Driving on Halloween can be full of tricks while the children are out looking for treats.

Keep an eye out for trick-or-treaters while driving on Halloween.

Halloween is here again which means little ghosts and princesses will soon be wandering the neighborhood in search of Halloween treats. Because these children only have their costumes and candy on the mind this night, it is up to us adult drivers to make sure that they are safe while on the road.

We here at Car Insurance Guidebook want to wish everyone a happy and fun Halloween. We also hope that you will be safe and would like to offer the following advice for driving on Halloween.

Watch For the Kids While Driving on Halloween

Per the Center for Disease Control, children are more likely to be killed as a pedestrian by a car on Halloween than at any other time of the year. They are excited and paying attention to cars driving on Halloween is the last thing on their minds. They are also dressed up for the holiday and most Halloween costumes are dark and hard to see.

To prevent hitting a trick-or-treater, slow down while you are driving in neighborhoods. Be especially vigilant of little ones walking along the side of the road and stop when it looks like there is a child wanting to cross the street. It is better to stop and let them cross than them running out in front of you while you are driving on Halloween.

No Distracted Driving on Halloween

Anytime you drive it is important to not let other distractions take your mind or your eyes off the road, this is especially important while driving on Halloween. Looking down at your cell phone to read a text is enough time to hit a trick-or-treater that has ran out in front of you on the road.

This is definitely not a situation that you want to find yourself in. The legal issues, financial issues and not to mention the lifetime of guilt that result from hitting a child with your car. All started because you were distracted while driving on Halloween.

Driving on Halloween in Costume

Adults like to get dressed up on Halloween also and there is nothing wrong with that. Usually we are dressed up for a party though instead of trick-or-treating. If you are driving on Halloween to a party, keep in mind any restrictions your costume may put on your driving ability:

• Don’t drive wearing a mask.
• Don’t drive if your makeup is running into your eyes.
• Pull over if fake hair or eyelashes have detached and are in your eye.
• Don’t drive if your costume is extremely bulky and gets in the way of operating your car.
• Don’t drive if your costume is so tight that you can’t move to be able to drive your car.
• Remove gloves that reduce your grip on the steering wheel.
• Wear shoes that allow you to operate the pedals of your car.

Don’t Drink and Drive

There are going to be enough additional obstacles on the road while driving on Halloween that you don’t need to be driving drunk. Not only should you keep the safety of the kids in mind, also remember that police departments usually put out additional patrols on Halloween. They do this to crack down on drunk driving on Halloween and will be looking for those that do.

If you get caught driving drunk you can look forward to the treat of having your insurance premium increase. A DUI is not something that insurance companies are in the habit of forgiving even if it is your first offense. If you are a multiple DUI offender and you still are able to keep your license; you may lose your insurance coverage.

So don’t take a chance and stay sober while you are driving on Halloween.

When a car is driving along the highway and hits debris on the road, who is at fault?

This scenario happens over and over every day all over the nation and there is no single answer to this situation. Most of the answers that are given by the insurance company in this case are also not the ones that you want to hear. So let’s jump into the 3 possible scenarios of hitting debris on the road and where the responsibility for the accident falls.

New Construction Debris

If you are driving down the road and a piece of construction debris falls into the road in front of you and you hit it, the construction company is at fault for the accident. They caused a situation that you could not avoid as it happened in front of you and too quickly for you to react. It is your duty at the scene of the accident to get the information of the construction company so that your insurance company will have someone to subrogate against.

Debris Off a Vehicle

If you hit a piece of debris that has fallen off of a vehicle in front of you, the scenario is the same as it is for the one above. The person in front of you is at fault for the accident as it is their duty to maintain a safe vehicle. It can be hard, but it is in your best interest to get the license plate number of the vehicle that lost the item you hit.

Debris Already in the Road

Okay, this is the one that is hotly contested by many people and I am just relaying the information so no angry emails. I don’t make the rules, heck I am not even affiliated with an insurance company that does.

If you hit a piece of debris in the middle of the road, in more cases than not, the insurance company is going to mark it as an at-fault accident. You hit the object with your vehicle; it was not moving and did not hit you. Also the insurance company is going to contend that if you hit it and did not see it, you were driving too fast for conditions or you would have been able to avoid the debris.

I know that in most situations that there is no way to avoid the debris and hitting it will actually cause less damage than swerving and hitting another car. But, this is the stance that most insurance companies take. If you feel that you situation warrants a different categorization, contact the insurance company that you filed the claim with to discuss. If you get nowhere with them, you can always talk to the Insurance Commissioner or Department of Insurance in your state about trying to get it changed.

To protect your right to go to court you have to carry some form of New Jersey car insurance.

The level of insurance you purchase in New Jersey determines your right to sue.

New Jersey car insurance has a little something for everyone. They offer multiple levels of coverage so that all drivers can obtain some form of insurance coverage. From the coverage available on a standard New Jersey car insurance policy that most people buy to coverage on a SAIP policy for people on Medicaid.

Required Minimum NJ Car Insurance Coverage

The basic New Jersey car insurance coverage provides the very minimal insurance coverage that a driver can get away with carrying and still legally drive in that state. The plan was put together so that people could afford to buy the insurance required to drive. The coverage provided on the basic New Jersey car insurance policy is the required personal injury protection of $15,000 per person and $5,000 for liability property damages.

New Jersey Special Automobile Insurance Policy (SAIP)

New Jersey car insurance has a special policy for those that have low incomes that would normally have trouble purchasing insurance to be able to drive. This SAIP policy is only for those whose income qualifies them for Medicaid (with hospitalization coverage) and provides insurance to them at a discounted amount.

This special New Jersey car insurance coverage only covers medical related expenses resulting from an accident. It offers no protection to any damages that you may cause to the other person’s property or to your own.

No Right to Sue

One of the biggest arguments that people use for not having insurance is that they are safe drivers and don’t need it. They reason that if they get into an accident that it will be the other person’s fault and that they can sue them for damages.

New Jersey car insurance law has very effectively taken care of this excuse not to carry insurance. The law states that if you don’t have the required insurance coverage that you cannot sue the other party that may be at-fault for an accident you are in. To obtain this right back, you don’t need to carry comprehensive and collision coverage on your vehicle you just have to be carrying the minimum New Jersey car insurance that the state requirements.

Right To Sue

New Jersey car insurance offers two options in regards to having the right to sue the other party for pain and suffering after a car accident. If you purchase a standard New Jersey car insurance policy, one with higher limits than the basic New Jersey car insurance policy, you are given the option of choosing the cheaper “Limited Right to Sue” and the more expensive “Unlimited Right to Sue”.

Under the “Unlimited Right to Sue” you can take the other party to court for any injury that they may have caused you in an accident. Under the “Limited Right to Sue” option you can only take the other person to court for certain injuries that resulted from the accident that they caused.

These injuries include:

• Losing a body part

• Loss of an unborn baby

• Disfigurement or scaring that is significant

• Displaced Fracture

• Any injury considered permanent

• Death

(New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance)

If you have any questions, please talk to your agent about the level of New Jersey car insurance that you need to adequately protect yourself.

The General Auto Insurance plays to the technology fans and tries to score a touchdown by advertising a very low insurance premium.

Summary

Commercial opens with a computer animated general in a football uniform (complete with 5 stars on his football helmet). He is throwing a football and at the bottom of the screen is the phone number and web address to contact The General Auto Insurance.

Announcer: The General scores again and again with super low monthly payments for auto insurance.

On screen we watch the General complete one football move after another. On the screen the “Monthly Payment As Low As $39” shows. The screen changes to a penguin in a Ref uniform with “No Personal Information Required” on the screen.

Announcer: Just go to thegeneral.com on your tablet, computer or Smartphone.

On screen we watch as the penguin and the General show examples of the different devices that you can use to contact The General Auto Insurance.

Announcer: Or call us for a fast free quote.

Screen changes to the view of an empty football stadium and field with the name, contact information, legal disclaimer for The General Auto Insurance. On screen is the “As Low As $39” once again.

Announcer: Right now you can get insured and stay insured for as little as 39 dollars a month. Find out how low your monthly payment can be and get instant proof of insurance.

The General kicks the football and makes a touchdown.

Screen changes to the General driving down the road in a sports car and more information for The General Auto Insurance is shown on screen again.

The General: For a great low rate you can get online go to The General and save some time.

Point of the Commercial

The commercial has two points that The General Auto Insurance is trying to get across. First, The General Auto Insurance is really playing up their online presence and how easy it is for someone to get a quote from them.

Second, The General Auto Insurance is playing to the low rates that they have. With the other insurance companies they point out that they can save you a certain percentage over the other companies. Rarely do you hear a company announcing what their rates start at.

What They Want you to Do

The General Auto Insurance is definitely an online type of insurance company. They are the only insurance company that I have ever seen mention using your Smartphone and tablet to contact them. Usually you only hear “visit us online” when an insurance company is encouraging online contact.

The General Auto Insurance does throw in their phone number a couple of time as well. This is more than likely for those that still do not use computers or the internet as they don’t want to leave out the potential insurance dollars of that demographic.

My Opinion

I am not a big fan of computer graphic cartoons that look like this. I guess you can blame it on the high standards that companies like Disney and DreamWorks has perched me at. I think the only thing that I do like about this insurance is that The General Auto Insurance does something new by encouraging you to contact them on your Smartphone or tablet. Unfortunately, this is not enough to redeem this particular commercial from The General Auto Insurance for me.

I would give this commercial from The General Auto Insurance a thumbs down.

Keeping a lookout for police cars won’t necessarily save you from a speeding ticket anymore, now that speed cameras are becoming popular.

A computerized camera catching speeders without a police officer in sight.

Speed cameras have been around for quite some time so their use in detecting speeders is nothing new. But, the newest and most technologically advanced generation of speed cameras are capable of being mounted in a fixed position to catch and photograph speeders. They do not need to be staffed with an officer and they work 24 hours a day.

They are also causing a lot of controversy.

What Are Speed Cameras?

Speed cameras are exactly what they sound like, cameras that take pictures of you speeding. When speed cameras detect that you are over the speed limit, they take a picture of you and your vehicle. The picture will include the face of the driver, and collects enough information on the vehicle to be able to identify it and the owner.

Once the ticket is processed it is mailed to the owner of the vehicle. If you were not the one driving and are not in the picture as the driver, it is still your responsibility to provide proof of your innocence. You can defend yourself by requesting a hearing and then challenging that you were not the driver that was in the speed camera’s photo.

How do Speed Cameras Detect Speeding?

The two most popular speed cameras that are in use by law enforcement today detect your speed from point A to point B. Some speed cameras require sensors at point A and point B to be placed in the road for the camera to be tripped as a speeding car goes by.

Other speed cameras use a mathematical approach. They use the calculated average speed by knowing how far apart point A and point B are and then calculating how long it takes you to move between the two points.

As you can see both types of speed cameras operate pretty much the same, one is just a little more technologically advanced than the other.

How Do Speed Camera’s Affect My Insurance?

Getting a speeding violation in the mail is no different than getting one directly from a police officer. You still have the option of just paying it or requesting a hearing. Just because it was given by a computer doesn’t change the process.

If the violation ends up on your driving record, you can be sure to see an increase in your insurance rates just like with any other speeding ticket. Of course, the increase very heavily depends on your insurance company and how many other violations you have on your driving record. Some insurance companies forgive the first violation so if this is your first you wouldn’t see an increase, if your insurance company does this.

Too many of these speeding tickets will send you to the land of high-risk insurance where there is little forgiveness.

The Speed Camera Controversy

Speed cameras are in much higher use in Europe than they are here in the United State at this time. The people in Europe hate them and they are getting the same sentiments here in the states. Even city and state governments can’t make up their mind to use them or not. Some states like Arizona started using them, then stopped and now have started using them again.

The controversy behind these cameras is that people complain that they are not accurate, they are a violation of our constitutional rights and also that it is all a big money making scam to get more tax payer money.

Whether or not these are legitimate arguments against speed cameras is not for us here to say.