Insurance News - Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Tuesday, April 16, 2013:

• In the U.S. texting while driving penalties harshest in Alaska (maximum penalty for a first offense is a $10,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence) and weakest in Virginia ($20).
• How big of a problem is distracted driving? The OPP says distracted driving is a factor in more fatalities than impaired driving.
• What impact with Google Inc (GOOG)’s robotic car have on auto insurance?
• Allstate in the U.S. introduces an iPhone and Android app for usage-based insurance.
• The Canadian Underwriter has an article on  over-inflated charges for assistive devices costing industry a lot of money.  Except the problem was addressed by Anti-Fraud Task Force and FSCO in 2012 with the Cost of Goods Guideline. 
• AAA study on what it costs to drive a car in the U.S. suggests that the average cost for sedans is $9,122 yearly or 60.8 cents/mile.