“Insurance changes expected to hit drivers in the wallet - Fond du Lac Reporter” plus 3 more

Insurance changes expected to hit drivers in the wallet - Fond du Lac Reporter
Southern California's 'Kustom Kulture' goes on the block - Los Angeles Times Blogs
Traffic Q & A: Why do collectors need just one plate? - Tacoma News Tribune
Man Says Key In Car Dealer Ad Starts Vehicle - kptv.com

Insurance changes expected to hit drivers in the wallet - Fond du Lac Reporter

Posted: 22 Sep 2009 08:33 AM PDT

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Were not going to fire people whove been with us for seven years because they have a few points on their license, she said.

Agencies

American Family Insurance expects that the new mandates will create an $8.2 million cost increase for policyholders throughout the state.

But not every client will be impacted, said Brad Tagliapietra, an agent with American Family in Fond du Lac. He said 85 percent of his customers already carry the equivalent or more than the states latest requirements for minimum liability insurance limits $50,000 for one person, $100,000 for an accident and $15,000 for property damage. The current limits are $25,000 for one person, $50,000 for one accident and $10,000 for property.

Those who are most likely to see a heftier bill are those who already pay higher rates, such as at-risk or youthful drivers.

People who usually have lower limits are people with traffic records maybe they have one or two OWIs, Tagliapietra said.

Higher limits stand to benefit consumers, said Mark Thomsen, president of the Wisconsin Association for Justice and attorney at Cannon & Dunphy in Brookfield. Limits havent changed since 1982, but health care and vehicle repair costs have climbed.

If youre in an accident and you need Flight for Life, that helicopter alone will take almost the full $25,000, he said.

Contention

Stacking is causing the most frustration for insurance companies. Under the current system, drivers with insurance collect their coverage to pay for damages. But new mandates would allow people who own multiple cars to stack their coverage they could collect money for each vehicle, even those not involved in the accident, to cover expenses. Up to three autos could be stacked.

For instance, instead of collecting $1 million, a client with two vehicles and $1 million in coverage on each could receive $2 million.

More payments create an additional burden for insurance providers that theyll most certainly pass on to consumers, said Bill Hatch, an agent at Smith & Hatch, an Allstate agency in Fond du Lac.

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Southern California's 'Kustom Kulture' goes on the block - Los Angeles Times Blogs

Posted: 21 Sep 2009 01:13 PM PDT

Relics of Southern California's recent past will be on sale this weekend in Los Angeles at an auction focusing on the region's "Kustom Kulture" style of automotive design.

The auction, at the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Boulevard, will feature 80 vehicles, including such Kustom Kulture classics as the 1964 Ed Roth Road Agent and the 1965 Ford Econoline "Von Dutch" Van.

Kustom Kulture reached its apex and achieved its lasting identity in the sand-and-gasoline culture of Southern California in the 1960s. Auto designers such as Compton High alum Kenny Howard (better known as Von Dutch), Ed "Big Daddy" Roth of Bell and the Barris brothers played a key early role in setting the tone for what became known as the '60s counterculture.

According to Wikipedia, "Everything from wild pinstriped paint jobs, to chop-top Mercurys, to custom Harley-Davidson and Triumph Motorcycles, to metal flake and black primer paint jobs, along with music, cartoons, and monster movies have had an impact on what defines anyone and anything who is part of this automobile subculture."

Roth's "Rat Fink" character was perhaps the most recognizable icon of Kustom Kulture. But for Americans of a certain age, the Munster Koach and Drag-U-La, both products of the Barris bothers' twisted auto-imaginations, are other memorable examples of the style.

"These are things that we grew up with," said Keith Martin, publisher of Sports Car Market magazine, which monitors the classic car auctions. "They were wildly popular back then."

And now that boomers can afford to own the icons of their youth, artifacts like those up for sale at the Kustom Kulture auction often find ready buyers, he added.

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Traffic Q & A: Why do collectors need just one plate? - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 21 Sep 2009 07:51 AM PDT

Traffic Q & A: Why do collectors need just one plate?

DAVID WICKERT; The News Tribune
Last updated: September 21st, 2009 08:43 AM (PDT)

Question: Reader Donivan Fowlkes of Tacoma notes that state law requires vehicles to have a front and rear license plate – unless you're driving a "collector" car.

"Why does the state only issue one rear plate for owners of 'collector' vehicles?" Fowlkes asked. "We see a lot of these same cars and trucks used as daily drivers. Why then am I required to have two plates?"

Answer: Brad Benfield, a spokesman for the state Department of Licensing, confirms that most vehicles are required to have a license plate mounted on both the front and the rear of the vehicle. The exceptions include motorcycles, trailers, campers and collector vehicles.

According to state law, a collector vehicle "may only be used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and occasional pleasure driving."

"Because they are intended to be display vehicles, our state Legislature must have determined that one license plate would be sufficient to meet public safety needs and to enhance the ability to display these vehicles as automotive history," Benfield said.

He said the fee to license a collector vehicle is $35 plus all other required licensing fees the first year of registration. A collector vehicle registration is a permanent registration and is not renewed annually.

Got a question about traffic congestion, construction, spending or other transportation issues? Send it to traffic@thenewstribune.com. Include your name, hometown and daytime telephone number. We'll answer as many as we can. Find an archive of previous answers at www.thenewstribune.com/news/traffic/qa.

Originally published: September 21st, 2009 12:21 AM (PDT)