son. There are two reasons why this is good teenage driving advice.
First: Lending a car to another teen is potentially dangerous. There will be a teenage driver, which statistically means a poor driver; there will be other teenagers in the car; there will probably be elevated emotions as a result; there will probably be overconfidence about driving skill in general since teens usually lend and borrow cars after they've driven only a few months; and, by definition, the teen is not driving his or her "regular" car -- it's a borrowed car.
Second: An insurance policy typically insures the vehicle for bodily injury and property damage only if the registered owner is driving it, or if it's being driven with the permission of the registered owner. Teenagers seldom are the registered owners -- parents are. So when teens lend to teens, there might be no insurance. Zero. The parent has not given the friend permission to drive. This means that your own teenager, riding as a passenger in your car, may not have coverage, because a teenage friend is doing the driving. If your children appreciate this, they may choose not to lend the keys to their friends.
Passengers get hurt, too. At some point, your teenagers will be passengers in a car driven by another teenager. Passengers can get hurt, too, worse than drivers. So let's look at passenger safety. Here are some points to discuss with your young driver.
These are difficult things for a teenager to do. They require going against the grain, doing what isn't fun, doing what isn't emotional. That takes a lot of leadership.
That means doing what you know, inside, is the right thing to do. The smart thing to do. The responsible thing to do. Your child might even be pleasantly surprised and find out that the other occupants of the car agree-- they wanted to settle down, too, but they were afraid to say so.
Thank you to PEMCO Insurance Company
First: Lending a car to another teen is potentially dangerous. There will be a teenage driver, which statistically means a poor driver; there will be other teenagers in the car; there will probably be elevated emotions as a result; there will probably be overconfidence about driving skill in general since teens usually lend and borrow cars after they've driven only a few months; and, by definition, the teen is not driving his or her "regular" car -- it's a borrowed car.
Second: An insurance policy typically insures the vehicle for bodily injury and property damage only if the registered owner is driving it, or if it's being driven with the permission of the registered owner. Teenagers seldom are the registered owners -- parents are. So when teens lend to teens, there might be no insurance. Zero. The parent has not given the friend permission to drive. This means that your own teenager, riding as a passenger in your car, may not have coverage, because a teenage friend is doing the driving. If your children appreciate this, they may choose not to lend the keys to their friends.
Passengers get hurt, too. At some point, your teenagers will be passengers in a car driven by another teenager. Passengers can get hurt, too, worse than drivers. So let's look at passenger safety. Here are some points to discuss with your young driver.
- Don't ride with someone again if you didn't like their driving the first time.
- Wear a seat belt, even if no one else wears theirs.
- Let the driver concentrate. Don't encourage speed, loud music, horseplay, etc.
- Avoid alcohol, even as a passenger. It increases rowdiness, noise, distractions.
These are difficult things for a teenager to do. They require going against the grain, doing what isn't fun, doing what isn't emotional. That takes a lot of leadership.
That means doing what you know, inside, is the right thing to do. The smart thing to do. The responsible thing to do. Your child might even be pleasantly surprised and find out that the other occupants of the car agree-- they wanted to settle down, too, but they were afraid to say so.
Thank you to PEMCO Insurance Company
Thursday, May 7, 2009
To Drive or Not To Drive!
To Drive or not to Drive!
And that really is the question! What age is the right age for a teenager to get their drivers license?
The age and requirements vary state-to-state and have varied laws concerning all aspects of when, where and how teens may drive.
We pose the question regarding readiness to the parents.
Even if the age to get a license in your state is 16, you must ask yourself is your teen mature enough and ready for the responsibility?
No parent wants to say no to their children but feelings and emotions involving things like peer pressure and the ability to impress their friends have no place behind the wheel of a car. Being that traffic deaths are the number 1 reason for high mortality rates in teenagers.
Let's face it, driving is all about responsibility. Are your kids good with following the rules, doing the chores, handling their emotional ups and downs sensibly? Only you know how your child will measure up to these questions.
Here are some ideas from another parent.
Many parents "basically cut their kids loose the minute they get their driver's license." That was not the case with the Cox family's oldest child, Rachel, who turned 16 in January and got her license in April. The decision to allow her to drive was tied to certain rules. Among them:
She's not allowed to use a cell phone while driving. Cox checks the itemized statement to ensure the rule is followed.
She's not permitted to have passengers (except for family) for at least a year. Cox sometimes bends this rule, depending on where her daughter is going and with whom.
Rachel must continue to drive with her parents on occasion, so they can observe. And she's required to enroll in a New Driver Car Control Clinic.
There was never any room for negotiation. Donna Cox has had the rules in mind since 1997, when she helped her best friend bury her 16-year-old son in Louisville. He had been driving just four days.
"His death notice and picture have hung on my kitchen cabinet for the last nine years," Cox says, "so it's a daily reminder."
And that really is the question! What age is the right age for a teenager to get their drivers license?
The age and requirements vary state-to-state and have varied laws concerning all aspects of when, where and how teens may drive.
We pose the question regarding readiness to the parents.
Even if the age to get a license in your state is 16, you must ask yourself is your teen mature enough and ready for the responsibility?
No parent wants to say no to their children but feelings and emotions involving things like peer pressure and the ability to impress their friends have no place behind the wheel of a car. Being that traffic deaths are the number 1 reason for high mortality rates in teenagers.
Let's face it, driving is all about responsibility. Are your kids good with following the rules, doing the chores, handling their emotional ups and downs sensibly? Only you know how your child will measure up to these questions.
Here are some ideas from another parent.
Many parents "basically cut their kids loose the minute they get their driver's license." That was not the case with the Cox family's oldest child, Rachel, who turned 16 in January and got her license in April. The decision to allow her to drive was tied to certain rules. Among them:
She's not allowed to use a cell phone while driving. Cox checks the itemized statement to ensure the rule is followed.
She's not permitted to have passengers (except for family) for at least a year. Cox sometimes bends this rule, depending on where her daughter is going and with whom.
Rachel must continue to drive with her parents on occasion, so they can observe. And she's required to enroll in a New Driver Car Control Clinic.
There was never any room for negotiation. Donna Cox has had the rules in mind since 1997, when she helped her best friend bury her 16-year-old son in Louisville. He had been driving just four days.
"His death notice and picture have hung on my kitchen cabinet for the last nine years," Cox says, "so it's a daily reminder."
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