New Ohio State Wide Texting Law

On June 1st Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed into law a state wide texting while driving ban. The law will go into force in 90 days from June 1st. This new law has tougher restrictions on those under 18. If you are under 18 you are not allowed to use a cell phone at all in a car when you are driving, hands free or not. Those over 18 are still allowed to make phone calls on their phones and are allowed to use the phone to dial while driving. They are just not allowed to send or read texts while driving. Also, for those under 18 the phone use law is a first offense meaning if a police officer sees a person under 18 using a phone while driving they can be pulled over and ticketed just for that offense. Those over 18 can only be ticketed for texting while driving if they were also pulled over for another violation such as speeding, running a red light, etc.

The law is a misdemeanor for drivers with fines up to $150. If you are under 18 you’re first offense could be $150 fine with a 60 day license suspension. A second offense for those under 18 is $300.

Legal Limits vs. Adequate Limits

Several auto insurance companies are doing a great deal of advertising about keeping you legal for less premium. What does that mean? All states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Canadian provinces require you to carry Automobile Liability Insurance with certain minimum limits of coverage. In Ohio those limits are $12,500/person/$25,000/accident for Bodily Injury and $7,500 for Property Damage Liability. In Indiana and Kentucky the minimum limits are $25,000/50,000/10,000. In Wisconsin, for example, the minimum limits are $50,000/100,000/15,000. In some of the Canadian provinces the limit is $200,000. In short, if you carry the minimum required limits in a particular state or Canadian province, you are legally in compliance with that state or province's Financial Responsibility Laws.

But if you are legally in compliance, is that the same as adequate limits of liability protection? In our opinion, higher limits of protection are highly recommended to protect your assets, future earnings and driving privileges. For example, if you rear-end another party and cause serious bodily injury and/or property damage, your minimum limits Auto Policy might initially take care of the other person's medical bills, loss of income and pain and suffering and/or repair their car, but if it is not enough, the injured party could come after you for more. They could tie up your assets, you future earnings, your driver's license and car registration, etc. for long time. Even if you file bankruptcy they could still make it difficult for you to function while you are going through the process.

So what are adequate limits? Unfortunately there is no formula for determining this. With your home you can insure it for the replacement cost of the house using various estimation tools plus discussions with architects and contractors can help you determine the proper amount. There is no such simple formula to determine how much liability insurance to carry, but it is safe to say that Ohio's limits of $12,500/25,000/7,500 are not adequate even if they are legal in the event of a serious automobile accident. We would suggest limits of no less than $100,000/300,000/100,000 or $250,000/500,000/100,000 for your consideration. In addition, if you desire and need higher limits, buying a Personal Umbrella Liability Policy with limits of at least $1,000,000 or higher is highly recommended.

In Fey Insurance’s opinion, the minimum limits of protection imposed by states and the Canadian provinces are a start vs. no insurance at all, but they are not adequate to protect you in the event of a serious automobile accident.

Cincinnati to have a Ban on Texting While Driving

On Wednesday Sept 8^th Cincinnati’s City Council voted to ban texting (reading or writing) while driving in Cincinnati, OH. This new law carries a $100 fine. The offense is a primary offense meaning you can be pulled over if all you are doing is violating the texting ban. The new law is scheduled to go into effect in the next 30 days.

You can still use your phone to make calls and you can still use portable GPS Navigation Systems. One thing to make note of on the GPS devices is that you are only allowed to input information into the device if the vehicle is not moving and is out of the way of traffic. The extra stipulation on use of GPS Systems leads me to believe you can be pulled over for inputting data into the device while you are still driving.

Our Cincinnati insurance agency office wanted our clients to know this information so that they can be safe and legal when driving around the Cincinnati, OH area.