Are You Ready for some FOOTBALL?

Are you watching the game this Sunday? Do you know who is playing?  Usually my team, the New York Jets, is not eligible for the playoffs; I begin to find a peripheral team to like.  This year it was the Washington Redskins; who lost their chance at the playoffs.   Now it is the San Francisco 49ers. 

Both my daughters live in Virginia and they are Redskins fans.  They met RG III in December and my grandson had his picture taken with him.  He is a very nice man; he interrupted his meal to stand next to my 4-year-old grandson and get yet another picture taken. That is a classy young man; I wish him a speedy and full recovery.  HAIL!

The man that inspired the story Blind Side, Michael Oher, is playing for the Ravens.  The 49ers have a linebacker with parallel life as Oher, Patrick Willis.  The drive to overcome their early circumstances is inspirational.  It is also heart wrenching to realize there are children reliving their story all over the world.  

The stories of the players and league interest me more than the actual 2013 Super Bowl game.

• The game is brother against brother, the Raven’s coach, John is older than brother 49ers coach, Jim.
• Is this the last of Ravens’ Ray Lewis and Ed Reed?  
• Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree from the 49ers bring their own set of “bad boy” behavior and drama, not to mention Ray Lewis' reputation.
• There are opposites in the quarterback area too: do you prefer the clean cut Joe Flacco or the “sleeves” of Colin Kaepernick?  In addition, Kaepernick is in his second year, a Super Bowl ring would be a nice prize for a sophomore. 
• Will Dave Akers shank a game winning field goal or will he redeem his abysmal season? 
• Off the field, Ravens’ linebacker Bendon Ayanbadejo is a proponent of Gay marriage, kicker Justin Tucker is an opera singer and 49ers tight end Vernon Davis owns an art gallery. 
•  Of course, Commissioner Goodell is not a welcome visitor to the Big Easy after sanctioning the Saints. 
•  Lastly, is football worth so many of its players developing ALS due to head injuries sustained from concussions?  

Super Bowl: four quarters, an hour of play and so much more than the score.  I did not even talk about the commercials and half time!

State Minimum is too Minimum

We hear the commercials about carry the state minimum insurance and you are good to go.  Are you really?

Yesterday morning, a car slammed into the “grand slam” breakfast restaurant, Denny’s, in Wilkes-Barre.  Under the state minimum insurance for PA, the property damage limit is $5,000.  The property damage at Denny’s is well over the limit of $5,000.  Now what happens to the driver and Denny’s? 

Denny’s has to turn the claim into their insurance carrier for payment of the damage to the building that is over the policy limit of $5,000.  Denny’s will have to pay their deductible first. Then Denny’s insurance company on behalf of Denny’s will seek restitution for the damage from the driver. 

What does seek restitution mean? With the minimum insurance allowed by the state, the driver can be sued. The driver will go to court.  The driver will be responsible for all property damages over $5,000 including the deductible paid by Denny’s.  The magistrate will arrange payment from the driver to reimburse Denny’s insurance for the amount they paid to repair Denny’s building along with the deductible and court costs.

What if it was a car? What if there are two cars?  Let’s say the car with the state minimum insurance strikes a Mercedes that sustains over $5,000 worth of damage then the second car is strikes is a Yugo that has $3,000 worth of damage, more than the Yugo is worth.  The Mercedes would receive $5,000, the policy limit end of story, no payment for the Yugo owner.  The Yugo owner, not the insurance carrier, would sue the driver for the damages.  In the meantime, the Yugo owner has no car.  Do not forget the Mercedes; the owner will sue for payment of the damages over the $5,000 limit and court costs.  Is the state minimum insurance of $5,000 a bargain?

We have not even touched upon the liability for how many people were injured and will sue!

State minimum is too minimum; it leaves the driver and the other parties involved unprotected.  DGK recommends higher limits than the state minimum.  If an accident happens and you are at fault, we want you protected.