A moving violation can be a serious mistake or a minor one. In many situations, your auto insurance provider is there to help you through mistakes you might make. However, there are some situations where it can become difficult to obtain auto insurance. If you are labeled a high-risk driver, it may be hard to obtain car insurance or affordable plans. There are several things to keep in mind in this situation.

Can You Be Denied?

Most states have requirements that those who operate a motor vehicle (or own one) must have auto insurance in place. This is required for nearly all drivers. However, car insurance providers are able to deny individuals coverage if the driver is too high of a risk to insure. It can be hard to obtain insurance if you have such a label because the risk of another mistake, accident or moving violation is high.

By definition, a high-risk driver is someone who has a higher potential of filing a claim at some time in the future. Insurers view these individuals as high risk and costly, therefore charging a significant amount more to cover individuals, or simply denying coverage altogether. There are many reasons for this outcome, including a DUI/DWI conviction, illegal street racing, excessive speeding, reckless driving, driving without licensing and traffic violations in which a person died or got seriously injured.

What Should You Do?

If you are a high-risk driver, you will need to work to minimize such risks going forward. More so, if you find a policy that offers coverage to you, be sure to do everything you can to reduce your points. In some cases, you may be able to take a driving course to reduce your points. You may need to obtain an SR-22 as well, which generally is a requirement by the department of motor vehicles. Most people can find a policy available to them, though it can be expensive and hard to do without the help of an independent insurance agent. The right auto insurance provider is likely available even for high-risk drivers.

Drivers who miss between one to two hours of the recommended seven hours of sleep nearly double their risk of a crash, according to research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

If you don’t get at least seven hours of sleep, sleep deprivation could cause you to get into an accident. The AAA Foundation found that sleep-deprived drivers had a steadily increasing risk of being involved in a collision in comparison to drivers who slept for the recommended seven hours or more before getting behind the wheel:

• Six to seven hours of sleep: 1.3 times the crash risk
• Five to six hours of sleep: 1.9 times the crash risk
• Four to five hours of sleep: 4.3 times the crash risk
• Less than four hours of sleep: 11.5 times the crash risk

Sleep deprivation similar to being drunk

Sleep deprivation can seriously impair your ability to drive. In fact, the study found that drivers who get less than five hours of sleep share the same crash risk as someone who is driving over the legal limit for alcohol.

“You cannot miss sleep and still expect to be able to safely function behind the wheel,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Our new research shows that a driver who has slept for less than five hours has a crash risk comparable to someone driving drunk.”

One in three adults sleep less than seven hours a day

While 97 per cent of drivers told the AAA Foundation they viewed drowsy driving as a completely unacceptable behaviour, nearly one in three admitted that in the month leading up to the survey, they drove when they were so tired, they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.

“Managing a healthy work-life balance can be difficult and far too often we sacrifice our sleep as a result,” said Jake Nelson, director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research for AAA. “Failing to maintain a healthy sleep schedule could mean putting yourself or others on the road at risk.”

No matter how much you open your windows or how loud you turn up your radio, you can’t trick your body into staying awake. In fact, you could easily fall asleep behind the wheel without even realizing it.

And while caffeine can make you more alert, the effects usually wear off quickly if you’re sleep deprived. Coffee or other stimulants cannot substitute sleep, and the AAA urges drivers to prioritize getting plenty of sleep (at least seven hours) into their daily schedules.

Signs that you are drowsy

When you are drowsy or tired, you are less alert and your reaction time is impacted. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation notes eight signs that you are too tired to drive:

• You have difficulty keeping your eyes open.
• Your head keeps tilting forward despite your efforts to keep your eyes on the road.
• Your mind keeps wandering and you can’t seem to concentrate.
• You yawn frequently.
• You can’t remember details about the last few kilometres you have travelled.
• You are missing traffic lights and signals.
• Your vehicle drifts into the next lane and you have to jerk it back into your lane.
• You have drifted off the road and narrowly avoided a crash.

Penalties for drowsy driving

Though there appears to be no specific law in Canada that targets driving while fatigued, you could easily catch the eye of the police if you’re driving while drowsy—even if you’re not involved in a collision. If you’re not able to stay in your lane, or if you run a red light or make an unsafe lane change, you can end up with a ticket.

And while tickets come with a one-time fine, they can also affect your auto insurance premiums for years to come, as they stay on your driving record for at least three years.

Then, of course, if you’re involved a collision, the penalties for driving while fatigued are more serious. You could be charged with dangerous driving, careless driving or even criminal negligence.

Don’t risk it; get the sleep you need to drive safely behind the wheel.

Installing a home security system is essential in order for you to protect your home, family, and valuable possessions. Having a home security system installed affords you the peace of mind you need in order to live without fear for your home’s safety.

However one of the most important things you need to consider when installing a home security system is the type of monitoring plan you wish to have. Here are a few things you should know when you’re trying to find the best monitoring plan for your home security system.

What is Monitoring?

To put it simply, monitoring refers to the way in which your home security system communicates with a device or center which monitors the information it is receiving. Essentially, a monitoring center processes the information to determine what action or steps need to be taken in the event of a security breach.

Types of Monitoring

When it comes to monitoring for home security systems there are generally two different types of monitoring methods: personal and professional. Personal monitoring is very rare and is usually carried out when you’ve purchased and installed a lower grade home security system. This type of monitoring involves all of the information from the home security system being redirected to you directly. That means you have to keep a vigilant eye on what is happening in your home in order to keep on top of things.

If your attention slips and something happens during that time, nothing can be done because you were the monitoring center so to speak. It was your responsibility to identify a threat and report it to the relevant authorities.

As you can see, this type of monitoring is very cumbersome on the homeowner and can prove to be grossly ineffective in most cases.

The other method of monitoring is professional. This means that the alarm company is the one keeping a tab on all the signals that your house is emitting. If there is a security breach or threat, the alarm company will inform the relevant authorities and help will be sent to your home right away. Alarm companies pride themselves on having fast response times which is what makes them so attractive to customers. The faster the response time, the less likely it is that you and your family will incur serious harm, damage, or losses.

Things to Keep in Mind When Looking for a Monitoring Plan

With respect to monitoring plans, they are typically divided into two broad categories: basic and advanced/interactive. The two different plans differ in how much control you are afforded. The general features of the two plans are outlined below.

Basic Monitoring Plans

If you’ve just gotten a home security system, basic monitoring packages are a great way to start out. This is especially true in today’s day and age because now, the more advanced packages require smartphone and tablet use. If you don’t have a smartphone, basic monitoring is perfect for you.

Advanced and Interactive Plans

These plans are a little bit more complex and give you the chance to be more involved with the monitoring process. If you want to be kept in the loop with everything that’s happening in and around your home, these sorts of monitoring plans keep you updated via your smartphone or tablet. You can expect to get texts and alerts as to the status of your home, remote access to various home security features, as well as access to the cameras and sensors if there are any.

What to Expect from any Monitoring Plan

Generally, all monitoring plans have certain key features. Some of these include:

• 24/7 monitoring and surveillance of your property for everything from break-ins to the state of the environment. This means that your monitoring system is also keeping an eye out for things like excess carbon monoxide, water levels, and smoke.
• Primary contacts – These are generally two numbers which the alarm company calls first in the event of a security breach or problem.
• Secondary contacts – If they can’t get in touch with your primary contacts, the company will attempt to get in touch with your secondary contacts. You can give up to five numbers as secondary contacts.
• Cellular connection – This is the means by which your alarm system forms a connection to the monitoring service. It uses cellular connections as opposed to landlines which aren’t very reliable. A landline can be cut by a burglar to try to cut you off from protection. Cellular connections don’t require wires and are therefore a more reliable way to connect to your monitoring service.

How to Choose Which Monitoring Plan is Best for you

Choosing which monitoring plan is best for you involves a consideration of your personal preferences and circumstances. For instance, are you looking to have more control over what’s happening inside your home when you’re not around or are you comfortable with giving that responsibility solely to the monitoring service?

There are certain cases and situations in which a more interactive/advanced system would be more effective. These include:

• When your kids are at home alone
• If you’re going on vacation and want to keep tabs on the house
• If your elderly parents are living with you and you want to monitor them

In these cases, being able to see and know what’s happening at home while you’re away is very beneficial.

As you can see, what monitoring plan you end up choosing largely depend upon what degree of control you want over the surveillance of your home. If you’re looking to be more involved, an advanced plan is best for you; if not, you can easily settle for a basic plan.

A great and fun summer activity for the family is a road trip. Even though road trips are fun, frustration and stress often accompany families while out on the road. Make certain that you keep the following tips in mind to help make your family’s road trip a good one:

The best possible thing you can do to get ready for a road trip is to get the family car in the best shape possible. Give the car a proper tune-up so that you don’t have to worry about the car breaking down while you are out on the road. Make sure that you have an auto warranty for your car so that the maintenance and repairs that need to be performed on your car will not drain your wallet.

In addition, make sure that you plan ahead for the trip so that your family is prepared and knows exactly where you are going and what you are doing. This can alleviate stress and help make the trip go smoothly. Also, invest in a GPS that will help you get to your planned destinations with ease.

Though you can plan for road trips, you cannot always predict when you will run into problems such as road construction or traffic. These things are almost inevitable so make sure that you relax and do not stress out so that you and your family can have a good time on your road trip.