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Jacksonville Car Insurance and Traffic Violations

Written by Todd Clay. Posted in Research Last Updated: 05/04/2013

Jacksonville car insurance will keep you out of trouble with some traffic violations, but not all of them.

jacksonville car insurance

Jacksonville car insurance makes this site even more beautiful to drive on because you are protected.

Jacksonville is Florida’s largest city, but it still makes up only a small portion of the state’s total population. It makes up an even smaller portion of all the traffic violations in Florida during the year, including tickets for both moving violations and insurance compliance.

Jacksonville Traffic Violations

The population of Duval County in 2012, where Jacksonville is located, had a population of 879,602 citizens. Compared to the entire state of Florida that has a population of 19,317,568, this small county only makes up 4.5% of Florida’s total population. (US Census Bureau)

And apparently they aren’t all that bad of drivers, as even though they make up 4.5% of Florida’s population, they only received 3% of the state’s traffic citations in 2012. Now, that 1.5% difference between the traffic violation and population may not sound like much. But in actual numbers, for Duvall County to match their violations with their population they would have had to earn 67,497 more traffic violations than they did. (Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles)

That’s one more violation for every 13th person in that county. So that 1.5% makes more of a difference than it looks at first.

Jacksonville Traffic Fines

If you are one of the few unlucky Jacksonville residents that get a ticket in Duval County, or a resident from anywhere for that matter, you can expect the following fines:

Speeding 1-9mph over the speed limit = $129.00

Speeding 10-14mph over the speed limit = $204.00

Speeding 15-19mph over the speed limit = $254.00

Speeding 20-29mph over the speed limit = $279.00

Speeding 30mph over the speed limit = Duval County doesn’t even list the fines at this point; you get to go to court to find out what you will be paying in person.

If you choose to drive without valid Jacksonville car insurance, your fine alone will be $114.00.

Jacksonville Car Insurance

Insurance laws for Jacksonville, Florida require that all drivers carry 2 specific coverages. First they have to carry no less than $10,000 in personal injury protection coverage. This coverage is to pay for the medical expenses for the driver and passengers in a vehicle from a car accident, regardless of who is at fault.

Second, $10,000 in property damage liability coverage is also required. This coverage pays for damages to another person’s property that you may damage with your car.

Insurance in Jacksonville is actually regulated by the state of Florida and not the city. It’s the state that creates the new insurance laws and also enforces the laws by making sure that all registered vehicle owners have the required insurance.

If drivers refuse to comply with the required insurance law, they can lose their driver’s license, vehicle registration and have to pay a reinstatement fee that ranges from $150 to $500. Mandatory insurance laws are enforceable by any law enforcement department in Florida, including the Jacksonville Police.

Keeping Up To Date With San Jose Driving Laws Will Keep You Driving

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Research Last Updated: 05/02/2013

Keep your insurance current, stay up to date on driving laws, and you won’t have a problem driving in San Jose.

san jose

San Jose Driving

Unless you live in California, most people have no idea where San Jose is. Many people figure it to be in the southernmost part of the state due to its Spanish name, but they would be wrong. San Jose is actually located just to the southeast of San Francisco.

Like any other city in the state, it has the same insurance rules and a mix of state and city driving laws. But for its population, it has a rather low fatality rate for car accidents; which is a good thing for everyone.

San Jose Car Insurance Requirements

Every state that makes up the U.S. creates the insurance laws for the drivers within the boundaries of their state to follow. This means that insurance rules and regulations are the same throughout the entire state, freeing the cities and towns from having to create their own insurance laws. Quite frankly this makes it easier for drivers, since they only have to know the insurance laws for the state and not for each town and city they may move to or drive through.

In the state of California, if a person wants to register a vehicle they must have at least the minimum amount of insurance that the state requires. For California, the insurance coverage minimum is $15,000 in bodily injury liability coverage per person you injure, $30,000 in bodily injury coverage total if you injure more than one person, and $5,000 to help repair any damage you cause with your vehicle.

San Jose Traffic Laws

Even though insurance laws are always the same from one city to the next, many traffic laws are not. Here are some laws (city and state) to keep in mind when driving through San Jose so that you don’t get a ticket and end up with higher insurance rates:

  • No texting
  • No cell phones unless using a hands-free device
  • If you are under 18, you are not allowed to touch any wireless device, including your cell phone, when driving.
  • You are not allowed to use any spray coating on your license plate that impairs an electronic law enforcement device, like a red light camera, from reading and recognizing your plate.
  • Driving or not, you cannot smoke in your vehicle if there is a minor inside also.
  • If the weather is bad enough that you have to use your windshield wipers, then you also must turn on your headlights.

San Jose Crash Statistics

Per the California Highway Patrol, there were 3,049 car accidents in San Jose In 2010 that resulted in property damage. There were also 3,646 injuries and 36 fatalities from car accidents that same year. Compared to the rest of the county that San Jose is in (Santa Clara), the traffic fatalities in San Jose made up 43% of the total fatalities for the entire county.

However, compared to other large cities, only having 36 traffic fatalities in an entire year is something for San Jose to be proud of.

Don’t Mess With…Dallas?

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Research Last Updated: 05/02/2013

Dallas is doing everything they can to make it safer to drive in their city

Dallas

Keeping driving beautiful in Dallas.

The City of Dallas isn’t messing around when it comes with making their street safer for drivers. They strictly enforce speed limits, having insurance coverage, as well as many other traffic laws. So if you choose to drive through Dallas, make sure you are doing what you are supposed to and you won’t have any trouble getting around.

Dallas Lead Foots

Attention all drivers that have a lead foot! Speeding in Dallas can be costly.

If you are caught doing just 1-10 over the speed limit, your fine is only going to be $97.00. However, Dallas also tacks on an additional $97.10 in costs, essentially doubling the price of the ticket now to $194.10. Thanks to the fees, a ticket for 11-15 over the speed limit is $219.10, over 16-19 is $244.10, and finally more than 20 over the speed limit will make you the proud owner of a $297.10 traffic ticket.

Get caught speeding in a school zone?

Doing 1-10 over the limit is going to cost you $239.10, 11-15 will be $264.10, and 16-19 will put you $289.10 in the hole. If you are caught going 20 mph or more over the speed limit in a school zone you deserve a lot more than the $322.10 ticket you will have to pay.

Dallas Car Insurance Requirements

The City of Dallas strictly enforces the insurance requirements that are set by the State of Texas. Even though Dallas doesn’t determine what the minimum amounts of insurance coverage are to be able to drive in their city, you are going to be in a whole lot of trouble if you aren’t carrying at least:

$30,000 in bodily injury coverage for a single person for medical expenses

$60,000 in bodily injury coverage for two or more people for medical expenses

$25,000 in property damage coverage

Say Goodbye to Your Car in Dallas

As of January 1, 2009, if you are pulled over by an officer from the Dallas Police Department and are caught with no car insurance coverage you can say goodbye to your car. The police officer will not only issue you a citation, but you will not be allowed to drive any further with your vehicle as they will immediately have it towed away.

This stricter law was put in place because police officers were issuing 75,000 uninsured motorist citations a year. It used to be that you were only towed if you got into an accident and were uninsured. But they had to crack down because they were so many people going without car insurance, making it unfair and costly to those that followed the law and carried the required coverage.

Once your vehicle gets towed, you have to go to the impound lot show proof that you have insurance and also paid all the fines and fees (including impound and towing) before you are allowed to drive that vehicle on the Dallas streets once again.

Surf, Sun, and Driving in San Diego

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Research Last Updated: 05/02/2013

Driving in San Diego can be a safe and entertaining experience

san diego

One of the many beautiful views of San Diego.

San Diego is the last large city on Interstate 5 before you reach Mexico. The weather is gorgeous all year long, they have beautiful beaches, tons of stuff to keep you entertained, and some very entertaining driving laws.

But aside from the entertainment, driving in San Diego is fairly safe. For the huge population they have in that area and hours of rush hour traffic they see, you would think things would be a little more dangerous than they are in terms of car accidents.

Interesting San Diego Driving Laws

Driving laws are created to protect us, but there are just some that make you scratch your head when you read the actual wording of the law. For example:

If there is a sign stating that the road is closed or no one is to drive on the road, it is illegal for you to do so. Oh by the way, per San Diego municipal code 84.02 you aren’t allowed to drive or ride an animal on these roads either.

This one was too good not to share word for word:

“Vehicles on Private Property

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or drive or leave any vehicle in, over, or upon any private property without the written permission of the owner thereof, or the person entitled to the immediate possession thereof, or the authorized agent of either.

(b) Whenever any person is stopped by a peace officer pursuant to this section, he or she shall, upon the request of such peace officer, display said written permission.”

Don’t forget to keep that written permission with your vehicle registration, your driver’s license, and your insurance verification. And don’t think you can get out of it by hanging your vehicle “over” that private property.

San Diego County Crash Statistics

In 2011, San Diego County car accidents resulted in 200 fatalities for the entire county. For being a county with a population of 3.1 million that is an excellent statistic. Of these 200 fatalities 66 of them were due to a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher and 83 of these fatalities were a result of a vehicle driving faster than the speed limit.

Other crash fatality statistics in 2011:

  • 11 Bicyclists
  • 42 Pedestrians
  • 47 Motorcyclists

Of all the vehicles involved in fatal accidents, the majority of them (127) were single vehicle accidents

San Diego Car Insurance Requirements

If you cause a car accident like one of the ones above, you had better hope that you have enough insurance to cover the expenses you have become liable for. While the state requires that you don’t have to carry any more than 15/30/5* in liability coverage, these minimums don’t even come close to paying for the expenses you will be responsible for if you cause a fatality.

Any expenses that are remaining after you have maxed out these low insurance limits are your personal responsibility.

There are also no additional San Diego insurance requirements that drivers have to be worried about having, as the State of California handles the insurance rules and regulations for the entire state.

*$15,000 in bodily liability injury coverage for one person you injure or kill, $30,000 total for the injuries or fatality of two or more people, and $5,000 in property damage coverage.

Playing By San Antonio’s Driving Rules

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Research Last Updated: 05/02/2013

San Antonio is not joking when it comes to enforcing traffic laws.

san antonio

At least when you see San Antonio by boat you don’t have to worry about getting a traffic ticket.

Tickets in San Antonio can cost you anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to over $1000. But most important of all is that these laws that San Antonio put in place to force you to drive safe, also help prevent you from getting in a car accident. So obey the traffic laws and then you won’t end up as one of San Antonio’s crash statistics.

Crash Statistics for San Antonio

The year 2011 brought with It 28,212 car accidents in the city of San Antonio. Of these thousands of accidents, only 107 of them were fatal (111 fatalities total).

Compared to the rest of the Lone Star state, San Antonio fatalities only made up 3.5% of the total fatalities across the state. This runs right along with San Antonio only having 4% of the serious accidents in Texas that year, as well.

San Antonio Traffic Tickets

Getting caught speeding in San Antonio will only cost you around $166 for the first 10 mph that you are going over the speed limit. Going faster than that and get caught? You are looking at an addition $5.00 for every mile per hour you are over the speed limit.

So if you are caught doing 30 mph over the limit, you are looking at a ticket of about $266.00.

Decide to get in a hurry in a construction zone? Those tickets start at $235 and go up $10 every mile per hour you are over the speed limit.

San Antonio Car Insurance Requirements

Driving without insurance anywhere in the nation at this point is illegal. The only exception being certain sections of Alaska, but that state is a long ways away from Texas. So while you are driving in Texas, you must be carrying at least the state minimum requirements to be driving your vehicle legally.

The insurance requirements include:

  • Property damage liability coverage of no less than $25,000
  • Bodily injury liability coverage of no less than $30,000 for one person and $60,000 for two of more people

Because insurance is regulate by the state, insurance coverage is the same everywhere within the state’s borders; there is no special insurance coverage needed for driving in San Antonio.

San Antonio Fines for No Insurance

If you think paying for insurance coverage is expensive, it’s nothing compared to the fines that San Antonio will charge you for not having it.

The first time you are caught without insurance, the fines range from $175 to $350. Get caught again and the fine starts at $350 and go up as high as $1000, not to mention you would also lose your license and your vehicle gets impounded at this point.

If you are really feel like pushing the envelope, get caught without both a driver’s license and insurance coverage. Not having either one will land you in jail for 180 days and/or a hefty $2,000 fine.

But as long as you play by the rules while driving in San Antonio, you won’t have to worry about any of these fines.

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Car Insurance Guidebook Unravels the Car Insurance Mystery

Unless you work in the car insurance industry, the topic is probably a mystery to you. The words deductible, comprehensive, collision, liability, premium, loss of use and bodily injury are all gibberish when they reach your ears.

Unfortunately, insurance is something that you are required to have by law if you want to drive. Because of how confusing it is many people go around in almost an insurance daze while they get car insurance quotes from the auto insurance companies that they have heard of. In reality, they are completely lost as to what they are actually buying.

Instead of looking at what each insurance company offers in the terms of protection for both themselves and their car, they are instead looking for cheap car insurance. Finding the cheapest car insurance coverage makes having to buy the required product all that much less painful, but misses the whole point of having insurance.

Learning about insurance through your insurance agent or websites like Car Insurance Guidebook will give you the upper hand when you looking for car insurance. You can take your knowledge and not only find the best price for insurance, you can use it to find really great insurance to protect you and your assets. Then you aren’t stuck settling for just average car insurance that can hurt you financially if you ever need it because there isn’t enough protection.

For example, when looking for insurance the car insurance rates are just the first of many factors that need to be taken into account when you are shopping around for car insurance. You also need to take into account the type of vehicle that you are driving. Many people don’t know this.

Are you driving around a vehicle that is a new sedan and can be protected under any blanket insurance policy? Or do you have an old car that you fixed up that needs special protection and could be better covered under classic car insurance?

Don’t just assume that when you compare car insurance that it will be a one-size-fits-all policy. This is where the insurance knowledge will come in handy; you will know what you need to protect yourself and your vehicle.

You will understand what your insurance agent is talking about when they use insurance terms and you will actually be able to make an informed decision. This is much better for you instead of the “nod and smile” approach people take in their insurance agent’s office.

Also just like your life changes your insurance needs will change. This year you may just need to learn about the best deductible to have. Next year you may need to educate yourself on car insurance for young drivers. As the years pass, motorcycle insurance may be something you will need to know.

Many wise people say that you never stop learning, so take their advice and educate yourself on the insurance that you spend a lot of money on and can’t get away with not having.