News
Nationwide Insurance ran into some social media backlash to its Super Bowl Commercial entitled, "The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up." The company says the ad was intended to spark a "fierce conversation" about preventing childhood deaths.
The ad depicted a little boy talking about how he will never kiss a girl, ride a bike, travel the globe, or marry. Why? Because he died from a preventable household accident.
The company was promoting its "Make Safe Happen" program about ways to increase safety at home. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preventable injuries are the number one cause of death among children.
Judging from social media complaints, childhood death is not a conversation people want during Super Bowl parties. Bloomberg reported that about 64 percent of the social media buzz was negative, the worst of any advertising in the Super Bowl.
The "Make Safe Happen" program is a good program and will hopefully bring more awareness to these tragic but preventable household accidents. I don't believe the Super Bowl was the right setting to roll the campaign out, the ad was way too dark for such a fun, energetic, light-hearted environment. Although look at the attention it is getting, I doubt I would be blogging about the ad if I saw it on normal air time. Maybe the Ad Executives over at Nationwide are smarter than we think!
So, you've made the decision to buy a used car. You've researched makes and models and settled on a few options. Or, you may have your perfect used vehicle in mind and are just deciding how to go about purchasing it. Wherever you stand in your process of purchasing a new car, paying the right price is important. Being able to negotiate (or haggle) is an important tactic to employ while shopping for a used car. You don't want to pay too much, and you don't want to buy a car that will break down after rolling off the car lot. Below are a few tips to help with the negotiation process.
1. Know Your Car Values: Whether you’re looking for an SUV, truck or car, it’s vital to know the value of the car you’re looking at before attempting to haggle on a price. There are many websites to visit in order to get a reliable used car price. The Kelley Blue Book, NADA and Edmunds are just a few of the sites that offer car-value tools.
2. Know Your Dealership: While knowing how much the car you’re looking at should sell for, what may be even more important is finding an honest dealership to buy it from. If you personally do not know a dealership, try calling local repair shops and asking for used car dealer recommendations.
3. Start Out Low, But Make It Count: When trying to negotiate or haggle over a used car price, many people are scared of insulting the car dealership. Offering too low a price may garner you the label of “tire kicker,” while offering too much can make the dealership see you as naive. Decide what you are going to offer before you venture onto the lot. Also, have the values you’ve researched printed out for reference. If the price of the used car is $10,000 but you’ve seen them selling for $9,000 on eBay or Craigslist, offer $8,500 to $9,000. Additionally, since you’ve already determined financing for the vehicle, make it clear that you’re willing to write a check for the car today. Here's how to get a car salesperson's attention: Say, "If you're willing to haggle with me on price, I'll write you a check today."
4. Get a Pre-Buy Inspection: This is a little-known secret that can save you from sinking money into a ticking time bomb or can give you a leg up on negotiating a used car price. While many people believe that you can get pre-buy inspections from private sellers, you can get pre-buy inspections on vehicles from used car lots, as well. Call your mechanic, and make an appointment for a vehicle inspection. These usually take an hour for a general check, but you can also pay extra for a more detailed inspection.
5. Be Willing To Walk: You’ve found the car. However, you and the salespeople can’t come to an agreement. Instead of spending more than you’re comfortable with or leaving the dealership feeling cheated, just walk away. Car salespersons are good at their jobs, and they want to make you think that unless you buy the vehicle then, it will be gone and there won’t be another. Just keep reminding yourself that there are always other cars and other dealerships.
6. Insurance Is Non-Negotiable: While you can't really haggle for insurance coverage, you can definitely find a good deal. Most importantly, you can find auto insurance that can cover you no matter what kind of car you drive, and no matter how you drive it. Independent agents are particularly good at comparison shopping and helping you save because they don't work with a single insurer. Because they have access to multiple companies, you can get several quotes to compare before you buy.
Overexertion and falls account for more than $25 billion in workers’ compensation costs in the U.S.
Being hurt by an object or equipment ranks third in workplace injury causes and claims costs in the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety’s 2014 Workplace Safety Index.
In its 15th year, the annual ranking of top 10 causes of serious, nonfatal workplace injuries is based on the company’s workers’ compensation claims data and data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Academy of Social Insurance.
The research institute examined 2012 claims data for injuries lasting six or more days and ranked the injuries by total workers’ compensation costs.
10 Leading Causes and Direct Costs of Workplace Injuries:
- Overexertion $15.1B - 25.3%
- Falls on same level $9.19B - 15.4%
- Struck by object or equipment $5.3B - 8.9%
- Falls to lower level $5.12B - 8.6%
- Other exertions or bodily reactions $4.27B - 7.2%
- Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle $3.18B - 5.3%
- Slip or trip without fall $2.17B - 3.6%
- Caught in/compressed by equipment or objects $2.1B - 3.5%
- Repetitive motions involving micro-tasks $1.84B - 3.1%
- Struck against object or equipment $1.76B - 2.9%
The leading cause of injury on the list, overexertion, was typically related to lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing. Other exertions, which came in at number five, includes injuries due to bending, crawling, reaching, twisting, climbing, stepping, kneeling, sitting, standing or walking.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, worker deaths in America are down. In 1970, there were on average 38 worker deaths a day and in 2012, the figure was down to 12 deaths a day. OSHA reports workplace fatalities have been reduced by more than 65 percent and occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 67 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled.
With the recent earthquakes that have rolled out of the Irving area, much attention has been brought to the possible need for earthquake insurance.
A standard homeowner's insurance policy does not cover damage caused by an earthquake. Some insurance companies will attach an earthquake coverage rider or endorsement to a homeowner’s policy. Due to the low risk in Texas, the premiums may not cost much, possibly as low as $100 a year for a $200,000 home.
Paschall Insurance Group offers earthquake insurance through several of our insurance carriers. If you are interested in learning more about earthquake insurance or any other insurance coverage, please give our office a call and let one of our friendly team members assist you (817-341-4400).
We’ve all heard the mantra a thousand times: “Speed kills!”
As parents of teenage drivers we know it’s true. Chances are good that your teen driver has heard the phrase a time or two as well. The problem is that your teen may not really believe it’s true—especially when it comes to his or her driving. The Allstate Foundation reported that some 55 percent of teens they surveyed said that they at least occasionally exceed the posted speed limits by more than 10 miles per hour.
The scary thing about this is that according to National Safety Council statistics, for every 10 MPH over 55, the chances of being killed in a crash DOUBLES! What’s scarier still, 40 percent of the surveyed teens claim that they plan to continue exceeding the posted limits in the future.
It’s not just driving too fast that’s the problem, however. A lot of teenage drivers falsely believe they are safe drivers. According to the Allstate survey, close to half of them claimed to be “defensive” drivers. They saw themselves as “safe” drivers. But they also claimed that more than 60 percent of their peers were “aggressive” drivers. This shows a complete “disconnect” between perception and reality.
Unfortunately, there is some misconception among teens as to what makes a driver a “safe” driver. More than 50 percent of teenage drivers surveyed were under the impression that most teenage car crashes came about as a result of drinking and driving. The fact is that fewer than 25 percent of those crashes involve alcohol. Of course that’s still far too many, but it means that 75 percent of teen crashes are due to other driving mistakes.
Teen drivers are involved in over 800,000 crashes per year, resulting in 3,000 lost lives (www.rita.dot.gov). Make sure your teen driver is aware of these statistics. Driving is 90% mental, as proven by the fact that 9 out of 10 car crashes are caused by mental error (www.nhtsa.gov) with the main culprits being speeding, tailgating and an overall lack of focus while driving.
