The first self-service gas station in the United States was opened in Los Angeles in 1947, and the only states that currently ban self-service gas stations are New Jersey and Oregon. According to infoplease.com, the purpose of these laws was to protect consumers and gas station owners from costly and possibly deadly accidents. 


Most of our readers are looking to save money when filling up the tank. According to gaspricewatch.com, a general tip on gas savings is to avoid starting and stopping your engine needlessly. Idling your engine for one minute consumes the gas amount equivalent to when you start the engine.

If you live in any but the two states mentioned above, chances are you’re pumping your own gas (and trying to find the cheapest prices)… SafeAuto Insurance spokesman Norm Macdonald, has a message for you in his most recent “Street Smarts” video. Be sure to stay tuned to our ‘Play It Safe’ Blog for more “Street Smarts” and gas saving tips! 

If you watched UFC 158®, you saw that Georges St. Pierre fought a smart and calculated fight in route to his victory over Nick Diaz. If you follow SafeAuto’s Facebook page, you are well aware that the state minimum auto insurance company had logo representation during the primetime bout.

The week leading up to the fight we decided to give away a 16x20 signed poster of Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit from UFC® 143. SafeAuto receives fantastic interaction from UFC® fans throughout their various social media channels. Why wouldn’t we hook-up an avid fan (who was randomly selected) with this great prize?

The contest generated 267 comments, an all-time record for SafeAuto’s Facebook page. The lucky winner was Chris Trulove from Georgia. As an avid UFC® fan, we are extremely excited to provide Chris with the signed poster.

If you entered the contest and didn’t win, don’t be too bummed out. We are giving away a Georges St. Pierre signed hat! That’s right; you can win an autograph from GSP. Mike Sloan from Sherdog.com calls St. Pierre “One of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.”

All you have to do is send an email to socialmedia@safeauto.com and tell us who won our ‘Do The Jingle’ contest (Hint: visit www.safeauto.com/dothejingle).

If you love the feeling of driving fast on the open road, you’ve probably wondered (or maybe even dreamed about) where all of the places are with speed limits higher than the typical 65 MPH. Well, last year, a 40-mile stretch of toll road between Austin and San Antonio raised their speed limit to the highest in the country, at a whopping 85 MPH.

According to an article on CNBC, since 1995, 35 states have raised their speed limits to 70 MPH or higher on some portion of their highways. We generally associate faster speeds with more dangerous and deadly accidents, but the statistics show that traffic fatalities in the US have been decreasing in recent years.

At SafeAuto Insurance, we urge our customers to always drive safely and of course, to always drive with insurance. But we want to hear what you think. Is 80 MPH too fast? Not fast enough? Do you think we’ll see speed limits of 90 or 100 MPH? Fill us in on your thoughts on our Facebook page.