Cars

(Q&A with Brian Schaffran, owner, Skidmark Garage, a community motorcycle garage)

    Hail storms often work their way across the country, leaving totaled, dented and damaged vehicles in their wake.  

This year, some 1.5 million drivers will hit deer, and November is the peak month for deer-related accidents.  In Cleveland, deer are everywhere: city , suburbs and rural roads. But drivers can avoid an accident with a buck – and spending lots of bucks on the damage – by following some smart driving tips this fall and winter.

How’s this for an amazing statistic – do you know that Ohio residents have among the lowest annual average auto insurance premium in the entire nation? According to a study by insure.com and Quadrant Information Services, only two states (Maine and Vermont) have a lower average premium. Ohio’s average for 2010 is $1,000 per year. The highest states include Louisiana ($2,511), Michigan ($2,098) and Oklahoma ($1,869). Other low-cost states include New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Reasons include the extremely competitive marketplace in Ohio, the ‘home’ state for a number of automobile insurance carriers, including Progressive, Nationwide, Grange, American Financial, Cincinnati, Ohio Casualty and Motorists Mutual, along with reductions in the frequency and severity of accidents with bodily injury. Vehicles manufactured today are considerably safer as well. Also, automobile thefts have declined in recent years. A number of years ago, several states enacted no-fault auto insurance laws that were designed to reduce insurance costs by reducing costly litigation and promoting quicker claim settlements. The State of Ohio resisted this legislation. As a result, we are reaping the benefits of significantly below-average costs for this very important component of our overall financial security.

It’s time to head back to school, and for high school and college students, that means hopefully taking a car to campus to get around and drive back home for the holidays. 

But anyone who has had a young driver knows there is always the possibility of dings, dents and accidents around the corner, so a new car isn’t always the best solution.

Many families send their kids back to high school or college with a used car or a hand-me-down vehicle from a friend or relative, one that is already broken in but still has lots of life remaining.

continued.

My name is Paul Podnar and among other things, I am a car enthusiast.

I have owned, restored, driven and collected cars and since I was 15 years old and I’m a few times older than that now.