The Ford Fiesta is the first minicar to earn a Top Safety Pick award since the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety strengthened its roof-strength criteria for rollover protection. The Fiesta earned good ratings for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, and for having electronic stability control as standard equipment. No other minicar tested by IIHS has earned top ratings in all four safety evaluations. The Fiesta's award applies to cars built after July 2010, when design changes strengthened its doors. Read the crash-test results for the Fiesta sedan and the Fiesta hatchback.

A popular 6.5-mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area has been reopened to hikers. Last summer the Forest Service closed the PCT about four miles north of Kachess Lake, between Park Lakes and Lemah Meadows, after the 700-acre Lemah Fire created a safety hazard. Officials feared charred trees could fall on hikers and horseback riders. The closure cut off access to Spectacle Lake and forced PCT through-hikers to take long detours. Read the Forest Service news release.

The latest PEMCO Poll shows that even though texting while driving has increased, 83% of Washington drivers either support the fine for enforcing the new no-texting law, or think the fine should be even higher. Poll data shows it’s mostly drivers under age 35 who think the $124 fine is too high, while 44% of all drivers said the fine is fair, and 39% said texting deserves a higher fine. Drivers had similar opinions on the fine for talking on a handheld phone. Read the news release, and take an informal version of the poll to see how your answers compare with others.

Subscribe to Perspective by e-mail.

Read the September edition of Perspective, PEMCO's customer newsletter. Click here to download a PDF. Our goal is to deliver timely, relevant information that helps you avoid trouble, particularly around the home or on our roads. Perspective is published three times per year in January, May, and September.