November 2010 Archive

Tips to Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The holiday season is always a happy time of year to enjoy with friends and family. Thanksgiving is filled with delicious food and gathers friends and loved ones to enjoy the meal together. While celebrating, we should also remember to take precautions to keep the holiday season both festive and safe. Here are some tips to keep in mind this Thanksgiving: 

• Many may want to sneak a bite before the great feast, but it is important to keep the kitchen clear of too many people. This could be a potential hazard to start a fire or spill hot food on fellow guests.
• Always have both heat resistant gloves and a fire extinguisher closely accessible.
• Turn pot handles away to ensure that you and your kitchen helpers don’t accidentally walk by and knock the pans off the stove.
• Never pour water on grease fires! This will cause the fire to spread. Instead, grab a lid and slide it on top of the pan and turn off the burner - lack of oxygen will extinguish the fire.
• Try to avoid deep fryers. It’s difficult to know the correct amount of oil put in the pan and often when you are ready to place the turkey in, the oil can become displaced, causing an unstable fire.
• Candles are always an essential accent to the holiday season, whether it be for scent or just to set the mood, but they can be dangerous if not attended. If candles are lit please make sure to keep an eye on them and out of a child’s reach.

Many of these tips were provided by our friends at Underwriters Laboratories, making household items safer for your family. Holiday safety is very important and should always be a top priority. Since the holidays are such a happy time, people often forget to be mindful of things that could potentially be harmful for our loved ones. Here at Salmon Agency we encourage you to be safe and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for your business and looking to us as your trusted advisor for your “whole” life. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Seat Belts Save Lives

Friday, November 5, 2010

Think drunk driving is the only leading cause of death in car accidents in Florida? Think again! Buckle up, Florida! Ejection from a vehicle is serious business in a car crash. Of those people ejected from a vehicle, 75 percent of them are killed. Seat belts save over 13,000 lives a year. Buckling up is the most effective thing you can do to protect yourself and others in a crash. During times like the holiday season, where more crashes occur due to impaired or distracted driving, seat belt safety is even more of a concern.

A common misconception is that air bags alone save lives. Air bags help to save lives, but they do not act as seat belts and are not a replacement for them. Without a seatbelt, an abrupt or harsh movement could throw you into the air bag, injuring you or even killing you. So just be safe, Florida, and click it. Remember it’s not just you in the car. The passenger seat can sometimes be the most dangerous seat in a vehicle. Unfortunately, motor vehicle crashes are the top cause of death among children ages 3 to 14. The correct use of child safety seats or seat belts, however, is extremely effective and reduces a child’s risk of death as high as 71 percent! Out of these children that are buckled up, 73 percent of these child restraints are not used or implemented correctly, so make sure to follow instructions for securing your child in the car. Aside from child safety, make sure before you buy a car that the seat belt is right for you too! Ask about seat belt adjusters at the car company if needed.

Seat belt safety awareness is helping save lives. In 2006, seat belt use was at an all time high at 81 percent thanks to public service announcements. Click it or Ticket, which I’m sure all of you have seen on the roads of Florida, is the national safety belt use campaign which runs during late May. To find out more on how to safely buckle yourself, children, or other loved ones visit www.nhtsa.gov and click “4 Steps for Kids”, as well as the “Should pregnant women wear seat belts?” brochure. Both are guides that can make all the difference.

Does this all effect insurance rates? You bet! Be a safe driver this holiday season and always!