July 11, 2010-The Dickinson Press
Then there are geriatric drivers
By: Lloyd Omdahl, The Dickinson Press
With nearly a quarter of the fatal traffic accidents involving teenagers, the state’s liberal licensing laws have come under attack by safety and enforcement organizations. Under present law, children as young as 14 can end up spreading mayhem on the public streets and highways.
The issue of teenage driving has been kept alive since the 2009 session. It is very likely that bills will appear in the Legislature to deal with the issue and it is also highly likely that very little will be done. It runs against our traditional streak against regulating anything, even danger.
While focusing on teenage driving, we have failed to look seriously at the other end of the spectrum — the elderly. Since I am now in that category, I have license to discuss the serious problem we have with older people who no longer possess the skill or comprehension to drive anything faster than a
Meting out justice for seniors is no easy matter. Just a few weeks ago, a 92-year-old North Dakota driver crossed the centerline and piled into two motorcycles. One cyclist was killed and the other was sent to the hospital. The driver was fined $20. An insightful citizen wrote a letter to a newspaper, pointing out that if the driver had been a teenager, he/she would probably be sitting in jail for vehicular manslaughter.
While it is great to see older people able to function independently, the time comes when they are a threat to themselves and everyone else on the highway. It’s OK if some old people want to go out in a blaze of destruction as long as they are the only ones who go. Unfortunately, they end up killing innocent people who would prefer to stay around a little longer.
Taking the keys away from older people is difficult, too difficult for most family members. With so many dangerous older drivers on the loose, it is obvious that relatives aren’t doing it. And doctors find it difficult to weigh in on the decision. Some have enough good sense to restrict their driving.
If relatives and doctors can’t make the hard decisions, the only remaining solution is retesting. Every one over the age of 70 should be required to take driver competence examinations whenever their licenses come up for renewal. As long as they can pass the exams, they should be able to drive until they are centenarians.
If we can’t stomach the brutality of an examination system, we should at least require drivers over 80 to have one of their
If we are unwilling to pass laws to curb geriatric manslaughter, then we ought to charge the elderly with the same crimes and render the same punishment as we do with teenagers. Spending the later years in prison can’t be any worse than spending early years in prison. One year is as dear as another.
July 9, 2010-Fargo Forum
Father, son involved in 37 traffic crashes charged with insurance fraud
By: Dave Olson, INFORUM
The driver was making a lane change at 15th Avenue and 48th Street South in Fargo.
She looked carefully before making the maneuver, but as she negotiated the lane change, another driver was “suddenly there,” and a collision occurred.
The driver making the sudden appearance, according to court papers describing the crash, was Sead Mustafic, who filed an
It was one of 27 traffic crashes Mustafic was involved in between July 2008 and June 2010, according to papers filed in Cass County District Court accusing Mustafic, 43, and his son, Senad Mustafic, 24, of defrauding insurance companies of more than $10,000.
Both men are charged with illegally conducting an enterprise and theft of property, Class B felonies.
Sead Mustafic is also charged with a Class C felony count of insurance fraud, while Senad Mustafic faces a misdemeanor count of insurance fraud.
According to documents filed with the court:
Joe Pittman began working as a special investigator with the North Dakota Insurance Department in December 2009, taking on existing cases that included a referral from
The case related to a crash involving Sead Mustafic. The insurance company believed that damage to Mustafic’s vehicle appeared to have been added after the crash, possibly by rubbing the paint with a brick.
Growing case
Pittman, the former chief of police at the University of Alaska in Anchorage, collected information from a number of insurance investigators and found that between July 2008 and June 2010, the father and son were involved in 37 crashes – 27 for the father, Sead Mustafic, and 10 for his son, Senad Mustafic.
Most of the incidents were lane-change type crashes in which the other driver would normally be considered the at-fault driver, the court papers state.
Other drivers involved in the crashes were either women between the ages of 16 and 30 or a mix of men and women age 50 to 90, according to the court documents.
Many of the crashes occurred within a one-mile radius of interstate interchanges at 45th Street and 13th Avenue in Fargo.
A crash reconstruction expert with the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Trooper Matthew Brown, identified 16 insurance cases involving either Sead Mustafic or Senad Mustafic in which damage to a vehicle was inconsistent with the accident description, court documents state.
Many of the incidents involved damage claims of between $1,000 and $7,000.
The court papers quote a statement from Trooper Brown in which he said:
“Considering each of these cases individually, along with the totality of the circumstances, it would appear that [Sead Mustafic and Senad Mustafic are] most likely causing these minor crashes intentionally, intentionally causing further damage to the vehicles after the crash and filing
‘Evidence of fraud’
The court papers describe a traffic incident from July 2008 in which a driver was making lane changes on 13th Avenue near 27th Street South in Fargo.
The driver, identified by the initials O.C., was in the left lane intending to change two lanes to the right.
Senad Mustafic was in the middle lane.
“O.C. successfully changed to the middle lane in front of Senad,” the court papers state.
“When O.C. started to change into the right lane Senad sped up, changing to the right lane, positioning his vehicle so that O.C. would run into him,” the court documents state.
In that case, Senad Mustafic provided a statement to Progressive Insurance, apparently his own insurance company, describing the crash.
Both insurance companies in that case, Progressive and Auto-Owners, denied the claim, and the case went to arbitration.
Auto-Owners was ordered to pay 100 percent of damages because its client was changing lanes. It paid Senad Mustafic $3,207, court papers say.
Trooper Brown determined in that case that damage to the hood of Senad Mustafic’s vehicle was inconsistent with the accident description and evidence of insurance fraud.
North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm said Sead Mustafic was being held in the Cass County Jail on Thursday night pending a court appearance.
Senad Mustafic was not in custody, but Hamm said it was his understanding that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Hamm said he was proud of the collaborative effort between his office and law enforcement, including the North Dakota Highway Patrol and the Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Hamm also said he was proud of Pittman.
“He’s been doing a very good job with all sorts of investigations that are at different stages. This is just one of them,” Hamm said.
July 7, 2010-Jamestown Sun
Grand Forks insurance agent ordered to stop doing business
North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm today issued a cease and desist order against David Glessner, a Grand Forks insurance agent, and MAG Insurance LLC, a Grand Forks insurance agency, who are alleged to have improperly used money belonging to insurance clients. MAG Insurance is the business entity name by which Glessner conducts some or all of his
The cease and desist order alleges that Glessner accepted money from an insurance client, and then issued one or more falsified insurance policies and also failed to
“In cases like this, my department moves swiftly to attempt to ensure that there is no future harm to consumers,” Hamm said. “We have quickly opened an investigation to uncover any fraudulent or illegal transactions.”
Hamm added that as part of the investigation the Insurance Department is looking for other North Dakota consumers who may have purchased insurance from Glessner or MAG Insurance. If a consumer is worried about his or her coverage under a policy purchased through Glessner or MAG Insurance, contact the Insurance Department at 1-800-247-0560 or insurance@nd.gov.
Glessner has a right to request an administrative hearing on the cease and desist order within 30 days of issuance.
July 1, 2010-Jamestown Sun
Hamm warns residents about insurance scams
Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm has announced that North Dakotans may be victims of a group of companies selling potentially misleading health insurance plans across the nation.
The products are being disguised as major medical health insurance plans, but in many cases they are actually a medical discount plan, a limited benefit plan or a combination. In at least one state, the products are being sold via fax and telemarketing.
The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner stated in a recent cease and desist order that “consumers are led to believe that the product offered constitutes comprehensive health insurance, and the bank and the credit card accounts of customers who agree to purchase the product are immediately debited.” Several states have issued cease and desist orders against the companies.
“Consumers should check to see if funds are being withdrawn by an entity listed as ‘ATA-SDS’ followed by a number or ‘CITM’ or ‘Peoples Healthcare,’” Hamm said. “These listings indicate that a consumer may be dealing with one or more of the entities involved in the scam.”
Several other states are looking into concerns about the following companies: American Trade Association, Association of Independent Managers (AIM Health Plans Inc.), Beema-Pakistan Insurance Company, CEO Clubs, Executive Healthcare, First American Health, Healthcare America, Hudson Valley Consultants, LLC, Incorp. Services, Inc., Insurance Resource Group, Integrated Health Plan Inc., Integrated Insurance Marketing Inc., Metropolitan Business Alliance, Mini Healthcare, National Association of Business Leadership (NABL), Omni Healthcare, Pinnacle Health Solutions, Real Benefits Association, Serve America Assurance, Ltd., Smart Data Solutions, SouthEast Insurance Advisors, LLC, Star Group U.K Ltd., a.k.a. Phoenix Insurance Company, United States Contractors Trust, Viking Administrators LLC, Wilshire Holding, LLC and Worldwide Family Benefits Association, Inc.
Hamm said consumers should look over any materials they have received to see if these company names appear on the documents. He said they should call the state Insurance Department at 1-800-247-0560 if they’ve been contacted by one of these companies.
The Insurance Department is working to identify North Dakotans possibly affected.