What’s New: In Brief (February 17, 2010)

Designed to meet the latest federal standards, frontal airbags appear to have reduced protection of belted drivers, according to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“The newest airbags appear to provide suboptimal protection for drivers who buckle up compared with the airbags that preceded them,” Adrian Lund, president of the IIHS says in the latest Status Report.
“It’s a surprising finding. Based on our analysis of death rates in frontal crashes, belted drivers seem to fare better in vehicles that have many of the advanced features of current systems, but weren’t certified to the latest airbag safety standard,” he added.

Dogtag Travel Insurance, which has been in Europe since 2001, has launched in Canada and the United States.
Dogtag is an identity-based travel insurance plan. Each plan comes with a personalized military-style dog tag that contains a number providing access to all required medical information and 24-7 emergency assistance. The insured does not need to carry any additional paperwork. 
The tag number allows a medic to access the insured’s file, which includes current insurance coverage information and any useful emergency information the insured has included (for example, allergies, next of kin or physician information).
Dogtag has teamed up with Travel Guard, a Chartis company, to offer insurance plans, including trip cancellation, travel interruptions and delays, emergency medical expenses, etc. in Canada and the United States.