Keep on your toes when behind the wheel in Phoenix.

Phoenix and its surrounding cities

When driving in Phoenix, the more defensive you can drive the better. With almost 1/3 of the state’s accidents happening in just this one city, don’t tempt the odds that you won’t end up one of the unlucky ones by driving stupid.

Phoenix Car Accidents

Per the Arizona Department of Transportation, Phoenix had 31,052 car accidents in the year 2011. Of these accidents, 124 of them had fatalities and 10,408 of them had injuries. For the year, there were 129 people killed in car accidents with 51 of these fatalities from car accidents where alcohol was involved. So 41% of the fatalities from car accidents in Phoenix for 2011 were because of alcohol.

Compared to the rest of Arizona, there were 103,423 total car accidents across the state that year; meaning that 30% of all the car accidents in the state of Arizona happened in Phoenix. Phoenix also had 28% of the alcohol related accidents.

On the good side though, while Phoenix may have a lot of car accidents only 16% of the fatalities in Arizona happened in there.

Phoenix Drunk Driving Laws

The standard .08 blood alcohol concentration applies to regular drivers in Phoenix, like it does in most places across the nation. However, if you are driving a vehicle that requires a commercial license your blood alcohol concentration can be no higher than .04.

The penalties for getting caught violating these drunk driving laws can get pretty bad. You can be facing jail time, fines of around $1250.00, and have to have an ignition interlock device on you vehicle for 12 months to make sure you don’t do it again.

If you get caught more than once driving drunk in Phoenix, the penalties get even worse.(Arizona Department of Public Safety)

Mandatory Car Insurance in Phoenix

The state of Arizona regulates the car insurance requirements for the whole state, so Phoenix doesn’t have their own separate requirements. The minimum insurance requirements for Arizona include:

1. $10,000 in coverage for damage to another person’s property
2. $15,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for one person
3. $30,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for two or more people

These required coverages are extremely low compared to what is required in other states, and what the expenses associated with a car accident are. So before you just automatically go for the minimum car insurance requirements, talk to your Phoenix car insurance agent to find out if these coverages would actually protect you financially if you were to cause an accident.

Never a dull moment trying to drive and park in Philadelphia

Don’t rely on the resident’s “brotherly love” to keep you safe when driving around Philadelphia.

Lax cell phone bans, low insurance requirements, scary red light violation statistics, and strict parking enforcement makes for an interesting combination for drivers in Philadelphia. But don’t let these reasons prevent you from driving in the City of Brotherly Love. Just be more cautious than the state government requires people to be and you should be fine.

Less Distracted Driving Enforcement in Philadelphia

Prior to March 2012, Philadelphia had their own cell phone ban in affect that was much stricter than the statewide law on cell phones and driving. The Philadelphia law banned the complete use of cell phones no matter what while driving.

With the passing of a new law statewide that only bans texting, it overrules the stricter Philadelphia ban.

But for the sake of keeping you safe and not getting into an accident, don’t use your cell phone while driver…regardless of what the state or city law is.

Philadelphia Parking

When parking in Philadelphia, it is so very important to pay attention to the parking signs and the color of the parking meters.

The blue parking meters indicate the spot to be for those with handicap/disability license plates and placards only. If you park in one of these spots and do not have either the plate or the placard, you can get a $300 ticket on top of your vehicle getting towed.

For regular parking spots, they are never the same 24 hours a day. They can change from 2 hour parking during the day to 3 hour parking at night, or even to being a no parking zone during certain hours. Again, you will be qualifying yourself for a ticket and a tow if you are parked in the wrong spot at the wrong time, even if the parking spot was a legal spot when you parked your car.

Smile for the Philadelphia Red Light Cameras

Philadelphia likes its red light cameras. So if you have a habit of trying to get through a traffic light at the last minute or are a daydream driver, be prepared to help fund the Philadelphia Parking Authority who runs the cameras.

In just 2011, drivers in Philadelphia racked up 8,257 warnings for running red lights. These were just warnings telling them that they were being watched and not to do it again. The ones that weren’t so lucky and ended up with tickets had plenty of good company because there were 141,571 actual tickets issued for running red lights. Broken down, that means that there are 388 people a day running a red light in Philadelphia. Yikes!

Philadelphia Insurance Requirements

In Pennsylvania, all car insurance regulations are created and enforced on a statewide basis. So the insurance coverage required to drive in Philadelphia will be the same is all of the other cities in the state.

These insurance requirements include:

• Bodily injury liability coverage of $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident
• Medical payments coverage of $5,000
• Property damage liability coverage of $5,000

With just the information above on the red light traffic violations, you may want to consider higher insurance coverages than what the state requires to make sure you are really protected while driving in Philadelphia.

Houston is home to 10% of all the crashes in Texas each year, so it’s important to know how to stay safe.

Welcome to Houston

People new to driving in Houston will tell you that it is unlike any other driving experience they have had before, even if they have driven in other major cities. To keep yourself safe, make sure you know how to get around before you get there and that you have an adequate amount of insurance. With a little bit of luck and safe driving skills you can prevent yourself from becoming one of the crash statistics.

Houston Crash Statistics

In the city of Houston in 2011, there were a total of 38,538 car accidents. Of these accidents only 177 were fatal. Now, it is a bad thing to even have one fatal crash but to have fatal crashes make up less than a ½ percent of the total accidents that happen in a major city is excellent.

The bulk of the accidents that happened in 2011 were non-injury accidents (23,390) and minor injury accidents (9,281).

Compared to the rest of the state, there were 2,751 fatal crashes out of 381,463 total car accidents in the state of Texas in 2011. Percentage wise, this is higher than Houston’s fatality rate but is still less than 1%.

Unfortunately for Houston though, their total accident numbers mean that 10% of the accidents that happened in the state of Texas in 2011 happened in Houston. (Texas Department of Transportation)

Houston Carpool Lanes

Officially these lanes are known as HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes, but most of us know them still as the carpool lane. For those that are not from larger cities or have never heard of these lanes, they are special lanes on the freeway that allow cars with multiple people in them pass the rest of traffic. They were originally used as a reward for driving somewhere together with someone else (like work), because that meant you were doing your part to get more vehicles off the road.

In Houston however, they didn’t have enough people taking advantage of the HOV lane so they came up with a new plan that drivers new to the city need to be aware of. These HOV lanes are now also called HOT lanes.

HOT lanes allow drivers with no passengers drive in the HOV lane during specific periods of time and certain traffic situations to ease traffic congestion. The catch? To be able to drive in these lanes you have to pay a toll each time you decide to drive in one.

For more information on how to use these HOT lanes and how to pay the toll, visit the ridemetro.org website.

Houston Insurance Laws

In the state of Texas, drivers are only required to carry insurance that would pay for the damages to another person from an accident they cause. Since insurance laws are statewide, Houston abides by these laws instead of having their own.

Texas minimum insurance requirements include:

• $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

If you are caught driving around Houston without insurance coverage you could face fines from $175 to $1,000. So be safe, drive careful, and carry insurance when you are driving in Houston.

When driving in Chicago, hold on to your hats and watch out for bicyclists.

Welcome to Chicago.

Driving in a large city like Chicago can be scary. But as long as you pay attention to street signs, other drivers, and bicyclists you will be able to do it. And if not, that’s why you have insurance.

Chicago Cell Phone Use Laws

The entire state of Illinois, not just Chicago, has strict laws in regards to cellphone use and they are trying to get even more passed. Currently the laws you need to be aware of include:

• Any drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using any type of wireless phone, even with a hands-free device.
• No texting, emailing, or any other activity your cell phone is capable of doing is allowed while driving.
• Cell phones use is strictly prohibited in construction zones and school zones.
• No one is allowed to take pictures or video within 500 feet of an emergency scene on any wireless device.
• Drivers may talk on cell phones as long as they are using a hands-free device.

Parking in Chicago

Just like with any other city, parking is at a premium and visitors need to be prepared pay up if they want to use a parking lot. If parking on the street, pay close attention to the parking signs as there are many spots where there is no parking during rush hour traffic to make more room on the roads for moving cars. Tow trucks do prowl these areas and will not hesitate to hook your vehicle up immediately if they find you.

Parking tickets can also result for parking where you are not supposed to, as well as possible damage to your car from someone trying to get around it. Damage to your car in this case would be your fault because you are parked in a no parking zone.

Chicago Bicyclists

Bicyclists are very prevalent in Chicago, so drivers need to be on the lookout for them. They have their own road lanes in Chicago where it is illegal to both drive and park in or you will be ticketed. Bicyclists also don’t always follow the rules of the road, and while it may not be your fault that you hit a person on a bike that was breaking the law you still don’t want to live with that.

Car Insurance in Chicago

Car insurance in Chicago is regulated by the state of Illinois, not the city. But to be able to drive legally in Chicago, a driver must carry no less than:

• $20,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for a single person
• $40,000 in bodily injury liability coverage for two or more people in a single accident
• $15,000 in property damage coverage

It is highly recommended that you carry more than what the state mandates because these minimums are not much. However, that’s it between you and your Chicago insurance agent.

Los Angeles is not only the highest populated city in California it also ranks the highest in a number of accident categories.

Dropping your car insurance is never a good idea in Los Angeles.

With a population of 3.8 million, you would expect Los Angeles to have a higher number of accidents than other cities in California. Not only does it meet this expectation, but it exceeds it; even when compared to other cities close to its size. So if you are thinking about driving around L.A. without car insurance, you may want to think twice after reading this.

Car Accident Statistics in Los Angeles

In 2010, Los Angeles had 29,354 accidents that resulted in fatalities or injuries per the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). Of these accidents 2,681 involved a pedestrian, and 2,040 of them involved a person on a bicycle. So 16% of the accidents that had a fatality or injury in Los Angeles involved people that weren’t even in a car.

According to the OTS, these numbers cause the city of Los Angeles to rank as the #1 city of its size for total accidents that had a fatality or an injury. It also ranked #3 for having the highest number of pedestrian involved accidents, as well as #2 for the number of bicycle involved accidents.

But, it’s not just the pedestrians and bicyclist that have it hard in this city; apparently drivers that cause accidents in Los Angeles take irresponsibility to the extreme as the city also ranks #1 for the number of hit-and-run accidents. In just 2010, L.A. had 3,275 accidents that resulted in an injury or fatality where the other driver didn’t stick around after they caused the accident and left others to deal with the damage they caused.

I’m not sure about you, but it sure enforces my feelings that L.A. is a nice place to visit, but not live.

Fun Driving Facts about Los Angeles

Los Angeles has some interesting driving laws that aren’t seen in a lot of other parts in the country. If you are ever visiting, you may want to take note of these laws to save yourself from getting an expensive ticket to add to the rest of your travel expenses:

• It is illegal to smoke with a minor child in the car (actually a California wide law).
• Pay special attention to the Carpool Lanes as the rules on how many you are required to have in your car and what vehicles are allowed can change from one freeway to another, and even within the same freeway.
• You are not allowed to honk your horn at another driver unless an accident is imminent.
• Pedestrians have the right-a-way at all intersections even if there is no crosswalk (this probably explains the high number of pedestrian and bicycle related injury accidents).

Los Angeles Insurance Requirements

Los Angeles insurance requirements are set forth by the state, so there are no different requirements once you get into the city limits. State of California insurance requirements include:

• $5,000 for property damage liability coverage
• $30,000 for bodily injury liability coverage total
• $15,000 for bodily injury liability coverage for one person

Compared to other states, California’s insurance requirements are small but they are very strictly enforced by an electronic database. Any California resident caught without insurance will have their vehicle registration suspended, receive a ticket, and could also have their vehicle impounded. So if you are a resident and you wish to keep driving around, make sure you stay compliant.

Just as a side note, you also might want to consider carrying uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage if you drive in Los Angeles a lot, to protect you from all of those hit-and-run drivers.