ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040066
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MARKETPLACE
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
If you traveled during the Labor Day weekend, you know just how crowded the highways were.
And you probably drove past one or two fender benders. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn't yet tallied up the number of holiday weekend accidents, but another agency, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, recently released its report on 1995 motor vehicle deaths.
Large utility vehicles had the lowest death rate - 75 per million registered vehicles - while the smallest cars had the highest rate - 250 per million. Large cars had a death rate of 97 per million.
Two of every three deaths in utility vehicles were the result of single-vehicle crashes and rollovers. In cars, most people died in collisions with other vehicles.
At least a third of all fatally injured drivers, motorcyclists and pedestrians older than 15 were legally drunk. Alcohol involvement was highest among men 21 to 30 years old. But in all age groups, the percentage of fatally injured drivers with high blood alcohol content has dropped since 1980.
According to the Arlington-based group, the total number of deaths - which includes pedestrians, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and truck and auto drivers and passengers - increased for the third year in a row. The death toll rose by 1,082, for a total of 41,798 lives lost. That was a 2percent increase from 1994.
"The overall increase in motor vehicle deaths is small," said Allan Williams, senior vice president of the institute, which is funded by auto insurance companies. "But the increase is troubling, because we'd gotten accustomed to seeing fewer highway deaths each year, not more deaths."
Since peaking in the 1970s, the number of motor vehicle deaths, in general, has declined. And the death rate, which has followed a general downward trend since the '70s, has remained stable over the past three years.
If you didn't reserve your rental car in advance for Labor Day weekend, you may have had a hard time finding an agency that wasn't booked up.
Some would-be renters encountered a problem of another sort: their age.
Did you know that most national rental agencies - including Avis, Budget, Hertz and National - won't do business with anyone younger than 25? Even if you have your own car insurance and a perfect driving record - and even if your mom writes a note promising you've never had a ticket - these rental agencies and their insurance companies consider you too big a risk. That's the same reason your personal auto insurance gets cheaper when you turn 25.
You do have a few options, though. Alamo will rent to young drivers, but the company tacks on a $20-a-day surcharge. And a few companies - including Enterprise, Four Star and U-Save - have a 21-and-over policy.
Whether you're 22 or 52, most companies require that you secure the rental with a major credit card. If you don't have a credit card, some companies will let you pay cash but first may run a partial credit check on you, or require you to pay an additional deposit.
Remember: Before you buy optional collision insurance from the rental agency - at a cost of $10 to $15 or more per day - call your auto insurer to check if rental cars already are covered on your personal policy. Depending on your level of coverage, the optional policy may duplicate what you already have. Some major credit cards also include rental car insurance, so check your cardmember agreement.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, odometer tampering has increased dramatically in the last year.
Richard Morse, chief of odometer fraud investigation for the agency, told the Associated Press that complaints have doubled because odometer tampering rings are getting larger. The practice of lowering a car's apparent mileage costs consumers up to $10 billion annually, according to Morse's agency.
Typically, scam artists show up at car auctions and pick out fleet cars, two or three years old, showing 80,000 miles on the odometer. The numbers are doctored on the vehicle title, the odometer is rolled back, the interior is cleaned and a new brake pedal cover installed.
Federal officials say the vehicles preferred by these scam artists are the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet Lumina, Chrysler minivans and sport utilities such as Ford Explorers, Chevrolet Blazers and Jeep Cherokees.
Law enforcement officials and industry experts offer these tips for buying a used car:
* Check for signs that the dashboard cover in front of the odometer has been removed.
* Deal with a seller who is at a home or a business - not in a location such as a parking lot.
* Examine the vehicle title. If the vehicle was sold a number of times in a matter of months or just recently was sold to the seller, ask why and consider checking the title history.
* Get the vehicle's title history by asking the state Department of Motor Vehicles or titling agency. This could take several weeks.
* Take the car to your mechanic to see if the wear and tear on engine parts is consistent with the mileage the odometer shows.
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