Although nearly every state requires car owners to buy auto liability insurance, many of your fellow motorists are driving without coverage.

Nationwide, an estimated one in seven drivers was uninsured in 2009, according to a 2011 report by the Insurance Research Council.

Now imagine what happens when an uninsured driver errs and crashes into your car, sending you to the hospital with serious injuries. That risk is the reason for uninsured motorist coverage (UM).

What is uninsured motorist coverage?

UM pays the medical bills of you and your passengers if you’re the victim in a car accident involving an uninsured driver.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage kicks in when the at-fault driver has liability insurance, but not enough to cover all the costs. In some states, UM also pays when you’re the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

UM/UIM can be a financial lifesaver, but it’s often misunderstood.

“We get a lot of questions about it,” says Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. “A lot of times people don’t realize until they’re hit by an uninsured driver what the coverage is.”

Here are 6 common myths about UM/UIM and what you should know:

1. Why buy the coverage? I can always sue the driver

“While an uninsured or underinsured driver is still financially responsible, good luck getting a financial settlement from a driver who chose not to buy car insurance,” Walker says.

Most uninsured drivers don’t have the money or assets to pay others’ medical bills, so suing them won’t do much good. That’s why UM/UIM coverage is important.

2. UM/UIM will pay for fixing my car

This a common misunderstanding, says Denise Johnson, an agent with ECI Agency Inc. in Piedmont, Okla., and immediate past chairperson of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma.

UM/UIM covers injuries — not property damage. In some states, you can buy a separate coverage called uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) coverage, which pays for fixing your car if you’re hit by an uninsured driver. Another option is to carry collision coverage, which would pay for fixing your car, minus the deductible, regardless of who caused the accident.

3. I don’t need UM/UIM because I have health insurance

UM/UIM offers some important benefits that health insurance probably does not provide. For one thing, it pays your medical bills up to the limit without deductibles or co-pays. In addition, UM/UIM pays for lost wages if you can’t work because of injuries, and for pain and suffering.

4. I can decide whether I want UM/UIM

Twenty states and the District of Columbia require car owners to buy the coverage. Some other states mandate that insurance companies offer the coverage and require drivers to sign a statement declining it.

Other rules vary by state, too. Some states let you “stack” UM/UIM coverage — which means you can combine the coverage limits on multiple vehicles to recover costs from a single accident with an uninsured driver. Other states prohibit stacking.

Generally, your insurance company won’t allow you to buy UM/UIM coverage for amounts higher than your liability limits.

5. UM/UIM is too pricey

Actually, Walker says, it’s affordable car insurance. The average cost in Colorado, for instance, is $67 a year per vehicle.

“It’s silly not to have it,” says Johnson, who serves on a state task force recommending measures to reduce the rate of uninsured drivers in Oklahoma. An estimated 24 percent of drivers were uninsured in Oklahoma in 2009, according to the Insurance Research Council. The state is tied with Tennessee for the third highest rate of uninsured drivers. Mississippi and New Mexico top the list, with 28 percent and 26 percent of drivers, respectively, uninsured.

Walker advises considering UM/UIM coverage even if you live in a no-fault auto insurance state, where your own insurance covers your injuries in most cases regardless of who is at fault. No-fault systems vary widely from state to state, so learn how coverage works where you live and talk to your insurance agent, she says.

6. I can tap into UM/UIM in any accident involving an uninsured driver

The coverage comes into play only when an uninsured or underinsured driver is at fault. In states with comparative negligence laws, the coverage kicks in only for the percentage at which the uninsured or underinsured driver was in the wrong.

But if you reside in Louisiana, the news isn’t so fortunate — the state known for great jazz, food and football has the distinction as the most expensive state when it comes to coverage. A policy came with an average price of $1,270 in 2009.

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What did the typical motorist pay for car insurance on a nationwide basis? About $901 a year.

These numbers come from the “Auto Insurance Database Report 2008/2009,” just released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The report, representing the most recent data collected by the association, is considered the authority in such pricing and provides “necessary information and analysis to insurance regulators, consumers and policymakers” from coast to coast, according to the NAIC.

Here are the 10 most expensive places for coverage, based on the NAIC’s 2009 and 2008 figures:

1. Louisiana ($1,270 in 2009 and $1,274 in 2008)
2. District of Columbia ($1,265 and $1,263)
3. New Jersey ($1,218 and $1,198)
4. New York ($1,185 and $1,172)
5. Rhode Island ($1,118 and $1,138)
6. Delaware ($1,106 and $1,091)
7. Florida ($1,088 and $1,130)
8. Alaska ($1,073 and $1,083)
9. Nevada ($1,073 and $1,099)
10. Connecticut ($1,050 and $1,046)

Leaders in offering affordable car insurance

The 10 least expensive states, according to the NAIC’s 2009 and 2008 statistics, are:

1. Iowa ($631 in 2009 and $617 in 2008)
2. North Dakota ($650 and $644)
3. South Dakota ($651 both years)
4. Wisconsin ($653 and $641)
5. Idaho ($666 and $674)
6. Maine ($683 and $687)
7. Nebraska ($692 and $677)
8. Ohio ($695 and $693)
9. Indiana ($711 and $699)
10. North Carolina ($719 and $705)

Here’s what motorists in a few other states paid in 2009:

• California ($894)
• Michigan ($1,043)
• Texas ($1,022)
• Georgia ($919)
• Pennsylvania ($904)
• Oregon ($807)

The good news, says the NAIC, is that national average rate dropped slightly from an average of $955 for each driver in 2005 to $901 in 2009. The typical policy was $903 in 2008 and $914 in 2007.

Many factors in play when comparing car insurance by state

Vanessa Sink, communications specialist for the NAIC, says it’s a challenge to compare auto insurance rates by state because each state has its own consumer requirements for buying policies, including minimum limits for liability and other coverage. Other factors, she points out, are benefit limits, underwriting costs, accident rates, theft figures and auto repair costs.

“Remember that insurance is regulated at the state level and each state makes its own regulations about what is considered (adequate) coverage,” Sink says. “Therefore, insurance policies can vary greatly from state to state.”

A small decline in stolen cars

The report also notes that auto thefts fell nationally. In 2006, there were 4.37 reported thefts for every 1,000 registered vehicles. In 2008, there were 3.2 thefts per 1,000.

Here are the theft rates in a handful of major states, according to the NAIC:

• New York (1.97 in 2008 and 2.44 in 2006)
• California (4.90 and 6.47)
• Texas (4.20 and 5.25)
• Florida (3.05 and 4.34)
• District of Columbia (24.72 and 34.47)
• Connecticut (2.42 and 2.94)
• Arizona (5.94 and 11.26)
• Washington (3.96 and 6.39)
• Nebraska (1.98 and 2.94)
• Michigan (3.70 and 5.02)

Myth No. 1: Red cars are the most expensive to insure.

Fact: Red will not cost you more green. Roughly 25% of drivers surveyed by Progressive Insurance believe car color is a factor in determining insurance rates — especially if a car is red. But insurance companies will likely not even ask about the color of your car when they’re calculating your quote.

“The idea that the color of a car enters into what you’re going to pay for insurance is a myth that’s been around for a long time,” says Jeff McCollum, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from the fact that people with red sports cars have the image of being wild and reckless, but it certainly isn’t based on any type of reality.”

Insurers are interested in the year, make, model, body type, engine size and age of your vehicle. The color may be important to you, but it really doesn’t matter to your insurance company.

Myth No. 2: Thieves are more likely to steal new cars.

Fact: It’s the other way around. Statistics indicate that thieves actually tend to steal older cars. According to a National Insurance Crime Bureau report, the top 10 most-stolen vehicles reported in 2007 were the 1995 Honda Civic,1991 Honda Accord, 1989 Toyota Camry, 1997 Ford F-150 pickup, 1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 pickup, 1994 Acura Integra, 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, 1994 Nissan Sentra, 1988 Toyota pickup and 2007 Toyota Corolla.

“The reason we see so many older vehicles on the list is because they are easier to steal,” says Frank Scafidi, a bureau spokesman. “Also, people are keeping their cars longer (in the faltering economy). That creates a good market for used parts. A lot of times, when they are stolen, they don’t make it back on the street intact.”

The insurance bureau’s report suggests that thieves have different preferences from state to state. Crooks in California and Florida are more likely to take Hondas, Toyotas and other imports. Thieves in Texas tend to grab pickup trucks. Criminals in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan steal more domestics, especially Dodges and Fords.

If you have an older vehicle and have dropped comprehensive coverage to save money, you are not covered for theft and do not qualify for rental car coverage.

Myth No. 3: My insurance will cover me if my car is stolen, vandalized or damaged by hail or fire.

Fact: Unless you have comprehensive coverage, you are not covered for any of these things. A bare-bones policy in most states requires only that you buy liability coverage. This pays only for damage you cause to others. You need to purchase

both collision and comprehensive coverage in order to fully protect your vehicle from all types of damage.

Comprehensive coverage pays for damage to your car that is not the result of a car accident. That includes theft, vandalism, hail, fires and accidents involving animals. Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle from a car accident.

Myth No. 4: If my car is totaled, my insurance will pay off what I owe on my loan or lease.

Fact: When your car is totaled, your policy does not promise to pay off what you owe. It will pay you the actual cash value of your car, minus your deductible. Actual cash value is the amount your car was worth before the accident, factoring in depreciation. You are still responsible for any amount outstanding on the loan or car lease.

The only way to cover the difference between the car’s cash value and the amount you owe on a loan is to purcha
se gap insurance. Available to cover both auto leases and loans, gap insurance covers you if your car is totaled before you’ve paid you’re your loan or before your lease term expires. Buying the coverage could save you some grief.

Your insurer will decide whether your car is totaled. Generally, a total loss is declared when the repair costs would exceed a certain threshold of the car’s value, generally 70%. At that point, the insurance company will tow your car to a salvage yard and offer you the actual cash value of the vehicle.

Myth No. 5: My insurance company will pay for a rental car if my car is stolen or damaged in an accident.

Fact: Even if you have comprehensive and collision coverage, it may not include a rental car. Rental car reimbursement is not automatically included in most insurance policies, but you can add it at an affordable cost. According to the Insurance Information Institute, rental reimbursement coverage is available for $1 to $2 a month with most insurers.

Even if you have this coverage, it won’t necessarily last until your stolen car is recovered or your damaged car is fixed. There’s a limit on how much your insurance company will reimburse you per day, plus a cap for a maximum amount per accident. For example, Geico charges $20 a year for a maximum $750 in rental reimbursement, with no deductible to pay. In this case, Geico would reimburse you up to $25 a day but no more than $750 per accident.

Myth No. 6: Drivers of sports cars get more tickets and thus pay higher insurance premiums.

Fact: That’s not necessarily the case. According to a study released in 2009 by Quality Planning, leading the pack with the most violations are drivers of the Hummer H2/H3. Hummer drivers have almost five times the average number of violations. Drivers of three Scion models (tC, XB Station, XA) also made the top 10 list. Others on the list include drivers of two Mercedes-Benz models (CLK63 AMG, CLS63 AMG), two Toyotas (Solara, Matrix), the Subaru Outback station wagon and the Audi A4.

At the other end of the spectrum, the study also included a “well-behaved vehicle list.” Topping that list were drivers of the Jaguar XJ, followed by theChevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet C/K-3500/2500, Buick Park Avenue, Mazda6, Buick Rainier, Oldsmobile Silhouette, Buick Lucerne and GMC Sierra C1500 pickup.

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The Automobile Association of America (AAA) is warning that, as baby boomers grow older, a wave of less skilled drivers will likely create potential road dangers across the country. Quoting figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, the AAA says this “silver tsunami” of seniors over age 65 will increase by 75 percent during the next two decades.

Many people live an average of seven to 10 years beyond their safe driving ability, Jake Nelson, the director of AAA Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research, says in a statement. The AAA points out that these senior drivers often continue to get behind the wheel despite the risks.

“In less than 10 years, one in four licensed drivers will be age 65 and older, which means that millions of American families will be working through this challenge,” Nelson says.

AAA and the American Occupational Therapists Association (AOTA) offer these coping suggestions:

• Conduct regular driving assessments. Every six months or so, ask the senior to take you for a drive so you can see his or her driving firsthand and note any changes.
• Schedule regular medical check-ups and eye exams. A complete exam can reveal physical conditions that affect driving. Qualified medical personnel can check an older driver’s decision-making skills, reaction time, muscle strength and joint flexibility.
• Encourage regular exercise. A doctor can suggest a tailored workout routine to maintain overall health and well-being.
• Think about and discuss the gradual adjustments. Sometimes a few simple steps—limiting driving to certain times of day, avoiding night driving or adding an extra-wide rear view mirror—can help prolong a senior’s time behind the wheel.
• Identify alternative modes of transportation. This should occur well before a senior’s driving skills diminish.

For more advice, visit AAA’s Senior Driving website.

Preparing for the possibility of more dangerous roads

With the predicted influx of less-skilled senior drivers coming over the next two decades, it may be prudent for motorists to evaluate their car insurance coverage, says Tully Lehman, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Network of California (IINC).

The IINC and the Insurance Information Institute (III) recommend adequate liability coverage—including bodily injury and property damage—that will protect the driver and his or her assets if there’s an accident. As a starting point, the III suggests at least $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per person and $300,000 per accident. And $50,000 in property damage coverage is another smart move.

Motorists should also have adequate protection if they’re hit by an uninsured driver or under-insured motorist, says Jeanne M. Salvatore, the senior vice president and consumer spokesperson for the III.

Some states already require you to carry underinsured motorist coverage, but she advises discussing your policy with an agent just to make sure you have what’s needed.

“Most people don’t think about the uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) portion of their policy until they’re the victim of a hit-and-run accident, or are involved in a crash with a driver who either doesn’t have auto insurance or has very minimal insurance,” Salvatore says.

She explains that UM coverage will reimburse you, a member of your family, or a designated driver for bodily injuries caused by an uninsured motorist or a hit-and-run driver. UIM comes into play when an at-fault driver has insufficient insurance to pay for your total loss. UIM also provides coverage if you’re hit by a car as a pedestrian.

Another good idea is to become a better defensive driver through more road awareness and classes designed to improve skills. A bonus is that many insurers offer rate discounts for passing such courses.

Depending on what happens to your gadget, it may be covered under a home insurance policy, a standard manufacturer’s warranty or an extended warranty that you can purchase. Some gadgets break more often than others, with drops being the most common cause of malfunctions, says Anthony Scarsella, chief gadget officer at Gazelle, a website that buys and sells used electronics.

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Glass — whether part of an iPad, cell phone or other device — often breaks.

“When the whole entire front surface is glass, or a screen, that’s your biggest problem,” Scarsella says.

When is a gadget covered by home insurance or a warranty? And when should you buy an extended warranty? Here are some of the basics.

Home insurance

Most homeowners insurance policies cover theft or loss due to a named peril, such as fire, lightning or windstorms, but not a loss from losing the item yourself. A stolen gadget would be covered, whether taken from a car or home. You must pay a deductible when filing a theft or loss claim.

Accidental damage such as dropping an iPad would not be covered, says Mike Coleman, an agent in Alabama.  A personal articles policy can be added, he says, to cover accidental breakage. The add-on can be inexpensive. Coleman says he recently sold $100 in coverage for $2.20 annually, with no deductible.

Manufacturer’s warranty

Most companies back their products for a year, although some warranties are for six months or less, says Steve Abernethy, CEO of SquareTrade, which sells extended warranties. The manufacturer covers mechanical errors, not human errors such as drops or spilled coffee. You won’t be covered if you lose the device or if there is a theft.

If an item breaks because of a mechanical error, it’s most likely to happen in the first two years. That’s why it’s a good idea to purchase extended warranty coverage that protects the device beyond the first year, Abernethy says.

Phones or anything with moving parts — such as a keyboard that slides — are more likely to malfunction, Scarsella says. “The more moving parts and the more buttons and parts, the bigger chance that something’s going to break on it.”

Overheated gaming consoles used for hours without pause also break often. Simpler devices, such as e-book readers, don’t break as often, and the BlackBerry has had fewer problems since its trackball was eliminated, Scarsella says.

Extended warranties

An extended warranty offers protection from malfunctions, drops, spills and other accidents. Such warranties typically don’t cover loss or theft, however.

Accidents or malfunctions account for 90 percent of problems with electronic gadgets, says Abernethy, whose company sells extended warranties that you can buy within 30 days of purchasing a gadget. Smartphones are the most common source of claims, with the typical smartphone having a 30 percent failure rate over two years, he says. Cell phones break so often that his company charges a $50 deductible, a fee it doesn’t require for other products.

Even without drops and spills, the failure rate for most gadgets is 10 percent to 15 percent over the first three years, he says. Extended warranties also can be bought through manufacturers, although it’s important to find out if they cover damage from drops.

Without warranties or coverage provided by insurance companies, gadgets can be expensive to replace. Smartphone purchases subsidized by phone companies may cost only $200, but the price soars to $700 without the subsidy, Abernethy says. And buying coverage that costs more than a new device — or will last longer than the device — is a bad idea. Most people replace their gadgets every three years, he says.

Getting insurance quotes isn’t the only way to protect your nifty new gadget. After getting a screen protector and case for your iPhone, iPad or other product, keep it away from your kids. Your new toy is an easy way to entertain children, but they may drop it.

“It is amazing how beautiful the iPhone is, [but] how easy it is to break,” says Abernethy.

[Originally posted at insure.com]

Only minor injuries were reported, but the highway was blocked for six hours while crews cleared the road of very expensive rubble, police said.

The person suspected of causing the accident, a 60-year-old from Fukuoka Prefecture, may face up to three months in jail or a fine of about $1,300. Police said he lost control of his Ferrari while trying to change lanes.

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In Japan, everyone is required to carry liability coverage of at least 30,000,000 yen ($385,000) to pay for injuries or deaths they cause. But unlike in the U.S., property damage liability coverage is optional.

Even in the U.S., this accident would offer an object lesson in risk. Does anyone carry enough liability insurance to pay for $1 million or more in Ferrari repairs?

This car insurance claim is going to hurt — a lot

Every state requires that you buy some amount of property damage liability coverage, but the minimums tend to be modest — say, $10,000. That’s not even enough to replace a single Chevy Aveo. Most car insurance companies and personal finance experts recommend that homeowners with any assets to protect carry at least $100,000.

What happens if you wreck a trainload of Ferraris? “You’re in a heap of trouble,” says CarInsurance.com consumer analyst Penny Gusner. “Don’t expect to be renewed.”

Once your car insurance limits are reached, you’re personally liable. Grab your checkbook and write until you run out of money.

At that point, the accident victims you left high and dry who carry collision coverage will turn to their own insurers, Gusner says. And those insurers will certainly sue you.

Someone with the means to purchase a Ferrari or Lamborghini might also have the foresight to purchase an umbrella policy as well — relatively cheap at $100 to $200 a year for $1 million in coverage. Because, really, nothing says “sue me” like a red Ferrari.

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Maybe the family dog bites a caroler. Or, that new flat screen you’ve always wanted falls out of the back of your truck.

Here’s a peek at how to handle some holiday horrors that could happen to you.

A caroler goes kerplunk

What happens if a Christmas caroler singing “Silent Night” slips and breaks a leg on the walkway to your front door?

Eric Poe, chief operating officer of CURE Insurance in Princeton, N.J., says your homeowners insurance policy would cover the claim only if your insurer believes you were negligent – for example, you didn’t shovel the walkway or left cords and wires for the lighted yard display in the walkway.

“If the circumstances were not due to your negligence, the claim would probably not be covered and the caroler would need to use their own health insurance pay for their medical costs,” he says.

If you were negligent and your carrier finds you responsible for the accident, Poe says you wouldn’t have to pay a deductible.

“This is covered under your ‘bodily injury liability’ coverage,” he says.

But this type of claim could lead to a rate increase and possibly your policy not being renewed, Poe says.

You make guests sick

An undercooked turkey or fowl figgie pudding can give your guests more than a tummy ache. They can end up in the hospital with food poisoning. If they don’t have health insurance, they may look to you to foot the emergency room bill.

Tim Gaspar, president of Gaspar Insurance Services in Los Angeles, says you’re covered under your home insurance liability policy “as long as you don’t have some food contamination exclusion in your policy which I have yet to see.”

Most policies include a medical payments provision, such as $5,000, that you can tap into if necessary.

Your big-screen dreams shatter

You’re driving home from the store dreaming of watching the New Year’s bowl games on the big-screen TV in your truck cab or car trunk when the box falls out of your vehicle.

Before crying in your eggnog, check your home insurance policy or call your insurance agent ASAP.

“Even though it fell out of your auto, this may be covered under your home insurance policy, depending on the type of coverage provided by the carrier,” Gaspar says.

A not-so-special delivery arrives

If the holiday vase you mail to Grandma shatters during the delivery process, Poe says you’re likely out of luck.

“Unless someone else like FedEx, UPS or the Post Office packed the item, this would be considered a case of the sender’s negligence and insurance wouldn’t cover the loss,” says Poe.

Santa’s sleigh damages your roof

It seems Rudolph overshot the landing and took out your fireplace chimney along with a handful of roof shingles.

If you can find him, you could run the claim through Santa’s auto insurance policy to avoid your home insurance rates being reviewed for an increase next year.

Otherwise, Poe says this would be covered under your homeowners policy but you’ll have to pay your deductible.

Other holiday damages

Bill Begal, is the founder and president of Begal Enterprises, a fire and water damage disaster restoration company based in Rockville, Md.

He says his company has helped customers rebuild their lives after they experienced these holiday-related disasters which were all covered by customers’ insurance policies:

• A homeowner placed wrapping paper in the fireplace – the paper’s light weight caused it to rise quickly up the chimney before it caught the owner’s roof and an adjacent neighbor’s roof on fire.
• Dried out Christmas trees placed adjacent to heat sources caused a fire.
• Old mangled lighting caused arcing and fires.
• A dishwasher flooded due to heavy usage and an improperly cleaned drain.
• A deep-fried turkey cooked on a wood deck resulted in a fire.
• Careless menorah and /or candle placement caused fires.
• Tall Christmas trees hit sprinkler heads when being placed in homes, causing the activation of the sprinkler system.

But what about bad parkers?

The driver who scrapes an inconsiderately or illegally parked car usually curses it, then takes the blame because he was moving and the parked car wasn’t.

So it may come as a surprise to you–and even to some police officers–that a poorly parked car can be held liable, either by an auto insurance company or in a court of law.

“Absolutely,” says Glenn Greenberg, a spokesman for Liberty Mutual. “Just because the vehicle is parked doesn’t absolve it in 100% of cases from any liability in the accident.”

Situations vary so widely that it’s difficult to provide blanket at-fault rules, particularly given the added variability of state and local laws. But to get a general idea of when, or if, the driver of a parked car may have to pony up some responsibility, consider these two scenarios:

• A public parking lot is full, and a large van has pulled to the side of the lot’s exit lane to park. A driver leaving the lot – his eyes tuned to cross traffic – scrapes the side of the van as he turns onto the street. Clearly, the van should not have been parked there. So is the van’s driver partly to blame for the accident?
• A driver pulls to the side of a rural roadway to make a phone call. The speed limit is 50 mph, and the road lacks a wide shoulder. The car extends slightly into the driving lane just past a curve. Another car comes around the bend and, unable to stop or veer into oncoming traffic, hits the parked car from behind. Should the parked driver pay?

Is this parked car an inconvenience, or a hazard?

George P. Patterson, a lawyer with Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher in Maryland, has fielded his share of calls from drivers who believe they’ve been wronged by bad parkers.

One simple way to assess blame, he says, is to ask, “Was this parking violation creating an inconvenience or a safety hazard?”

If it’s the former, as with the van in the parking lot, the driver certainly may be cited for illegal parking, but likely won’t be held accountable for the accident. It is the responsibility of other drivers to make their way around the car, no matter how annoyed or distracted they may be.

“When you’re driving your car and you can see it, it’s really on you to avoid it,” says Patterson.

The car parked along the bending highway, though, is clearly violating a no-parking rule that exists for safety reasons. In that situation, the parked driver’s car insurance company may end up paying all or part of the damages.

Patterson currently represents a client involved in just such a case. His client was rounding a bend in the left lane of the Washington Beltway, a divided highway, and hit a tow truck parked partially in the lane of travel. His client was unable to swerve due to traffic in the neighboring lane.

“That’s a situation where you have clear negligence on the part of the tow truck, and a situation where the driver couldn’t have done anything,” Patterson says.

Drivers have a duty to move their cars off the road to the best of their ability, particularly where other drivers would not expect to encounter a parked vehicle.

There’s always an exception

Of course, in between the aforementioned scenarios lie many shades of gray.

What if a driver turns a corner in a residential neighborhood and strikes a construction worker’s trailer? Is the trailer’s owner to blame for parking at the corner and not putting up warning cones?

“It’s always going to be very fact-specific,” says Patterson.

It’s also always worth a call to an auto insurance specialist, says Greenberg.

“If the facts reveal that the owner (of the parked car) did not exercise reasonable care and give drivers the ability to avoid it, we might consider pursuing some level of liability,” Greenberg says.

And here’s another scenario that should haunt any illegal, inconsiderate or other types of bad parkers: Say you’ve parked your SUV on a city block lined with parked cars, but pulled into an illegal spot that blocks the visibility of the car behind yours. That car then pulls out and into oncoming traffic, causing a crash.

Your car was parked, and it wasn’t even hit. But you’re not necessarily off the hook.

The person “can certainly collect from the person who pulled out in front of them, but they might also be able to collect from the driver of the parked car,” Greenberg says.

How to file a parking-lot car insurance claim

Most car insurance companies won’t require a police report for a minor parking lot accident, says CarInsurance.com consumer analyst Penny Gusner. She suggests calling anyway. “Many times the police will tell you to exchange information on your own. But you can tell the insurance company that you did call, but that the police didn’t respond.”

And if the cops do show up, you’ve got a police report that lays out the facts.

If police don’t respond, Gusner says you should exchange names, contact information, license numbers and insurance companies and policy numbers. If there are witnesses, get their names and phone numbers as well. Take pictures, she says, even if you believe you were at fault. You don’t want to be asked to repair damage you didn’t cause.

If you hit an unoccupied car, most states require that you find the owner or leave a note so that he or she can contact you. Tell your own insurance company exactly what happened. Your car insurance liability coverage–the coverage you’re required to buy–will pay for the other driver’s car if you’re determined to be at fault.

If another car hits yours but the driver fails to leave a note, your own collision coverage (assuming you carry it) would pay any auto insurance claims.

If another car hits yours and the other driver is at fault, his property damage liability coverage would repair your car.

If the facts are in dispute, exchange information and tell your own insurer your side rather than hashing it out in a parking lot. Let the adjusters settle it.

Consider the wife who inadvertently backs into her husband’s car. Can she file an auto insurance claim without him knowing?

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Or what about the teenager who dents the family vehicle? Can he make a claim without Dad finding out?

Frankly, we’ve all made mistakes and done things we wish we could hide. So we wondered if car accidents–or more precisely, car accident claims–were among activities that could stay hidden.

For those of you in a rush to hop in your car and get somewhere, here’s a spoiler alert: Don’t even try to file a “secret” car insurance claim, because chances are you’ll wind up getting busted.

Insurance companies don’t take a vow of secrecy

To find out just how “secret” claims can be, we turned to a couple of specialists who are members of the Insurance Expert Network.

John “Jack” Murphy Jr. is president of J. Murphy & Associates, an insurance consulting and expert witness service in Blue Bell, Pa. He says that if you are an “omnibus insured”–meaning you’re driving a covered vehicle with the permission of the named insured–you have the right to make a claim for injury or property damage to the car, just as the primary insured would.

“However, it would be very difficult for you to make a secret claim on a car without anybody knowing about it,” adds Murphy, who’s been in the business for 40 years.

For starters, after an accident, car insurance companies typically contact the primary person whose name is on the policy and verify that the driver had permission to operate the car, Murphy says.

Even if you are listed as an approved driver on the policy, making a plea to an auto insurance representative–something along the lines of “Please don’t tell my parents about this, they’ll kill me!”–probably won’t work.

“There’s no vow of secrecy with insurers,” says Murphy. “This isn’t a confessional.”

But let’s assume that car insurers don’t call Mom, Dad or Hubby about the accident. That doesn’t mean they won’t reach out in other ways–like mail or email.

How devious are you prepared to be?

The U.S. Postal Service presents another set of new worries for the person trying to initiate a “secret” car insurance claim.

Gary Buchanan is vice president in the New York office at AmWINS, a wholesale insurance brokerage. He says it would be technically possible to file a secret car claim “if you were able to interrupt the mail” and hide any written correspondences related to the accident.

“If it was a spouse and she handled the checkbook and the mail, the husband might never know–as long as he was totally clueless and never read his bills either,” says Buchanan. “If it’s a kid away at college, it’s less likely because they’re not at home intercepting mail or writing checks.”

Forging signatures or hiring an impostor

Speaking of checks, remember that you might have to write one to cover the deductible. Try explaining that to a spouse or parent.

Then there’s the check the auto insurance company sends to pay for the vehicle damage. Independent adjusters often provide damage estimates and may cut a check on the spot in the case of minor accidents. But when more serious repairs are needed, car insurance companies usually send a check to the place repairing the vehicle.

“The check is made payable to the dealership or repair company and the named insured on the policy. Then, the insured signs the back of the check, signing it over to the car repair shop,” Buchanan says.

So deception could involve having to sign someone else’s name – or perhaps getting an impostor to pretend that they’re the named insured and having that individual forge the insured’s name. After that, there’s yet another mail hurdle to overcome.

According to Buchanan, “Almost all car insurance companies send out surveys to the email or home address of the client asking, ‘How did you like our claims service?’”

The dead giveaway: an accident surcharge

Let’s assume you manage to keep the accident and car insurance claim under wraps. Nothing seems amiss and your spouse or parents don’t seem any the wiser–at least until next year’s insurance bill arrives.

Collision claims sometimes trigger a “surcharge”–perhaps a 10 percent increase–when it’s time for an auto insurance policy to be renewed.

Insurers will often specifically note that because of an accident, the person’s premiums have been increased.

“Some people may have so much money that they don’t even notice a 10 percent hike in their bill,” says Buchanan.”But in my experience, the more money people have, the more they tend to notice that stuff.”

The bottom line?

“From a theoretical standpoint, is it possible to file a ‘secret’ car insurance claim? Yes, I suppose so,” says Murphy. “But from a practical standpoint, it ain’t gonna stay secret for very long.”

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“Things change and what I typically ask my students is ‘When is the last time your parents took driver’s ed – if they even did?’ It’s nothing personal… they’re just not updated on the correct methodologies,” says Sharon Postigo Fife, president of The Driving School Association of the Americas.

Learn what you can do — or not do — to retain affordable auto insurance rates  and to keep your teenager safe behind the wheel.

Be a role model: keep teens safe, car insurance rates low

“Research shows that children’s driving records are related to the records of their parents,” says Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

Teens whose parents had three or more crashes on their records were 22 percent more likely to crash at least once when compared with teens whose parents had no crashes, according to IIHS data. Children whose parents had three or more violations on their records were 38 percent more likely to have a violation on their own records compared with teens whose parents had none.

Parents need to re-evaluate their driving habits and drive the way they want their teens to drive, Fife says.

“Whether or not parents realize it, their teen is going to drive like they do,” she says.

How can you set a good example for your children? “Don’t speed, don’t make turns at 25 miles an hour, don’t talk on the phone, eat dinner and all that other stuff when you’re driving,” says Fife.

James Solomon, program development and training director for the Itasca, Ill.-based National Safety Council’s defensive driving courses, agrees that “parents need to set the proper example for teens in the vehicle.”

Here are five old driving rules — and the new rules that can help keep your child driver safe.

Old: Hands at 10 and 2

New:  Hands at 9 and 3

Experts used to recommend driving with your hands in the “10 and 2″ o’clock position on the steering wheel. However, they have since learned that “the better position is 9 and 3, which gives you a full 180-degree turn of the wheel,” says Solomon.

“You will find that some people push an 8 and 4 position. This is a very dangerous position if you are large-chested or large-stomached because your arms are trapped and cannot turn properly. Also, reaching that low on the steering wheel pulls your shoulders down, causing fatigue on the body,” he says.

Old: Two-second rule

New: Four-second rule

After much research, the old “two-second rule,” in which drivers allotted a two-second following distance between their vehicle and the vehicle in front of them, was replaced with the “three-second or three-second plus” rule, according to Solomon.

If you’re more familiar with the old method of estimating car lengths to maintain a safe driving distance, you may not even know how to execute the “two-second rule.” You  choose a fixed point that is even with the car in front of you. For example, pick a road sign or a building. If you reach that same fixed point before you can count to three, you are driving too close to the car in front of you and you need to fall back a bit.

According to the new rule, drivers should leave a minimum of three seconds following distance between vehicles, and add on additional seconds for factors such as speed exceeding 65 miles per hour and poor “light, weather, road traffic and vehicle conditions,” says Solomon.

But teenagers and senior citizens “should always maintain at least four seconds following distance,” says Solomon. “With seniors, there are hearing and vision situations, and with teens there is a lack of experience. A lot of high school driver’s ed curriculum is set at four seconds.”

Old: Left-foot braking

New: Right-foot braking only

Solomon says left-foot braking is another common mistake parents make when teaching their teen how to drive.

“If I have one foot on the gas and one on the brake, I have moved the center of my body to the right, so that in a quick, evasive maneuver I will be off balance. The left foot should always be off to the left to help counterbalance the body,” says Solomon.

Solomon says that in newer cars, the brake pedal and accelerator are very close together. That allows you to use your right foot for both, he says.

Left-foot highway driving can be especially problematic. “Not only is it not very economical – drivers are literally burning the brakes off of their vehicles – it also sends false signals to the driver behind you. After a while, their brain will override the braking signals and a collision will occur,” says Solomon.

Old: Pump the brakes

New: Don’t pump the brakes

In the past, drivers were taught to pump the brakes if the wheels lost traction on a slippery road.

“That’s no longer the case with modern, antilock brake systems,” says Rader.

Antilock brakes are designed to prevent the wheels from skidding by monitoring the speed of each wheel and automatically pulsing the brake pressure on any wheels where skidding is detected, he says.

Adds Solomon: “The onboard sensors [on antilock brakes] are pumping the brake a lot faster than you ever could

Rader says antilock brakes haven’t been found to reduce overall crashes. “But these systems are the basis for electronic stability control which research shows is significantly reducing crashes,” says Rader.

Old: Flashing headlights to send a message

New: Don’t use headlights to communicate with other drivers

Drivers sometimes flash their headlights as a way to communicate with other drivers. Depending on the situation, headlight-flashing can mean:

·         Speed-trap ahead

·         Accident ahead

·         Turn off the high-beams, you’re blinding me

·         I’m giving you the right-of-way

·         I’m not yielding, so watch out

·         You’re going way too slow for the fast-lane

·         Nice car, buddy! I have one just like it!

There are three reasons to avoid flashing your headlights: the intended meaning can be misinterpreted by other motorists, it can make it difficult for other drivers to see and it is illegal in some states.

Because there are so many different meanings for flashing your headlights, doing so can backfire by confusing your fellow drivers.

In cases where you want to tell an oncoming driver to turn off their high-beams, flashing your lights can be dangerous. The North Dakota Parent Guide to Teen Driving, for instance, advises drivers not to flash high-beams because headlight glare can “temporarily blind you.”

In addition to confusing motorists or making it difficult for them to see, flashing your lights is also illegal in some states. For instance, in North Dakota it’s against the law to flash headlights when there is oncoming traffic. In Washington, it’s illegal to flash lights within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 300 feet as you approach another one from behind.

Parting teen driver safety advice from the experts

Here are a few more tips for helping your teen become a  safe driver:

• Choose a safe vehicle – “Teens should be in vehicles that do the best job of protecting them if a crash happens, that don’t encourage risky driving, and that don’t have difficult handling characteristics that can lead to rollovers. They should not be in small cars, sporty cars, pickups, or older SUVs. The vehicles that do a better job for safety are midsize or large sedans with good crash test ratings, or new SUVs with standard electronic stability control that can help prevent rollovers,” says Rader.
• Minimize distractions – This means banning all electronics, including cell phones and the radio, while driving. Also, “a teen learning to drive should only have one licensed adult passenger in the front seat with them,” says Solomon.
• Start slowly – “When teaching your teen to drive, start from simple to complex. Always begin in a parking lot. Drive in a quiet residential area without a lot of parked cars and gradually move forward” to more difficult driving tasks and conditions, says Fife.
• Don’t yell – “If you want to make things worse in a car, yell at your child. Try and stay instructional rather than critical,” Fife says.
• Coordinate with the driving school instructor – “You’re not going to make a parent a driving teacher,” says Fife. Therefore, she recommends that parents work hand-in-hand with their teen’s driving school and take parent involvement classes if they plan to help their teen practice driving.