Safe Distance Around Other Vehicles

Did you ever wonder what the safe distance is between your car and the one in front of you? Well, according to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, it’s the 2 second rule. 

The rule goes as follows: Pick an object in front of you, like a sign post or a tree. When the vehicle in front of you reaches that object, count out "one one-thousand, two one-thousand…..". If you reach the object before you count two, you are too close. Slow down until you’ve put enough distance between you and the other vehicle.

The two-second rule is a minimum safe distance for good road conditions and moderate traffic. Count three or four seconds for added safety and when traffic allows. Keep more space behind a motorcycle and heavy equipment (for example, dump trucks, tractors) than you would for another vehicle.  You never know when someone is going to stop abruptly, so it’s a good habit to make sure you’re not following another vehicle too closely.

Traveler's Discounts on Massachusetts Auto Policies

Effective Nov, 2010, Travelers now offers new and improved discounts for drivers who are:

• Good Students
• College student at school at least 100 miles from home

This is a potential savings of up to 18%.

There is also a 5% discount for new customers who submit a application at least 5 days prior to their renewal date.

Annual Low Mileage Discount: The discount used to be given for cars driven under 7,500 miles annually. Travelers has changed this to under 10,000 miles a year.

Check with your Independent Insurance Agency to be sure that you get all the discounts you're entitled to.

RMV announces Low Number Plate Lottery

The Registry of Motor of Vehicles has announced the 2010 Low Number Plate Lottery. This year there are 179 plates available for the low plate lottery including the following types:
Number only — three digits (e.g. 268)
Number only — four digits (e.g. 2062)
Two Numbers and One Letter (e.g. 19K)
One Letter and Two Numbers (e.g. B29)

To be eligible, applicants MUST mail the entry form to the Registry of Motor Vehicles • Attn: Lottery Plates • P.O. Box 55889 • Boston, MA • 02205 -5889. The submission must be postmarked no later than August 9, 2010.

Lottery Rules and Eligibility Requirements
Only one (1) entry per applicant will be accepted, regardless of the number of active registrations he/she may have.

An applicant must be a Massachusetts resident. An applicant must have a currently registered and insured passenger vehicle.

Companies/Corporations may not apply.

RMV employees, including contract employees, and their immediate family members are not eligible. (Black’s Law Dictionary defines “immediate family member” as the term generally referring to one’s parents, spouse, children, and brothers & sisters.)

Entry forms must be legible and printed in ink. The form must not have any missing information. Incomplete or illegible forms will be rejected. It may be helpful to have your registration in front of you when completing this entry form. Your accuracy will reduce the risk of your entry form being rejected. *Fields marked with an (*) are optional.

Requests for specific plate numbers will not be honored. Eligible applicants will be considered for all plates listed. Plates will be awarded in the order in which they are listed on the “2010 Plate List.”

An applicant’s registration and license cannot be in a non-renewal, suspended, or revoked status at the time of entry, the time of the drawing, or the time of the plate swap. As such, an applicant must not have any outstanding excise taxes, parking tickets, child support, warrants, or unpaid Fastlane violations.

Entry forms must be mailed and postmarked no later than August 9, 2010. Hand-delivered entry forms will not be accepted.

By law, lottery winners must be announced by September 15, 2010. Please visit our website (www.mass.gov/rmv) later in the summer for the official drawing date.
Lottery results will be available on the RMV website: www.mass.gov/rmv
All winners will be notified by the RMV in writing with instructions on how to transfer their current registration to their new lottery plate. Winners will have until December 31, 2010 to swap his/her plate by phone or at the Special Plate Section at RMV Headquarters. Unclaimed plates will be forfeited after December 31st. Plates will be registered to the winning applicant onlyAll plates remain the property of the RMV even after registration.

Lottery winners will be announced at a live drawing on August 28, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at The Larz Anderson Auto Museum located at 15 Newton Street in Brookline. Lottery results will also be posted on the RMV website.

Mass Registry Name Change

IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Due to the creation of the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), effective November 1st customers paying the RMV by check (or money order) should make their checks payable to MassDOT.

Progressive Insurance to Pay Massachusetts $120,000

From The Boston Globe 5/27/09
Progressive Direct Insurance Co. agreed to pay the state of Massachusetts $120,000 to settle charges that it inflated the rates for rival companies, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Specifically, Coakley's office accused Ohio-based Progressive, the nation's fourth-largest automobile insurer, of comparing its six-month rates to the 12-month rates offered by other companies. Progressive inaccurately listed all the rates on its website as six-month prices.

Progressive, which started offering policies in Massachusetts on May 1, 2008, stopped quoting rivals' rates on its website and through its call center late last year, and notified Coakley's office about the mistake.