Teen Girls Cell Phone Usage While Driving Twice That of Teen Boys, but the boys...

Inside Line says: Forget Baby on Board.

An entrepreneur needs to make some yellow

Distracted Teen on Board window signs to warn other drivers.

Edmunds Inside Line
By Rene Wisely
3/28/12

AURORA, Illinois — Big Brother caught little sister using her phone too much while driving.

A new in-car video study released this week by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that teen girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cell phones and other electronic devices while driving. While electronic devices were the most commonly observed distracted-driving activity for new teen drivers of both genders, video captured many other distractions as well.

Females were more likely to be observed reaching for an object in the vehicle (nearly 50 percent more likely than males) and eating or drinking (nearly 25 percent more likely) while driving.


Males, on the other hand, were roughly twice as likely to turn around in their seats while driving, and were also more likely to communicate with people outside of the vehicle.



As evidenced by the AAA study, the subject of distracted driving, particularly distractions involving the use of mobile devices, is commanding increasing attention across the country.

In her opening remarks yesterday at the Attentive Driving Forum: Countermeasures to Distraction in Washington, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman noted: "Our nation is at a deadly intersection of mobility and connectivity."

Hersman lauded an unprecedented move yesterday by the town of Chapel Hill, home of the University of North Carolina, which passed a complete ban on cellphone use — including hands-free — while driving.

Coincidentally, AAA's study, called Distracted Driving Among Newly Licensed Teen Drivers, is based on data and analysis of video clips collected as part of a three-part study of 50 North Carolina families with novice teen drivers by researchers at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center.

The first part looked at how parents supervise their teens during the learner's stage of a graduated driver's license, and the second examined how teen behaviors and driving conditions shift during the transition to unsupervised driving. For the third part, 7,858 clips from the first six months of unsupervised driving were re-analyzed to investigate distraction specifically.

Age makes drivers cocky as well, the study revealed. Those who use electronic devices, adjust controls and groom themselves while behind the wheel were more prevalent among the older teens in the study group, suggesting rapid changes in these behaviors as teens get more comfortable with driving.



The study also revealed that parents' presence in the car curtailed the distractions, yet when multiple teens rode as passengers, horseplay and loud conversation abounded. Drivers were six times as likely to have a serious incident when there was loud conversation in the vehicle, and were more than twice as likely to have a high g-force event — including swerving, hard braking or rapid acceleration — when there was horseplay.

Additionally, distracted drivers were three times as likely to take their eyes off the road when using electronic devices and were two-and-a-half times more likely to look away when engaged in other behaviors. On average, teen drivers using electronic devices took their eyes off the road for a full second longer.

"This new study provides the best view we've had about how and when teens engage in distracted driving behaviors believed to contribute to making car crashes the leading cause of death for teenagers," said AAA Foundation President and CEO Peter Kissinger.

Just the Facts:

• A new in-car video study of teen driver distractions released this week by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety reveals that teen girls are twice as likely as teen boys to use cell phones and other electronic devices while driving.
• Females were more likely to be observed reaching for an object in the vehicle (nearly 50 percent more likely than males) and eating or drinking (nearly 25 percent more likely).
• Conversely, males were roughly twice as likely to turn around in their seats while driving, and were also more likely to communicate with people outside of the vehicle.

Commercial Insurance Pricing Continues to Increase (Review One's Claims)

"We are now at a point where we can

'call the pricing turn' in the market."

MarketWatch
Business Wire
3/12/2012

NEW YORK, Mar 12, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Commercial insurance prices increased an aggregate 3% during the fourth quarter of 2011 -- the fourth consecutive quarter during which prices for all standard commercial lines rose. Additionally, earned price increases are beginning to offset portions of reported claim cost inflation levels, according to the most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) released by global professional services company Towers Watson (NYSE, NASDAQ: TW).

CLIPS data reveal that, once again, prices for workers compensation and commercial property showed the largest quarterly increases -- in the mid- to high-single digits -- followed closely by general/products liability. During the fourth quarter of 2011, workers compensation pricing continued to exhibit the increasing trend observed earlier in the year, after flat pricing during all of 2010. Prices for commercial property increased for the third consecutive quarter.

"While modest, aggregate increases in prices continued, and more importantly, these increases accelerated in each quarter of 2011," said Thomas Hettinger, Property & Casualty sales and practice leader for the Americas at Towers Watson. "We are now at a point where we can 'call the pricing turn' in the market."

CLIPS data also show that specialty lines as a whole were relatively flat, as directors and officers (D&O) liability pricing finally showed signs of stabilizing. The D&O liability line had been the last remaining holdout with respect to soft market conditions, with significant price reductions reported in each of the prior seven quarters.

Price increases were observed across all account sizes for the standard commercial lines, with the largest increases observed in mid-market accounts.

Historical loss cost information reported by participating carriers points to a 3% deterioration in loss ratios in accident-year 2011 relative to 2010. This indication is more favorable than the estimated level of 5% deterioration for the accident-year 2010 loss ratio over 2009, as earned price increases are beginning to offset portions of reported claim cost inflation.

"We will have a more complete picture of companies' overall 2011 performance as we analyze year-end reserve adequacy and releases," continued Hettinger. "We have seen signs of insurers reacting to the deteriorating loss ratios by raising prices, and we are still getting an understanding of how strong pricing discipline will need to be to overcome the trends in losses."

Premiums on the rise so it is even more imperative

to manage existing claims and to do so well

in advance of your insurance renewal

1. Order currently valued auto loss reports
2. Review the loss runs and make notes for each claim based on you knowledge of the circumstances pertaining to each claim
3. Identify those claims that should be reviewed in a formal meeting with the adjustor or adjustors
4. Make sure the adjusting staff provides you with a written report on each claim you selected for review
5. You should expect a solid reason (s) for the amount of the reserve and paid claims and a detailed plan to resolve the claim as timely as possible

Property-Casualty Rates Continue to Rise

Business Insurance
By Mark Hoffman
3/6/2012

Signs of change in the commercial property/casualty insurance market continue with rates rising by an average of 2% in February over those of the same month a year earlier, according to an analysis released Monday by MarketScout.

According to the Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange, workers compensation and commercial property coverage experienced the greatest increases at 3%. General liability, umbrella/excess and business owners’ policies each rose by an average of 2%. All other lines surveyed increased by 1% except fiduciary and surety coverages, which remained flat.

“In September, 2011, rates were flat,” said MarketScout CEO Richard Kerr in a statement announcing the February figures. “Since then, we have continued to see evidence of a slowly turning market with the composite rate at 0% in October, 1% in November 2011 through January 2012, and now a 2% increase in February 2012.”

22 Percent Decline in Traffic Deaths from Prohibited Cell Phone Use...NUFF SAID

An analysis of states with laws prohibiting the use of hand-held cell phones by motorists shows a 22-percent decline in overall traffic deaths, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).

School Transportation News
By: Ryan Gray
3/6/2012
In addition to the drop in overall traffic deaths, researchers of the study also found that fatalities of motorists who used hand-held cell phones decreased by 47 percent. The study was performed by the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTrec) at the University of California at Berkley and reviewed traffic crash records two years before and two years after state laws went into effect.

“These results suggest that the law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving had a positive impact on reducing traffic fatalities and injuries,” said Dr. David Ragland, director of SafeTREC.

One reason for fewer crashes may be due to increased law enforcement. The California Department of Motor Vehicles said there were 460,487 hand-held cell phone convictions in 2011, a 22-percent increase from 2010 and a 52-percent jump from 2009. The cost of a ticket in California for a first offense is at least $159 and $279 for subsequent offenses.

Cell phone usage while driving is top of the mind with California drivers, which they see as carrying a significant traffic safety threat. The same OTS statewide opinion survey reported that 62 percent of respondents stated that texting and talking are the biggest safety concerns on California roadways. Eighty-four percent claimed cell phone conversations or texting while driving constitute the most serious distractions while driving.

Meanwhile, another OTS opinion poll commissioned with federal funds and performed last summer showed that four in 10 California drivers said they talked less with either hand-held or hands-free phones since the state's ban was enacted in 2008. The report contradicts a study performed by the Highway Loss Data Institute in January 2010 that there had been no significant changes in crashes.

One month later, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety published results from a telephone survey that found that 44 percent of drivers in states with bans reported they don't use either hand-held or hands-free cell phones while driving. In comparison, IIHS found that 30 percent said they continue to operate both types of phones while behind the wheel in states that do not have bans.