The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimate that the societal cost of Drowsy driving is $109 billion. Our present day society is driven with distractions and survive on a lot less than the required amount of sleep. Approximately 84 million people survive on less than seven hours of sleep per day. This has attributed to an estimated 5000 people killed each year in Drowsy related crashes. This would amount for seven percent of all crashes. The groups that make up the Drowsy driving groups were identified are First responders, Law enforcement, Health care workers, New parents, Teens and young adults, Shift and night workers and people suffering from sleep disorders. It was also found that there is a correlation between these groups and some commonalities. First, the group’s accidents normally occur on high speed roads, mostly later in the evening and no evidence of braking. It normally involves only one car and results in serious injuries or death.

Well, now that we are aware that there is a problem, the next step is problem resolution. The strategy is to educate the driving public, legislation and of course auto engineering as is the case with Tesla and their driverless car. Google and Apple have been rumored to have a driverless car in the works. On the legislative front we can expect new laws tabled to address driver fatigue. New Jersey and Arkansas are the only states with Drowsy driving laws on the books. We can expect states to be vigilant in enforcing laws to curtail this new problem of increasing concern. We at County Insurance Group take pride in educating our customers. Affordable Auto Insurance Coverage, Affordable Home and Commercial Insurance Coverage is our specialty.

Florida Regulators Approve Rate Increase for Citizens Policyholders

We at County Insurance Group have our pulse on what is going on in the insurance industry. Our focus is on providing affordable auto insurance, affordable home insurance and affordable commercial insurance coverage. So, when the The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation approves a 6.4 percent overall rate increase for 2017 for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. we are the first to communicate that to you. Homeowners across the state will get an increase which has been necessary to address what it calls a disturbing increase in "Non-Weather Water Loss claims and litigation".  

State insurance regulators made adjustments to Citizens 2017 rate request following a public hearing in August, making minor reductions to Citizens loss trends for homeowners multiperil rates while accepting Citizens’ proposal regarding increases in rates for wind-only coverage.

The effective date for both new and renewal rates within the Personal Lines Account (PLA) and Coastal Account (CA) is February 1, 2017. Rate filing decisions for the commercial residential and commercial non-residential accounts are still pending.