Weight Loss Myths

How Stress Affects Students

Facts on Impaired Driving

Research on distracted driving reveals some surprising facts*:

20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).

Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)

In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (FARS and GES)

The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)

Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

*courtesy of distraction.gov

SAFE DRIVING FROM CWI UNDERWRITERS!!

Drunk Driving Kills

Click to enlarge this image

Drunk Driving by Car Insurance Comparison.org

Never Too Young to be Devoted

We’d like to introduce Colleen Rossano, a customer of ours who’s been with us for quite some time, but even more directly her daughter, Susan.

Susan was born at 31 weeks, roughly 7 months, due to stressful circumstances her mother Colleen had to endure during pregnancy. At three years of age, as she looked through pictures of herself in NICU(neonatal intensive care unit) she couldn’t help but wonder why, in the midst of Christmas, she lay in a empty room. “She wanted to know where her toys were,” says Colleen. Its common for a child to relate Christmas to presents. That’s how Susan saw it. In ’06 her sister Rylin was born. She too had to be place in NICU and this made Susan worry. Were these babies going to experience a giftless holiday like she did?

Susan’s mind was set. On her birthday, December 22^nd, she was bringing all the babies in NICU Christmas present. That’s how it been these past five years. With hands full of stuffed animals and a heart full of kindness she pays her yearly visit to the NICU at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines. All sponsored by her hard earned, well saved allowance money.

“This is a present from me to you

Seven years ago I was in NICU too

My mom said no one filled the room with joy

So here’s a special holiday toy”

– poem left with every toy by Susan

Susan was awarded the Guardian Angel award, the youngest recipient to date as well as having raised one thousand dollars for March of Dimes and recently collected diaper for Forever Family, an organization which supports relatives raising babies. It comes to no surprise that Susan wants to become a “baby doctor” when she grows up. “I want to be the first one to touch a baby.”

Stress: Don’t Let It Control You

You bite your nails. There are nicks and battle scars on your pencil or pen cap from constant attacks of your teeth. Your hair is holding on to dear life to your scalp as you threaten to pull it out. This…is your third cup of coffee…in the last hour. A millions problems are going through your head, not one solution. The monotone buzz of the office doesn’t help with printers, faxes, and phones ringing all day. Thursday can’t get any worse.

Stress can be found in many environments and is expressed hundreds of ways. Be it at work, home, school, or any other situation that may become stressful. A study by Northwestern National Life reports that 40% of workers feel their job is “very or extremely stressful”.  Not that big of a number? That’s more than 1 out of 3 people. 10 people in the office? Three stressed. A hundred? Thirty. A thousand? Get it now? Whether it be three or three hundred, 10% of workers have stated that the work atmosphere has been witness to physical violence and 42% report yelling or other verbal abuses are common. So a person that is “extremely” stressed and also violent, well, we can imagine the dark road that leads to. We’ve seen the news.

Don’t put it aside. Manage your stress before it becomes unmanageable.  Here’s a couple ways to cope with stress:

• Don’t expect perfection of yourself or others
• Set appropriate priorities
• Get regular exercise
• Take a walk and enjoy the scenery
• Make some quiet time regularly
• Allow for sufficient relaxation and sleep
• Talk to a friend/coworker about your worries
• If your workplace allows, play some easy listening music or any that will calm you and keep you leveled

Don’t allow stress to get the upper hand. CWI Underwriters wishes you to have a great day and enjoy the coming weekend!

Going Green Saves You Green

Volt and Leaf are neck to neck with their introduction into the Electric car market this year. Leaf, Nissan’s first all electric car, can move you 100 miles per charge with no emissions and is a approximately a nice $9,000 less expensive before the $7,500 tax credit. Volt, Chevy’s pride and joy of 2011, on the other hand, will travel 40 emission free miles until a small gas engine kicks into the electric and allows you to reach 340 miles (guess you don’t have to worry about it shutting down on you now, eh?).  That’s my little intro and from now forward we can expect to see a lot more reviews and “vs.” battles between electric, emission-free, green vehicles. So what do the drivers of these cars say about their transition? And another pretty important question, who insures them?

USA Today spoke to several “green” drivers and gave us a brief look at what their daily commute is like. For those worried that their car might lose power mid trip one driver states “…people don’t really drive more than 40 miles a day”. I guess that’s true since my 45 minute drive to work is only 20 miles and these engines are reaching more and more as newer models are released. A proud Leaf owners states, “When you get it serviced, there are only three things they check: windshield wiper fluid, the brakes and tire pressure. There’s no oil, no oil filter. You don’t need to go to the gas station at all.” So the drivers see the benefits in driving them, now what of insurance? Geico doesn’t offer much for electric vehicles. Matter of fact they can only be insure in California, North Carolina, and Rhode Island simply cause they are forced to offer coverage. Progressive does insure here in FL but no special treatment from them. Even the beautiful Tesla Roadster is considered a high performance car, so that policy will be a bit pricey. State Farm and Allstate follow in the tradition of Progressive. So save on gas, stick with a similar policy and enjoy the road.

Hurricane Season 2011. It’s Gonna Be a Busy One.

Wasn’t 2010 great for us here in the Sunshine State? Lady Luck was on our side as none of the 12 Atlantic hurricanes crossed our coastline. Usually the ratio is 1 out of 4 normally do. So…BRING IT 2011! …. just kidding.

Colorado State University has projected 19 named storms, 12 hurricanes and 5 major ones (cat 3+). El Niño, the tropical phenomenon that creates conditions not conducive to the formation of hurricanes, doesn’t seem like it will be active this year; leading to a more active season in 2011. Ike was the costliest one to Texas topping damages at $9.8 billion and we have fresh images in our mind of the infamous Katrina which cause around $41 billion in damages. Forecast show a 48% of Florida being hit. That’s a 18% increase from the usual 30%.

Now the question is who do you have for your Homeowners insurance? At CWI Underwriters we have 10 carriers and some offer a 2% discount when you merge the homeowners with wind. Give us a ring and let us take care of your family’s home.

The hurricane season runs from June 1^st to Nov 30^th. Stay tuned for our upcoming Hurricane Survival Guide.

High Gas Prices = Fewer Accidents

How many times has this happened to you? You have a bag full of your favorite candy. It’s set in a drawer next to you, or your kitchen, or by the computer. When the bag is full you splurge your candy. To you it’s full and it will stay full. Then one day, you pull open your drawer, pull it out and *gasp* it’s light. Too light. Now you start to spread it out as thin as you can. You don’t grab handfuls, but instead, grab a piece or two and put it away. You become very protective of it and even stop sharing with your co-workers (they’re animals). Interestingly enough, today’s economy is having that same effect on the way we use our cars.

FIVE DOLLARS! That’s the forecast for mid this year and if you’re like me, we’re dreading the pump so much that we’ll do anything so that the needle, that devilish thing that taunts us as it drops slowly but surely, stays up and takes its time on it descent. Yet, alas, there is a silver lining behind it all. What happened with your candy as its supply ran short? You were more careful with it, right? So too will you be with the way you drive and your gas consumption.

A study done by the Mississippi States Social Research Center compared gas prices with traffic stats from April 2004 to December 2008. The study showed how there was a short term effect on young drivers and an intermediate effect on older drivers. People react by making less unimportant trips or by simply doing everything they need on the way back home to reduce traveling. There was even an effect on drunk driving and if you think about it, it makes sense. What you would spend on booze is now filling up your car to get you back home or to work.

P.S. At CWI Underwriters you don’t have to drive to us to save on you policies. That would kinda be an oxymoron. We’ll take care of you over the phone or by email…telepathy available soon.

Cruise Your Way Into Summer

It’s been pretty hot these past couple of days. The sun keeps beating down and the humidity rising. You walk out of the office and can’t wait to be in your car, blow the AC, and hide behind your tints. As you get to it the door handle is burning. You flick it open and as you’re about to get in, a blast of heat completely engulfs you and, if you weren’t sweating yet, you are now. Clear enough? This heat is unbearable and I can’t help thinking of another way to move around in a much “cooler” fashion. How bout a bike? Not a pedal one (it’s too hot to exercise outside and I don’t want to be held liable of someone suffering a heat stroke). A motorcycle, motorbike, a two-wheeled motor vehicle. Come on. You’ve thought about it. I have. So what to get?

Personally I’m into the adventure-touring and power cruisers. Adventure-Touring “AT” is where off-road and touring bikes meet. Touring are those big bikes like the Honda Gold Wing, Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, and the BMW K1200LT. But to me they’re too bulky. No offense to older readers but I’m not 50. If I really wanted to ride around gloriously I’d get a power cruiser; I’ll get to that in a moment. Now most of us have seen off-road bikes. Rickety, noisy, and boney is not appealing to many who want to ride around on a bike. Luckily the Adventure-Touring is a fine blend of the two. Who better to blend these two than BMW back in 1980. They’ve picked up over the years and offer great long-distance travel with some off road compliance, making it a fun ride always.

Ahh Power Cruisers. I would probably get this over the AT simply cause of its aggressive, majestic prowess. Most Harleys are classified as   cruisers and they present a comfortable ride with a great sense of dignity. A Power-Cruiser kicks it up a notch. You want a hot-rod, sport bike, PO’d, attitude machine? Found it. Power Cruisers deliver in a way no other bike does and with bike like the Harley Night Rod and Suzuki Boulevard, you can tell from a distance.

So time to rock out a nice bike this summer. Oh, by the way, they’re great on gas and nowadays that’s definitely a plus. Have fun searching for your perfect ride and don’t forget, who better to insure it than us here at CWI.