News And Reflections On Legal Issues In Western Pennsylvania And West Virginia

Losing your temper while behind the wheel is often a right of passage. It is often hard to keep your cool while stuck in traffic, especially if you are rushing to a meeting or appointment. If you have ever found yourself in such a situation, you are not alone. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, at least 80% of drivers admit to driving in an aggressive fashion at some point within the past year. The problem lies in the fact that more than 56% of auto accident fatalities involved aggressive driving behaviors. Not only is it important to avoid engaging in these behaviors, but you should also be on the lookout for other people who are driving aggressively and report them if necessary. 

Aggressive driving behaviors may include any of the following:

Now that the summer is here, more roads are starting to get slower thanks to the amount of construction zones they are placing on the major highways. This means traffic is arguably at its worst during the hottest season of the year, and many drivers will put others in danger through reckless actions to evade it or pure road rage.

One of the biggest problems that most construction zones face this summer is how drivers will merge into the proper lanes. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has recently recognized that many impatient drivers are making this process a lot harder than it needs to be with how well they handle zipper merges. Drivers who don’t know how this system works could potentially injure other motorists and construction workers in the vicinity.

You might think a renovation project is just what your home needs. However, not all Pennsylvania renovation projects are all that they are cracked up to be. Sometimes they turn into money pits, reveal new problems, and by the end the homeowners involved may wish they had torn down the house and rebuilt it from the ground up. Forbes explains different factors that can make either renovation or rebuilding a home a more attractive option.

Your finances may influence your decision. At first glance, tearing down a home and rebuilding it might cost more money than a simple renovation. However, some homeowners do not know what they are getting into when they start a remodeling project. The moment a wall is knocked down, more problems may be revealed, like rot, poor structural support, or bad electrical wiring. The result is that your renovation suddenly costs much more and takes more time than a simple home reconstruction would have.

According to Bankrate, the number of people who are self-employed in the United States is on the rise, which means an increasing number of people who own their own business are going to approach banks for mortgage loans for their new homes. However, being self-employed may make it more difficult for a Pennsylvania lender to approve your mortgage loan. This is because lenders want you to prove that you have a steady income and that your business is stable. 

To prove income, self-employed workers generally have to provide more paperwork to a mortgage lender. For instance, a person who is regularly employed may only have to provide a standard federal tax return from one year. However, a self-employed individual will likely have to hand over at least two years of tax returns, particularly if that person is a contractor who generates income from commissions or bonuses.