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Small pickups aren’t providing as much protection in side crashes as many new cars and sport utility vehicles. The Toyota Tacoma was the only one of five small pickup trucks, all 2008 models, to earn the highest rating of good for occupant protection in recent side crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger and Nissan Frontier are rated marginal, and the Chevrolet Colorado is rated poor in the side test, which simulates a side impact from an SUV or another pickup. How Vehicles Are Evaluated The Institute’s frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based… Read More »Toyota Tacoma Safest of Small Pickups

An accelerating U.S. consumer shift from sport utility vehicles and pickups to more fuel-efficient cars should reduce rollover, but safety experts worry a lighter fleet poses serious risks despite air bags, anti-collision systems and other advances. Distressed U.S. auto giants are moving to retool plants and leverage operations in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere to get more small cars to American consumers in coming years and meet tougher federal fuel economy standards. U.S. sales are down in 2008 with gas prices above $4 a gallon and consumers caught in a slowing economy. But sales of compacts, sedans and other cars… Read More »Shift to Smaller Cars Raises Safety Questions

Old Russian Joke first: Once, a driver of a brand new BM 750 crashed into asphalt roller parked on the street. They called militia. When cop arrived the driver of BMW asks the policeman to step  aside. After a short conversation, the policeman takes out a pen and a notepad and asks the driver of roller: “Well, okay, now describe me how  were you passing and cutting BMW..?” California Department of Insurance released a warning for drivers: With summer vacation looming and many Californians traditionally driving more frequently or longer distances, drivers should be alert for staged auto collisions. In 2007-2008, 14,623 referrals… Read More »Drivers Cautioned Against Staged Collisions

ISO has filed advisory rating programs, including rating credits for commercial fire and allied lines, businessowners, homeowners, and dwelling lines of insurance. The credits apply to various ranges of BCEGS classifications (1–3, 4–7, 8–9, 10). Any building constructed in the year ISO classifies a community, or in a later year, will be eligible for the program. Buildings in communities with classifications of 9 and lower (down to 1) will receive a rating credit. A classification of 10 will receive no credit. Classifications of 1–3 will receive the highest credit. Classifications of 4–9 will receive intermediate credits.

Travelers recently launched a “first” in the insurance industry with its premium discount of up to 10 percent for those owning electrically powered boats. Whether boaters are interested in a quieter boating experience, or if they are seeking environmentally friendly boating solutions that help save money on annual fuel costs, electric boats can provide the right alternative for this segment of boaters, Travelers’ statement said. The release added that the number of electric boat manufacturers has grown and there continues to be a demand for electric boats in the current economy. Travelers defines an electric boat as a vessel 100… Read More »Electric Boat Insurance Discount

Reuters Reports: Johnson & Johnson last Thursday won a lawsuit brought by the family of an 11-year-old girl who became blind after using the drug Children’s Motrin in 2003. The jury voted 9-3 against liability, after a six week trial. Jurors decided that J&J had put a drug on the market known to cause sickness and illness, without warning customers, but also found that it had not been proved that Children’s Motrin caused the girl, Sabrina Johnson, to go blind. Her family had sought almost a $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court had alleged… Read More »Suit Dropped. Company found not liable. Who is paying for lawyers?

Physicians aren’t immune from it. Lawyers aren’t immune from it. Even actors aren’t immune from it. Actor Dennis Quaid’s newborn twins, who are receiving IV therapy, were given an overdose of IV heparin – 1,000 times the normal amount for newborns. Heparin, a medicine routinely given to prevent clots in IVs, can cause significant bleeding in the body and brain, when given in high doses. It can lead to stroke and/or death. Yet grabbing the wrong dose of heparin for an IV is a relatively easy mistake to make. Heparin is given to everybody with IVs several times a day… Read More »Medical Errors: They Can Happen to Anyone

A Connecticut business owner has been sentenced to one year of home confinement for participating in a scheme to steal furniture from The Hartford Insurance Company.Terrance Healy of Windsor, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Bridgeport to four years of probation, 300 hours of community service and restitution of nearly $72,000. The 63-year-old Healy pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen property and to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.Healy owned Sundrop Corporation, an interior design and furniture installation company.Prosecutors say Healy admitted that he conspired to transport stolen furniture that was owned by The… Read More »Stealing Furniture from The Hartford

Listed companies in the Chinese mainland are lagging in establishing internal controls despite a looming deadline to put a framework of controls in place, a recent survey reveals.More than half —56% — of the respondents in a survey of 126 companies by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu said they either have no internal controls in place or their systems are not up to par. Listed Chinese companies have until July 1, 2009 to establish a system that complies with the Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control, which was agreed to last month by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and several other regulatory… Read More »Chinese companies lag on internal controls: Study

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has signed into law a bill that requires only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in Hawaii as of Oct. 1, 2009. State officials say reduced ignition cigarettes burn at a lower temperature, thereby reducing possible fire hazards caused by smoldering cigarettes.The Hawaii Fire Council reports there were 438 fires caused by cigarettes in Hawaii between 2001 and 2006, causing $1.5 million in property damage and 10 injuries.Lingle says low ignition cigarettes can help reduce accidental fires,. as well as injuries caused by smoldering cigarettes.But she adds the cigarettes aren’t guaranteed to be self-extinguishing, so smokers must take… Read More »Hawaii Law Mandates: Fire-Safe Cigarettes Only