If you are a safe driver and still find yourself paying exorbitant insurance rates, you should know that there are ways to lower your rate, even if you own a sports or some other ‘difficult-to-insure’ vehicle. All it takes is a bit of research, planning, and patience on your part, and you can soon find yourself dealing with a much lower than average insurance payment each time your bill comes due.

One of the simplest and most straightforward ways to get a discounted insurance rate is to take your time and shop around. Do not just go with the first reasonable policy that you find. Instead, you should check out any and all insurance companies and policies that apply to you.

Take the time to read online user reviews of their services and perform a car insurance comparison of their prices. You can find extraordinarily cheap auto insurance for specific states even. Regardless of whether you have been with the same insurance company for years or not, you will want to take the time to review the policy each time it is amended to be sure you are still getting the best possible deal. This is especially true if there have been recent changes in your life, your driving history, or if you have added someone else to the policy. Small changes like this might not seem like a big deal but they can really add to your insurance bill.

Another great way to get discounts that many people are unaware of is to install a GPS tracking device in your vehicle. Aside from helping you with easy directions to your destination, this system will also keep track of how “safe” a driver you are. These devices can keep track of whether or not you speed or how often you do so, how often you employ hard braking or heavy acceleration and how often you drive. While this will not benefit you if you tend to be an unsafe driver, this is great for the experienced and careful driver or for the individual who wants to understand what kind of mistakes he is making while driving.

Insurance companies love GPS tracking devices for a wide variety of different reasons. First of all, it allows them to know who their drivers are and to separate them according to the risk they present. Furthermore, having a GPS allows insurance companies to more easily find your vehicle in the event that it is stolen. This is because GPS devices feature special tracking coordinates that can alert trackers as to where your vehicle is located at any given time. When all of these features and benefits are combined, it can result in an extraordinarily cheap auto insurance plan for you. Of course, you’ll need to take measures to be sure that you and any other drivers who uses the car do so safely and carefully at all times.

If you are a cautious driver, having a GPS system is like having a stamp of approval that proves this, and you will end up having much lower insurance rates than the safe driver who does not have a GPS tracking device installed.

There are degrees of traffic jams and some are just worse than others – much worse. In fact, some time ago Forbes reported on the DOT (Department of Transportation) rounding up the worst offenders and taking measures to alleviate what it describes as ‘alarming trends of congestion’, with the emphasis on implementing short-term solutions.

But it’s not just the U.S. that suffers from traffic chaos. Here is a roundup of pictures from the five worst cities for traffic jams (Sao Paulo is officially the worst with a queue that was 166 miles long, recorded in 2008).

#1 Sao Paulo, Brazil Worlds Worst Traffic Jam Cities #1 - Sao Paulo	#2 Jakarta, Indonesia Worlds Worst Traffic Jam Cities #2 - Jakarta	#3 Los Angeles, U.S. Worlds Worst Traffic Jam Cities #3 - Los Angeles
#4 Tokyo, Japan Worlds Worst Traffic Jam Cities #4 - Tokyo	#5 New York City, U.S. Worlds Worst Traffic Jam Cities #5 - New York

If there could be a number six it would probably be Bangkok in Thailand …

Bangkok Traffic Jam

While it might be amusing or even comforting to know you’re not the only one suffering the 2mph crawl to work, the cost to society is very real. Conservative estimates by the DOT say the U.S. loses $168 billion yearly from highway congestion. The nation’s trucking system in 2004 lost 243,032,000 hours due to traffic delays, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Beating traffic jams – the smart way

The DOT have listed measures to ease congestion in trouble spots that include timed ramp entries, congestion pricing (charging commuters during peak times), telecommuting and flex scheduling as well as improved transit services. The DOT also mentioned getting help from advanced technology and that’s where GPS fleet tracking and navigation systems come in.

And we’re not just referring to your garden-variety Garmin giving you turn-by-turn directions. We’re talking about route planning GPS software. Smart software that can feed your vehicle’s navigation system with real-time traffic and weather data, suggesting the fastest, and least congested, route.

Let’s not forget that by increasing the number of ‘smart’ drivers on the road who are taking less congested routes they are, at the same time, helping alleviate trouble spots where others drivers are getting caught in traffic traps.

Route planning takes standard GPS tracking and gives it a brain; helping drivers both personal and commercial make intelligent decisions. Commercial operators take routes that are optimized for their vehicle and their business, making them more courteous, safe and productive drivers, helping stem the economical drain of traffic jams. Personal drivers enjoy a less frustrating and more economical journey, arriving in a much better mood than the aforementioned Michael Douglas.

So let’s hope that the DOT follow through on encouraging greater use of route planning GPS systems to reduce congestion, and help make Americans, and the rest of the world, happier drivers.

And that’s better for all of us.

Although new hybrid cars and bio-fuels seem like great alternatives for reducing your fuel consumption, most people either can’t afford to upgrade or simply don’t have access to these new alternatives.

AA Insurance, New Zealand recently held a rally which aimed to show motorists how they can slash their fuel bills by choosing a fuel-efficient car and driving it in a fuel efficient manner.

A record 59 vehicles entered this year’s four-day rally around the North Island. They were put to the test with a combination of driving on motorways, unsealed roads, rural state highways, and in peak-hour city congestion. The AA ENERGYWISE Rally is held every two years and is jointly organised by the AA, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), and Gull Petroleum New Zealand.

The Driver Award, for the team that beat the manufacturer-stated fuel use of their vehicle by the highest percentage, went to the Trade Me team which drove the Holden HSV Maloo. They reduced their fuel consumption by 39.5%, achieving 9.497 litres per 100km instead of the manufacturer-stated fuel use of 15.7 litres per 100km.

What does it take to drive economically?

When the winner of the driver award was asked what tips they could give drivers in order to drive more efficiently they responded “Plan ahead, keep momentum and use the accelerator like it’s a piece of horse poo with a hard crust”. Perhaps a crude analogy but a great tips none-the-less!

Planning ahead is easy when you have the time to plan your trip and know where you are going, but what about when you don’t? This is where in-vehicle GPS systems come in.

A good GPS system will plan ahead for you and make sure that you take the quickest and most fuel efficient route to your destination. Limiting the amount of stops and time witing at lights in order to keep that momentum. If you are part of a fleet of vehicles then there’s also GPS systems to handle that too!

Fleet GPS systems will organise your routes according to your next job or location taking the hassle out of planning your day and a great system will also take into account peak traffic times, speed limits and roads restricted by the size of your vehicle.

Read more about the AA Energywise Rally.

Photo Coutesy: AA EnergyWise Rally