Auto Dealer Comeback?

Could the market be bottoming out in the auto industry? As the article in the San Diego Union Times (4.2.09) states "New-vehicle sales fell in March for a 17th consecutive month, but automakers said proposed federal incentives and reports from dealers of increased sales in the last week of the month could mean the market is bottoming out." Let's hope so.

Interesting - as the economy slides, states look for increased revenue and probably look to write more traffic tickets to generate additional dollars. In San Diego County, I see more and more police pulling over speeders, etc. This is, of course, great for the companies like Safe2Drive when the majority of violators will take traffic school or defensive driving classes...pending they qualify.

More and more people are turning to online traffic school for the ease of accomplishing this necessary evil when getting a traffic ticket OR in some states taking a class will decrease your insurance premiums up front. States like Minnesota have legislation in place that requires insurance companies to give a specific percentage discount to people (of a certain age) who have taken and passed a traffic safety class. This is a classic example of prevention versus reaction of our government system.

I found an article on Yahoo News (4.2.09) about one of many issues causing accidents on the road...drowsy driving. "It is one of the most vexing problems involving traffic safety. It is a factor in more than 100,000 crashes, resulting in 1,550 deaths and 40,000 injuries annually, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration." The article goes on to say that this is probably a conservative estimate. "Sleep deprivation has the same impact (as alcohol). Your judgment becomes impaired, whether you realize it or not. We're starting to understand that drowsy driving is the same as driving intoxicated." says Carol Ash, medical director of a sleep program at Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J.