The Dangers of Keyless Ignitions

It’s highly probable that, at least once in your life, you've been stuck outside of your locked car staring through the window at the keys hanging out of your ignition. With keyless ignitions and pushbutton starts, some drivers are free from the fear of being stuck outside of the car, looking in. Unfortunately, they may have other things to worry about.

How Keyless Ignitions Work

When you have a keyless ignition, you’re given a key fob to carry that sends a message to your car that it is permissible to respond to the push of the start button. Because you never need to remove this fob from your purse or pocket, you practically erase the possibility that you could ever get locked out of your car. And since the fob is required to start the car, you also reduce the possibility of your vehicle being stolen.

So what’s the negative here? Well, since there is currently no requirement that a keyless car be placed in park before it’s turned off, there is a risk that your vehicle could roll after you've shut it off. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data, this risk has been more of a reality for some individuals. Another dangerous reality reported to the Institute has been carbon monoxide poisoning after forgetting to shut off a keyless car.

Creating a New Habit

The old habit of putting your car in park, turning the key and pulling your keychain away from the ignition may now be a comfortable relic from your past, but it could also hold the answer to the avoidance of the dangerous risks mentioned above. By creating a new system of habits, you can more easily ensure that your car is safely parked and turned off when not in use. Design a habit that includes putting the car in park, activating the emergency brake, and powering down every time you stop driving. You may even consider not allowing yourself to turn off the radio until you've taken those three steps so that the sound of your radio becomes synonymous with your car running.

While keyless ignition vehicles may decrease the risk of theft, they do nothing to protect you from vandalism, innocent operational errors and acts of nature. For these reasons, it's important to make sure that you maintain the proper comprehensive insurance coverage on them. If you have questions about how keyless ignitions can affect your Columbus auto insurance, give us a call at 614-221-1500.

Safety Tips for Convertible Drivers

A convertible is a perfect car for summer but if you want to spend those lazy hazy days driving your car rather than nursing wounds you must learn how to safely operate the vehicle.

• Protect your eyes. When driving a convertible with the top down, it’s important that you keep your eyes protected. If you wear sunglasses while driving, that will serve as enough protection. Those who wear corrective lenses will be protected but may want to consider wearing a less expensive pair while driving so that if they get chipped they aren’t so pricey to replace.

• Never stand up. It's important when riding in a convertible or a car with a sun roof that no one is permitted to stand up while the car is in motion. While it’s an iconic move shown in many teen movies, it can result in injury as the standing passenger could be injured by tree limbs or debris. They could also serve to distract you or other drivers and, in the event of an accident, they will not be properly secured in the car or protected by airbags.

• Never raise or lower the roof while in motion. Instead, wait until the car is completely stopped.

• Raise the roof during inclement weather. If it begins to rain or there is lightning present as you drive, you should pull over and put the top up so that you do not ruin your interior or risk injury.

• Protect your ears. Recent studies have shown an increase in hearing loss in many drivers of convertibles who drive over 55 mph with the top down. Use ear plugs to help protect your ears or drive with the top down only in residential areas with low speed limits.

• Secure loose items in the car. When you begin driving with the top down, anything that is loose and light can be turned into a projectile with the force of the wind coming inside. To prevent this and the danger and distraction it causes, make sure everything is secured in the vehicle before you set out.

• Invest in liability, collision and comprehensive insurance coverage. Protect your savings from the expense of auto-related liabilities and damages to your convertible by investing in the right amount of auto insurance. Make sure you select deductibles that you can afford and limits that accurately reflect your potential financial risk.

When you’re ready to look at all the Ohio auto insurance policy options available to you for your convertible and all your other vehicles, give us a call at 614-221-1500.

Comparing Auto Policies and Rates - Ohio Auto Insurance

If you’re looking for a new auto insurance policy, your first instinct may be to compare premiums in order to make sure that you get the best price on your policy. Comparing rates alone, however, does not give you an accurate indication of which policy is the most cost effective, reliable, and best suited to your coverage needs. You can use this list as a guide to comparing policies and to help narrow down your choices:

 

1. Make sure you have comparable coverage options

Take a close look at the coverage options for all the policies quotes you’ve received. Make sure they have comparable features as well as offer you the protection most important to you.

 

2. Ensure you’re comparing similar limits and deductibles

Policy premiums will vary based on how you set limits and deductibles. It would not be a fair comparison putting a policy with high deductibles and low limits up against one with low deductibles and high limits. So when you do your comparison shopping you’ll need to be sure the deductibles and limits on each policy, for each coverage option, are similar.

 

3. Investigate your carrier’s A.M. Best Rating

Your policy is only as good as the insurance company that writes it. When comparing two different policy quotes from two different companies, don’t just focus on price, deductibles and coverages. You’ll want to investigate the 2 carriers A.M. Best rating to make sure they are equal in terms of financial stability.

 

4. Look for a good fit for your lifestyle

If you like to do business online, check to be sure you can contact customer service and make payments on a carrier’s website. If you prefer to talk on the phone, make sure there will be a customer service representative available to answer the phone when it fits into your schedule. Also, check out the different payment options available to you (automatic draft, check, the credit cards you carry, etc.) and choose the carrier that has the options that will fit your lifestyle.

 

5. And, finally, comparing the rates

Now that you’ve made sure  you have several similar policy quotes from different insurers, it’s time to actually compare the rates. Be sure to check out all of the premium types, the annual, semi-annual, quarterly and monthly, so you’ll have a good idea of the differences.
Once you’ve compared, investigated, and narrowed down your choices, you should finally come up with the policy that meets most, if not all, of your needs. Call us at 614-221-1500 for a free Ohio Auto Insurance quote.

How to Shop for a Safer Car

The internet has become one of our main sources of information and it is great for consumers who are interested in learning about keeping their family safe. However, at times, it can be overwhelming to try and figure out which sources to listen to and which to disregard.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is an independent, non-profit group that researches data that can help reduce highway accidents, injuries and crash deaths. The group is funded by auto insurers and provides a good educational materials and videos to better educate consumers.

Today, I am going to discuss one of their videos, Shopping for a Safer Car. This video gives an overview of all the safety features that you should look for when you go to buy a new automobile.

Size and Weight

Large, heavy vehicles offer more protection in crash because they have more structure with which to absorb the crash energy around you.  With that in mind, extra-large vehicle offer little additional protection and can actually cause more harm to other vehicles when involved in a crash. Finding a happy medium in terms of size and weight will keep your family safe while not increasing the potential damage you could cause others.

Structure and Restraint Systems

Automobiles with a strong safety cage and crumple zones are safer for you and your family. Automobiles with lap belts in addition to side and front airbags will do more to protect your body from injury.  It is also good to consider adjustable head restraints for whiplash prevention...

Continue reading "How to Shop for a Safer Car" or contact us at 614-221-1500 to learn more about Columbus auto insurance.

Columbus Auto Insurance - Ohio

What is Auto Insurance?

Ohio Auto insurance protects the policyholder against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between the policyholder and the insurance company. The policyholder agrees to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay his or her losses as defined in your policy.

Auto insurance provides typically three types of coverage:

• Property coverage pays for damage to or theft of the car.
• Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for property damage or bodily injury.
• Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages and funeral expenses.

An auto insurance policy is comprised of six different kinds of coverage. Most states require you to buy some, but not all, of these coverages. If you're financing a car, your lender may also have requirements.

Most auto policies are for six months or a year. Your insurance company should notify you by mail when it's time to renew the policy and to pay your premium.

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cincinnati and Cleveland. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city in the United States of America. It is the county seat of Franklin County, yet the city has expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County and Fairfield County. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. The city has a diverse economy based on education, government, insurance, banking, fashion, defense, aviation, food, clothes, logistics, steel, energy, medical research, health care, hospitality, retail, and technology. Modern Columbus has emerged as a technologically sophisticated city. It is home to the world's largest private research and development foundation, the Battelle Memorial Institute; CAS, or Chemical Abstracts Service, the world's largest clearinghouse of chemical information; NetJets, the world's largest fractional ownership jet aircraft fleet; and The Ohio State University, the nation's largest campus.

In 2009, BusinessWeek named the city as the best place in the country to raise a family. Forbes Magazine in 2008 ranked the city as the no. 1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation, and the city was ranked a top ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, fDi Magazine ranked the city no. 3 in the U.S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no. 1 in 2009 by USA Travel Guide.

In 2008, MarketWatch named Columbus as the 7th best place to do business in the nation. In 2011, the city had five corporations named to the U.S. Fortune 500 list including Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, Limited Brands, Momentive Specialty Chemicals, and Big Lots. Major foreign corporations operating or with divisions in the city include Germany-based Siemens and Roxane Laboratories, Finland-based Vaisala, Japan-based Techneglas, Inc., Tomasco Mulciber Inc., and A Y Manufacturing, as well as Switzerland-based ABB Group and Mettler Toledo.

The population of the city was 787,033 at the 2010 census. Although Columbus is the most populous city in Ohio, this is due to the city's relatively large territory (over 212 square miles (550 km2)), and not due to a high density rate. This explains why the Columbus metropolitan area has a relatively small population, and is smaller than both the Cleveland and Cincinnati metro areas. In 2008, Columbus was the 16th largest city in the United States, with 754,885 residents, but has only the 32nd largest metropolitan area, and the third most populous state capital in the U.S. 2008 estimates indicate that roughly 116,000 of the city's residents are foreign-born, accounting for 82% of the new residents between 2000-2006. According to the U.S. Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 1,773,120, and the Combined Statistical Area (which also includes Marion and Chillicothe) has a population of 2,031,229. Columbus is located within 550 miles (890 km) of half of the population of the United States.

(Source: Wikipedia.org)

Gardiner Allen DeRoberts Insurance

Gardiner Insurance began operations in 1928 and Insurance Associates, founded by Bruce Allen, was formed in 1949. Gardiner Allen DeRoberts Insurance specializes in Columbus auto insurance as well as home, car, business insurance and employee benefits in Upper Arlington, Grand View, Ohio. Contact us at (614) 221-1500 for a free Ohio auto insurance quote.