Distracted Driving is the #1 Killer of American Teens

New National Survey Shows Eighty-Two Percent

of Young Adults Say They Have Read a

Standard Text Message While Driving

Washington, D.C., October 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Eighty-two percent of young adult drivers (16-24) have read a standard text message while driving, according to a national survey conducted by the Ad Council. In an effort to educate young drivers about the dangers of texting while driving, the State Attorneys General and Consumer Protection agencies, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council are launching a new public service advertising campaign (PSA) nationwide. The campaign includes TV, radio, outdoor and digital PSAs. Additionally, to extend the campaign messages online, new Facebook, Twitter and YouTube social media channels go live today.

NHTSA reports that distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Sixteen percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) reports that a texting driver is twenty-three times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver.

Give Pedestrians a Break and a Brake

In 1975, Hollywood released the cult action film Death Race 2000. It was a brutal cross-country race of the future where contestants scored points for speed and the number of innocent pedestrians struck and killed.

Time for a reality check American motorists, Death Race 2000 was a movie!

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 4,92 pedestrian fatalities in 2009 and 59,000 pedestrian reported injuries in the same year. On average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every nine minutes in traffic crashes.

41% of all children under the age of 10 who were killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians. Pedestrians age 65+ accounted for 19% of all pedestrian fatalities in 2009. In Minnesota, 10% of all traffic fatalities were pedestrians (2009).

We are long overdue to give pedestrians a break and a brake. This is not a movie!

5 Simple Pedestrian Life and Injury Saving Driving Do's

1. Make eye contact with the pedestrian. Let them know you see them and then expect the unexpected. A horn and brake lights are not standard options on a pedestrian.
2. When coming to a stop at a controlled intersection, stop before the crosswalk, not on it and not through it. You are stopping because you have a red light. This means kids entering the crosswalk to your left and/or on your right have a green light. GIVE THEM THE CROSSWALK!
3. Threading the needle is a sewing term not a driving strategy. Just because there is space in between pedestrians crossing the street, does not mean you shoot through it. Make absolutely sure the crosswalk is clear. The gap can and does fill in quickly when one is trying to catch their bus.
4. When approaching a street from an alley, STOP BEFORE the SIDEWALK. Make sure the sidewalk is clear before you cross the walk and enter the street. Not only is it the law, but picture yourself telling mom who is pushing her child in the stroller how sorry you are for the accident!
5. Right turn on Red scares we pedestrians to death. First, the driver has more than likely already blocked the crosswalk, Secondly, driver totally focused on traffic to his/her right, because, God forbid, the driver pulls out too soon and gets hit by a vehicle with the green light. Thirdly, how long has it been since the "right turn on red" driver bothered to look to the right and see if anyone is entering the crosswalk? Finally, there appears to be a small window to make the turn on red however one needs to give it more gas to make the turn. Scary scenario: pedestrian in crosswalk hit by an accelerating "right turn on red" vehicle.

We all have obligation to bring our "A" game when operating a vehicle around pedestrians.

NHTSA Creates New Web Page Dedicated to School Bus Safety

School Transportation News
October 24, 2011
By Ryan Gray

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration announced at the NAPT Annual Summit that it has created a new web page dedicated entirely to school bus safety.

This extensive new resource is geared toward school transportation professionals and the public, and it features numerous training materials, such as training for school bus drivers. It also provides the latest news in school transportation and industry regulations as well as information on current issues like seat belts and safer bus-stop locations.

NHTSA’s school bus program administrator, announced that the updated School Bus Driver In-Service Safety Series is now available online at www.stnonline.com/go/856. The training covers such topics as driver attitude and knowledge of bus routes, emergency evacuations, highway rail grade crossings, loading and unloading, vehicle training and student management, including students with special needs.

School buses are the safest mode of transportation for getting children back and forth to school

Every 15 1/2 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies as result of a vehicle crash

American Highways, Streets and Roadways

Should Not be Confused

with the Jungles of Vietnam

58,148 Americans killed during the Vietnam War

33,808 deaths in U.S. from vehicle "accidents" in 2009

Come on America, PAY ATTENTION

Every 5.7 seconds: a vehicle crash is reported to the police.

Every 15 1/2 minutes: someone dies from a vehicle crash

Every 5 minutes: pedestrian or bicyclist injured in traffic crash

The highest price we pay for car crashes is in the loss of human lives, however society also bears the brunt of the many costs associated with motor vehicle accidents.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in 2010 that the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with motor vehicle crash injuries was over $99 billion, or nearly $500, for each licensed driver in the United States. In addition, every 10 seconds an American is treated in an emergency department for crash-related injuries, based on data from 2005.

A 2008 report by the Automobile Association of America states that according to the Federal Highway Administration, the per-person cost of traffic fatalities in 2005 dollars is $3.2 million and $68,170 for injuries. AAA estimates the cost of traffic crashes to be $166.7 billion. Costs include medical, emergency services, police services, property damage, lost productivity, and quality of life. Read AAA executive summary (PDF).

In 2010, an estimated 32,788 people died in motor vehicle crashes, down 3 percent from 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In 2009, 33,808 people died in motor vehicle crashes and an additional 2,217,000 people were injured.

Who Pays?

Private insurers pay approximately 50% of all motor vehicle crash costs. Individual crash victims pay about 26%, while third parties such as uninvolved motorists delayed in traffic, charities and health care providers pay about 14%. Federal revenues account for 6%, while state and local municipalities pick up about 3%. Overall, those not directly involved in crashes pay for nearly three-quarters of all crash costs, primarily through insurance premiums, taxes and travel delay (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration).

Crash Type and Driver Behavior

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports in 2009 there were 5,505,000 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes, down 5.3% from 5,811,000 in 2008. Of total crashes, 1,517,000 caused injuries and 3,957,000 caused property damage only.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates about 10 million or more crashes go unreported each year.
• Alcohol-Related Crashes: In 2009, 10,839 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes, down 7.4% from 11,711 in 2008. In 2009, alcohol-impaired crash fatalities accounted for 32% of all crash deaths. There is an alcohol-impaired traffic fatality every 48 minutes in the U.S.
• Drunk Driving and Speeding: In 2009, 43% of intoxicated drivers (with a blood-alcohol content at or above 0.08%) involved in fatal crashes were speeding, compared with 17% of sober drivers involved in fatal crashes.
• Speeding: In 2009, 10,591 lives were lost due to speed-related accidents.
• Speed-related crashes cost Americans $40.4 billion each year.
• In 2009, 39% of 15- to 20-year-old male drivers who were involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash.
  
• Red Light Running: More than 900 people a year die and nearly 2,000 are injured as a result of vehicles running red lights. About half of those deaths are pedestrians and occupants of other vehicles who are hit by red light runners.
• Fatigue: A study released in November 2010 conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety using NHTSA data for 1999-2008 found that 16.5%, or about 1 in 6 fatal crashes, involved a drowsy driver.
• Distracted Driving: A September 2010 study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that in 2010 5,474 people were killed and 448,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted driving. The percentage of people killed in such crashes rose from 10% of all motor vehicle crash fatalities in 2005 to 16% in 2009. Of those people killed, 995 involved reports of a cellphone as a distraction, or 18% of all distracted driving crash fatalities.
• Cellphone Use: In September 2009 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis released the results of their National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS), which found that in 2008, 6% of drivers used hand-held cellphones, the same percentage as in 2007. Hand-held cellphone use was highest among 16 to 24 year olds (8% in 2008, down from 9% in 2007) and lowest among drivers 70 and older (1% in both 2007 and 2008).
• Non-Use of Seatbelts=$20 billion.

Hat tip to RMIIA (Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association for the layout)

Workers' Compensation Loss Ratio to Reach 121.5%

Time to Manage Risk!
The insurance industry's loss trend is not

transportation's friend.

Business Insurance

By Roberto Ceniceros
October 12, 2011

Workers compensation insurers' underwriting results are likely to weaken further before improving and “conditions appear grim over the near term,” A.M. Best Co. Inc. said Wednesday.

The combined ratio for the workers comp line is projected to reach 121.5% for 2011, up from 118.1% in 2010, a year in which the “business deteriorated sharply” and the industry's combined ratio rose to the highest level since 2000, according to Best's Market Review.

However, premium growth for 2011 is on track to be positive for the first time since 2005, after declining more than 30% over the previous five years, Best said. While net premiums written declined for most insurers in 2010, a number of companies did experience increases.

Factors Responsible

Several factors are responsible, including competitive market conditions, a weak economy, growing medical costs and an upturn in claims frequency, Best said.

“Furthermore, the economic downturn and slow recovery continue to have a major influence on the manufacturing and contracting sectors, which tend to be significant contributors to premium volume in the workers comp line,” Best said in the report.

As a result, net written premiums for the line declined 3.6% to $34.1 billion during 2010.

ISO Reports U.S. Insurers' Net Income Down 71%

No, the sky is not falling on the soft market

conditions however...objects in the mirror are

closer than they appear...

On September 30th, A.M Best reported that the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry’s net income fell 67% to $6.9 billion during the first six months of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. They also reported that the industry’s combined ratio deteriorated more than 9 percentage points to 109.6%, according to the report. Now it is ISO's turn...


Property Casualty 360
By Mark Ruquet
October 10, 2011

The first-half results for property and casualty insurers are in and the results are not very pretty, as the industry reported more than a 71 percent drop in net income.

In a report issued by the Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Office (ISO), the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) and the New York-based Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), private U.S. P&C insurers’ net income fell to $4.8 billion for the first half of 2011 compared to $16.8 billion for the same period a year ago.

Driving the decline were net losses on underwriting, growing $19 billion to more than $24 billion for the first half of the year.

The total combined ratio for the carriers deteriorated 8.8 points to 110.5 for the first half of the year.Complete Article

Experience Modification Alert: The Rules are Changing

While some of the details have not yet been announced,

one thing is clear: employers with higher-than-expected losses

 are likely to pay more for insurance.

Workers' Comp Insider
By: Jon Coppelman
September 26, 2011

It's been over 20 years since NCCI changed the rules relating to the calculation of the experience modification factor. Given that experience modification determines the cost of insurance for all but self-insured employers, these changes require careful scrutiny. While some of the details have not yet been announced, one thing is clear: employers with higher-than-expected losses are likely to pay more for insurance. [NOTE: the Insider apologizes in advance for what is inevitably a rather technical discussion. For readers who would like additional background, check out our 2004 primer here.]

Under the current system, claim dollars - what's been paid and what's been set aside for future payment on each claim - fall into one of three categories:
- Primary losses: the first $5,000 of each claim. These losses carry the most weight and drive up the experience mod much quicker than the losses above $5,000.
- Excess losses: the losses above $5,000 within each claim. These are discounted in the calculation, with as little as 10 percent of the total included in the calculation (depending upon the size of the premium)
- State Rating Point: the cap on individual claim dollars beyond which the losses are excluded from the calculation; this varies from state to state, generally falling between $125,000 and $200,000.

NCCI is expanding primary losses from the current level of $5,000 up to 15,000. This change will take place over a three year period, with the ceiling rising to $10,000 in the first year, $13,500 in the second year and $15,000 in the third year.

Why does this matter? Primary losses are the major cost driver in experience rating. Primary losses are not discounted: they go into the formula dollar for dollar. As a result, employers with moderately large claims (between $5,000 and $25,000) are likely to see an increase in their experience mod.

Winners and Losers
NCCI actuaries are working under the requirement that total premiums within a state remain the same under the new system. In other words, when they apply the new rules, experience mods will go up or down for individual employers, but the total premium in the state will stay the same.

On an individual insured level, there will be winners and losers. Here is our advice to any employers with debit mods (above 1.0) in states managed by NCCI: follow these new NCCI developments carefully. [The easiest way to do this, of course, is to keep reading the Insider.]

Primary losses remain the biggest cost driver in the workers comp system and primary losses within individual claims are about to double and soon triple. The strategies for experience mod management that were effective with the primary loss ceiling at $5,000 may no longer apply. As the rules of the game change, savvy managers will change with them.

NCCI Update