The world is full of people who have no respect for you or your property. Although crimes of violence have been falling, it’s still dangerous to walk alone at night in some neighborhoods. It’s the same with vehicles. Some were clearly designed with thieves in mind. This can be something red with jaw-dropping acceleration – a vehicle much prized by the young driver who wants a thrill and enjoys racing with local law enforcement officers. Or it can be a high-end vehicle on a list given to professional thieves who either want to export the car or break it for parts. Or it can just be simple to steal and so the easiest way to get home after a night drinking at a local bar. Naturally, the manufacturers of the expensive hardware also spend a lot of money on security. In theory this makes it difficult for the thieves to drive it away. Even if they succeed, there are GPS transmitters to help law enforcement officers track its movements. Many such vehicles are either simply damaged by unsuccessful thieves, or recovered still in one piece

Car theft rates are often tied to ZIP codes. When a town or neighborhood sees an increase in vehicle-related offenses, it’s often a signal of economic and social decline. If funding policies fail to address the causes of this decline, the whole area can rapidly go downhill with all those who can afford it moving out and businesses closing down. A vicious circle then chases the neighborhood down to the bottom. This is one of the reasons why insurers take ZIP codes into account. It’s a fact of life there are more claims from these areas.

This month has seen the release of two reports on vehicle theft rates by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). They give us a picture of theft rates falling nationally as the design of security systems improves, but with the same areas reporting stubbornly high numbers. It seems there’s local pride in being able to steal more vehicles than anywhere else. The HLDI identifies the Cadillac Escalade as the most stolen brand. The NICB decides the winner is the 1994 Honda Accord. The reason for the difference is the way in which the two national bureaus collect their data. The NICB relies on the police to collate all the reports of vehicles stolen, whereas the HLDI relies on claims data supplied by the insurance industry. In theory, the numbers should tally and produce the same winning brand. After all, it’s a requirement of making a claim that the insured should report the vehicle stolen. But not all the vehicles reported stolen are then the subject of an insurance claim – this requires a comprehensive policy and many people now drive with only a liability policy, particularly when the vehicle is older and not expensive to replace. So look at the lists of the most easily stolen vehicles before you buy. When the car insurance quotes come in, you will save money. If you do buy a vehicle easily stolen, fit anti-theft devices and then get a new set of car insurance quotes to see how much you can save.

In the good old days before there were organized police forces, it was left to a few individuals to enforce the law. When they proved inadequate, there were feuds and vigilante action by the victims. Obviously, this fighting disturbed everyone, so states slowly got into the law enforcement business, recruiting and training people to keep the peace and identify criminals. Today, we rely on state and federal policing agencies, supported by CSI and other forensic agencies. But there’s been a fundamental and unchanging truth from the early days. More people avoid detection and profit from their crimes than are caught. That’s why the courts are forced to use deterrent sentencing. What judges are saying to potential criminals is there will be long periods of imprisonment if they are caught. The irony is that, if people were sure they would be caught, lighter punishments would be sufficient. It would cost us less to keep all these people in jail. Our society would be safer.

So why is it so difficult to detect fraud? Surely dishonesty should be obvious to an experienced insurance company? Well, sadly, detecting which claims are fraudulent is not easy. Let’s take a simple question. Both drivers involved admit there was an accident. One driver submits a medical report showing neck injuries. On what basis should the insurer challenge the medical report? Well, detailed investigation might show this particular clinic advertises for people to report accidents to them. Or this clinic may consistently be receiving business through referral networks. Either way, the clinic is found to specialize in the treatment of traffic accident injuries. This could make them highly skillful and deserving professional respect, or it could suggest the clinic exaggerates the injuries for its own profit when it bills for treatment, paying commission to referral agents and passing only some of the benefit on to “patients” who get settlements for their injuries. Is an insurer supposed to get a second opinion from an independent doctor on every patient from suspect clinics? Or suppose someone wants to get out of an auto loan so stages a small accident and pays a repair shop to set off the air bags and certify more serious damage so the vehicle will be totaled. If this is a one-off event and there’s no pattern to suggest this repair shop is dishonest, why should this particular claim set off alarm bells?

There’s no doubt the level of fraud has been at epidemic levels for a decade and more. Several billion dollars a year are being sucked out of insurance companies by criminals. In turn, all these losses are passed on to us in higher car insurance rates. This makes insurance fraud a political issue, albeit mainly in the no-fault states where the levels of dishonesty seem to be higher. Although there’s a National Insurance Crime Bureau established with the task of coordinating the fight against fraud, there’s little sign of success. It will take a major cultural change to deter people from this type of crime when the chances of being caught are so low. Even when staffing levels are improved by the insurers and the law enforcement agencies, there’s little observed change in behavior. The fraudulent claims keep coming in and the auto insurance quotes keep rising.

As consumers we all want to get the best good or service for the lowest price possible. People are always looking find a cheap way to purchase something they need. And when it comes to such mandatory things as vehicle insurance it’s evident why drivers are constantly looking for ways to save on this service. Sure, it’s really useful for a lot of drivers but having to pay a lot every year just for keeping your car insured is something that a lot of car owners aren’t happy about in the current economy. So, is there anything that can be done in order to get your car insured at an affordable price?

Of course there is! One of the easiest and most effective ways to get a good insurance for a lower price is to explore your discount options. Most insurance companies have different types of discounts to award different groups of low risk drivers and attract new clients. So you can exploit this opportunity and get a discount to gut your rates with. Every company has different discounts and various amounts of them offered. But in general the basic selection of discounts tends to be the same across most providers. So you can look into one of the following:

Multiple car discount

Most insurance providers are really happy when you’re insuring two or more cars with the same policy. This lets cutting down some costs and you can generally get a better overall discount compared to buying separate policies for each car.

Multiple policy discount

Some insurance providers specialize in providing different types of insurance services in the same area. So if your home insurance provider offers auto insurance too you may consider getting a policy from them because in most cases you can opt for a really good discount by doing so. Just ask your provider if they have such discounts for multiple policy owners.

Low mileage discount

Drivers who tend to drive less during the year can also get a good discount. If your yearly mileage is below 10,000 miles then you can opt for a low mileage discount with most insurance providers. Just make sure to check the requirements with your company in order to get this cheap car insurance option.

Security discount

Most car insurance providers encourage the use of additional safety and security options in your vehicle that will reduce the risk of the car being stolen or damaged. So if you install additional alarm devices, seat belts, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices to your vehicle you can then opt for a discount with your provider.

Good driver discount

If you are a good driver with a clean driving record and no claims made during the last couple of years you can opt for a good driver discount with your insurance provider in order to get cheap car insurance. Some providers will require you to maintain a good record for a period of 3 to 5 years, but it varies from company to company. Besides, good drivers with no accidents on their records usually get lower insurance rates right from the start.

Foreign Language Learning

There are a slew of commercial textbooks, guidebooks and all manner of language learning study aids when studying English as a foreign or second language. The same is true for most other main stream, major languages like French, German, Italian, Arabic, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese among scores of others. This is all well and good. But with approximately 6912* languages spoken and used worldwide, it’s still a daunting task to come up with “authentic” language texts. This can be especially true in any of the “lesser” tongues of the world which may be spoken in tightly-knit, compact regions or among a specialized peoples or other ethnic aspect.

The Holy Bible

The Holy Bible, in its entirety or in part is available in more than 376 languages world wide in 236 countries and lands. Being so widely available, it can be easily accessed by the vast majority of English or foreign language learners throughout the globe.

Multiple Translations Available

In major languages such as English, Spanish, German and Arabic, which have undergone extensive evolution and linguistic changes during the last century or two, multiple translations of the Holy Bible are available. Consider English as one distinct example. There is the King James Version of the Holy Bible published in 1611, during Shakespeare’s era, but which is still popular and well-used even today. This is despite the fact that it employs the use of Elizabethan or Shakespearean English throughout. Let’s examine an example from the King James Version at Revelation 1: 8 which reads,

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

Many additional bible versions exist in the English language: the Duoay – Rheims version, American Standard edition, the Revised Standard edition, and nearly 100 others.

Modern-day English Language Bible Versions

Then we can contrast this with several additional bible translations using Englishes from the early 1800s up to our present day. Translations such as the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, frequently used by Jehovah’s Witnesses, is an example of a bible version which uses modern-day English language vocabulary and expressions to accurately convey the writings which convey information and human historical events dating back nearly 6000 years. Compare this same scripture again, Revelation 1:8 as quoted from the New World Translation,

“I am the Al

There is no doubting the popularity and ever growing demand for HID headlights. Where they were once an expensive option on new prestige vehicles, they are now being offered as standard fitment on many mainstream cars, and it is easy to see why.

The intense and powerful white light produced by xenon bulbs really illuminates the darkness like never before, and cars fitted with these lights are more visible and look more distinctive to other road users.

Although HID technology has been in use for over 10 years now, there is still a lot of confusion about exactly what they are, how they work and most importantly how to get the HID effect on your own car.

What Are HID Xenon Lights? HID xenon lights are the latest generation in automotive lighting technology. They first appeared several years ago on prestige cars like Audi, BMW and Mercedes. It is easy to spot a car at night fitted with them as they produce the crisp powerful white xenon light, which seem to have a blue hue around them. HID bulbs seem to flicker slightly when they are first illuminated and extinguish immediately when they are turned off, unlike ordinary halogen bulbs, which take a few seconds for the light to burn out when switched off.

How Do Xenon Lights Work? Unlike standard Halogen headlight bulbs, which work by passing an electrical current through a metal filament to heat up the halogen gas within the bulb, HID bulbs work by using a high voltage spark to ignite xenon gas. A ballast unit is used to generate a high voltage current, around 20,000 volts, which arcs between two electrodes, this spark activates the xenon gas, which in turn activates the metal halide within the xenon bulb.

Once the gas has been activated the power output from the ballast unit stabilises at 85 volts. This method creates a xenon bulb that lasts up to ten times longer and draws considerably less power, around 35W, than a standard halogen headlight bulb.

What Are The Benefits Of These Lights? Quite simply once you have driven at night with HID headlights you will not want to go back. The bulbs produce 300% more light than standard halogen headlight bulbs, with a beam of white xenon light that closely resembles natural daylight, allowing the driver to see the road and potential hazards earlier and more clearly.

Can I Upgrade My Standard Headlight Bulbs To Xenon? There are two ways to upgrade your headlights to xenon lights, either by installing an HID conversion kit or by replacing your halogen bulbs with the latest upgrade xenon bulbs.

Fitting an HID kit involves installing a pair of high voltage ballast units and two high intensity bulbs in place of your standard bulbs. These HID kits operate on exactly the same principle as factory fitted HID xenon lights, however because they are an aftermarket item they are not road legal, and fitting them could invalidate your insurance.

Alternatively you could replace your halogen bulbs with upgrade xenon headlight bulbs. These high performance xenon bulbs look identical to standard headlight bulbs, however by improving the quality of the filament and using pressurised xenon gas instead of halogen, they can produce a xenon light output up to 90% brighter than standard headlight bulbs.

Whilst these xenon bulbs will never match the full light output of a Xenon HID kits they are very quick and easy to install, and will cost considerably less than full HID Xenon Conversion kits and most importantly, are completely road legal.