Driving home from work as usual, you notice a car out of the corner of your eye going through the stop sign. You realize immediately that there is no way you can avoid a collision, and indeed, the car rams into your passenger-side back fender. As you exit the car to deal with the other driver, you thank Hashem that you seem to be unhurt. At the same time, you dread the disruption to your life you know is coming.

Auto accidents can be traumatic, even if you are not injured and even if you are not at fault. Along with the time and inconvenience involved in repairing or replacing your vehicle, there is a most disturbing trend coming out of the auto insurance industry in recent years. That is its attempt to evade properly compensating you for the damage to your car. While not all insurance companies engage in these unfair practices, you should be wary any time you ask your insurance company for an estimate.

It has been over 10 months since my organization, Maryland Smart Meter Awareness (MSMA), began a concerted effort to educate the Jewish community in Baltimore about the problems with smart meters. Since that time, a great deal has happened. Most significantly, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) issued its final decision allowing Maryland ratepayers to opt out of receiving a smart meter and to instead keep their analog electric meters. This was a major victory, as initially the PSC was opposed to allowing opt-outs regardless of the adverse health impacts and privacy violations. It took a concerted effort by MSMA and some of our legislators (most notably Senator Delores Kelley of Baltimore County and Delegate Glen Glass of Harford County) to address smart meter problems and give these issues the attention they deserved. In response, over 40,000 Maryland residents requested a deferral from a smart meter. All these efforts help convince the PSC that this was a serious issue.