Michelle Jackson-Brown

GAP insurance can provide valuable protection during the early years of your car’s life if you have a loan or a lease.

If a loss occurs, GAP insurance will pay the difference between the actual cash value of the vehicle and the current outstanding balance on your loan or lease. Gap Insurance protects your vehicle lease or loan. Sometimes it will also pay your regular insurance deductible.

If your vehicle has been totaled by accident, theft, fire, flood, tornado, vandalism, or hurricanes your insurance company typically pays the actual cash value. That may be less than its actual retail value. It is often considerably less than the actual amount you still owe on your loan or the amount due for a lease payoff.

The amount between your insurance deductible and the loss from this financial shortfall is the “gap” you can be left owing.

A new study about distracted driving, which is part of the GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, reveals that U.S. drivers may not be paying enough attention to the road. The new data suggests that the numbers may have increased because of women who admittedly do just about anything—eating, putting on makeup, texting and even taking pictures—behind the wheel.

National Drivers Test also tested driver behavior. According to the study, women are more likely to engage in distracted driving habits than men. Distracted driving habits include eating, adjusting GPS devices, changing songs on MP3 players, taking pictures, applying makeup and even changing clothes. Here’s a glimpse at some of the numbers:

• Fifty-two percent of female drivers say they eat while driving (a 25 percent increase from 2010), as opposed to only 44 percent of male drivers.
• Eighty-three percent of female drivers admit to texting while stopped at red lights, as opposed to 71 percent of male driver
• Thirty-eight percent of female drivers said they did not engage in any distracted driving activities, as opposed to 46 percent of male drivers
  The National Drivers Test encourages drivers to educate themselves on the rules of the road in order to prevent accidents that may result from distracted driving habits.

Team up w/GMAC & MJB Insurance and take the test: http://www.nationaldriverstest.com/

Some aftermarket parts may be fine. Others may not. But Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts are designed for your vehicle and its optimal performance. While salvaged parts may save you money in the short run, in some instances the consequences can be disastrous.

Both salvaged (airbag) modules and non-OEM (airbag) modules have been touted as less expensive alternatives than OEM airbags. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are potential problems with both of these alternative replacement modules. For a salvaged (airbag) module to be viable for use in repairs, it is first necessary to precisely match the make, model and model year of the salvaged vehicle with the vehicle being repaired. For a non-OEM (airbag) module to have the same crash performance as the original, the two modules must have exactly the same chemicals that generate the gas, in exactly the same quantity and formulation.⁶

Do you really want to take that risk?

At GMAC Insurance we don’t think you should have to. That’s the reason we guarantee use of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts for post-collision repairs – at no extra charge.*

Call us today for a quote (757)255-8162 or via email : Michelle@mjbinsuranceservices.com

Tweeting while driving? The GMAC Insurance Distracted Driving Study shows smart phones are drawing drivers’ attention behind the wheel

An alarmingly high percentage of drivers are still using various features of their smart phones while operating their vehicles, according to the Distracted Driving Study which is part of the 7th Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test. According to the study, almost two-thirds of drivers say they make phone calls and 8 in 10 drivers admitted to reading and sending text messages while stopped at red lights. Fifty percent of the drivers in the study say they make phone calls while driving in “slow traffic” or “while driving on an open highway.” Fifteen percent of drivers from the study admitted to sending and reading texts while driving. Conversely, 80 percent of drivers who took part in the study say it is never safe to text, email or use their smart phones while driving.

The results revealed people are saying they mostly use their phones for calling and text messaging while driving. But, almost ten percent of drivers admitted to sending and reading emails and using their downloaded applications on their smart phones while operating their vehicles. About three percent of drivers say they use their smart phones to take pictures and some are even updating their Twitter and Facebook pages.

Want to know more about using smart phones and distracted driving?
Click here to find out more shocking facts about the dangers of using your phone while driving.

Brought to you by MJB & GMAC Insurance.

If you no longer own your vehicle for whatever reason, You have to notify the insurance company. If you do not communicate this to us we have no way of knowing. As an insurance agent, I recommend that you first contact DMV and let them know that you no longer own the vehicle. Next contact the insurance company to let them know.  This can save you time and money!!Communication is the KEY!

According to the National Drivers Test, only 15% of respondents knew to stop, if it is safe to do so, at a traffic light displaying a steady yellow signal. And, only 27% of participants knew that the safe distance to follow other drivers in most conditions is three seconds. These are the two questions that drivers struggled with the most in the 7th Annual National Drivers Test from GMAC Insurance.

When asked about whether or not taking the driver’s test would make a difference on the roads, Officer Kidd, who is currently a traffic safety instructor, said, “If each driver were required to take a written test each time they renewed their license, there would be a substantial reduction in road rage and accidents.” Kidd explained, “The most common response I get from drivers after I explain a driving rule or law is, I didn’t know that.” While there was a slight increase in the overall average test score compared to 2010, many American drivers are still unfit for the road, according to the 7th Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test.

Brought to you by GMAC Insurance & MJB Insurance

If the results of the 2011 GMAC Insurance National Drivers test are any indication of how well drivers know the rules of the road, then close to 37 million drivers need to retake a driver’s education course. According to the study, nearly 37 million U.S. drivers are unable to pass a written driver’s test. That means millions of people are driving with their own rules for the road. According to driving expert Officer Robert Kidd of Ohio, education and testing are essential when it comes to increasing safe driving knowledge and reducing road rage and accidents.

Brought to you by GMAC & MJB Insurance

Greetings,

According to the GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, 4 out of 10 young adult drivers, ages 18-24, would fail the driver’s test if they took it today. While the youngest group proved to be the least knowledgeable when it comes to safe driving, 32% of 25-34 year old drivers would also fail the driver’s test if they took it today. Almost 1 in 3 drivers ages 25-34 failed the National Drivers Test—a five percent increase in their failure rate since 2009 (27%). These age groups make up a big portion of the 36.9 million estimated people deemed unfit for the roads based on the results of the GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test.

All the news about younger drivers wasn’t so bad. In fact, 4 out of 5 of the youngest drivers who took the National Drivers Test, those aged 16-17, proved they would pass the test if they took the driver’s test today. That’s good news for the rest of us on the roads and for parents who have teenagers in the family that are beginning to get behind the wheel.

One finding of the 7th Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test was that older drivers knew more about safe-driving. Older drivers did achieve higher test scores than younger drivers. Older drivers, ages 45-59 (16%) and 60-65 (13%), received the lowest failure rates of all age groups. Older drivers are safer drivers, on average.

Brought to you by MJB Insurance & GMAC Insurance.

Restrict night driving. Most young drivers’ nighttime fatal crashes occur from 9 p.m. to midnight, so teens shouldn’t drive much later than 9. Late outings tend to be recreational, and even teens who usually follow the rules can be easily distracted or encouraged to take risks.