Average percentage more for car insurance that drivers pay as a result of committing a minor speeding violation (1 to 15 miles per hour over the legal limit), according to an insuranceQuotes.com report: 21

Average percentage more for car insurance that drivers pay as a result of following too closely: 19

Average percentage increase in car insurance rates upon DUI convictions: 93

Source: insuranceQuotes.com.

In 2013, average wedding cost, excluding honeymoon, according to the results of TheKnot.com's annual Real Weddings Study: $29,858

Average spent on a wedding in Manhattan, N.Y. -- the most expensive place to get married: $86,916

Average spent in Idaho -- the least expensive place to get married: $16,159

Source: XO Group Inc.

Rank of "a particular preference for print over electronic" on the list of the most popular reasons students cited for purchasing print instead of digital-based course materials, according to a Student Watch survey conducted by OnCampus Research: 1

Source: National Association of College Stores.

Percentage of organizations that believe managing critical talent is essential to success, according to Mercer survey: 64

Percentage of organizations that say they have programs that are "extremely effective" in achieving that goal: 30

Percentage of organizations that employ processes to identify critical talent with approximately 2 to 5 percent of the workforce categorized as critical: 75

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of consumers who are comfortable with a 10 plus years or "until it dies" vehicle life span, according to an AutoMD.com's survey: 78

Percentage of car owners who said they now have 150,000 or more miles on their current vehicle: 33

Percentage who said they planned to purchase a new vehicle: 10

Source: AutoMD.com.

Ranks of Jack Nicholson ($390 million), Tom Hanks ($350 million), Robert De Niro ($310 million), Barbra Streisand ($310 million) and Sean Connery ($250 million) on the list of the top five wealthiest Oscar winners, according to Wealth-X: 1, 2, 3 (tie), 5

Rank of Sandra Bullock ($150 million) -- the only Academy Award winner on the list with a 2014 nomination: 10

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of Americans who will hit the road or sky for a long-distance trip this spring, according to a study from Wahl Therapeutic Massagers and conducted by Opinion Research Corp.: 35

Percentage of adults 18 years of age and older who experience physical pain while traveling: 92

Across all four modes of transport -- airplane, train, bus and personal vehicle -- ranks of back, leg, neck and arm/shoulder pain on the list of the types of pain travelers experience most often: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Opinion Research Corp.

Percentage of American consumers who plan to file tax returns using online services this year, according to a survey by RetailMeNot: 31

Percentage who prefer to prepare their taxes themselves: 18

Percentage of people who wait until April 1 or later to file their taxes: 15

Source: RetailMeNot.com.

Rank of Derek Jeter, entering his final baseball season with the New York Yankees, on the list of the most popular players in the game, according to a survey by the Saint Leo University Polling Institute: 1

Percentage of all people who say they are very (20 percent) or somewhat (27 percent) interested in following Major League Baseball: 47

Source: Saint Leo University Polling Institute.

Year that the first theological school to admit female students for divinity degrees was formed, when the Boston Theological Seminary merged with Boston University, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1871

Year the first female bachelor of divinity graduated: 1876

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Idle Thought

"There comes a time in a man's life when to get where he has to go -- if there are no doors or windows -- he walks through a wall." -- Bernard Malamud, novelist

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

When asked what the first thing they would do if they won a substantial amount of money in the lottery, percentage of Americans who would pay off their debts, according to research by YouGov: 34

Percentage who stated that they would quit their jobs if they won between $1 million and less than $5 million: 26

Percentage who stated that they would quit their jobs for less than a million dollars: 13

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of drivers who admit to singing out loud, the No. 1 activity performed while driving, according to a consumer survey from DMEautomotive released in conjunction with National Collision Awareness month: 56

Ranks of talking on the phone (50 percent), eating (50 percent), reading a text message (26 percent) and sending a text message (20 percent) on the list of the top five activities performed while driving: 2 (tie), 4, 5

Number of people who were killed in distracted-driving crashes in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Distracted.gov website, which does not include singing out loud on its list of distracted driving activities: 3,328

Source: DMEautomotive.

When asked what is the recommended percentage of income that should be spent on housing, percentage of Americans who answered correctly that it is 30 percent, according to the latest Country Financial Security Index: 31

Percentage of respondents who say saving for their child's college education is more important than saving for their own retirement even though one can borrow for college, but not for retirement: 43

Source: Country Financial.

Estimated amount that the average American pays in state and local taxes per year, according to a report from WalletHub's 2014 Report on the States with the Highest & Lowest Taxes: $7,000

Number of times more that taxpayers in the states with the highest taxes pay than those in the states with the lowest taxes: 4

Ranks of Wyoming (-66 percent), Alaska (-60 percent), Nevada (-52 percent), Florida (-48 percent) and South Dakota (-46 percent) on the list of states with the lowest taxes versus the national average: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: WalletHub.

When asked about their engagement experience, percentage of brides who said they knew it was coming, according to a survey by David's Bridal: 57

Percentage who said they were surprised by the proposal: 43

When asked which leading male characters they would like to say "yes" to, percentage who chose Ryan Gosling's romantic "The Notebook" character, Noah Calhoun: 40

Percentage who chose Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson of "Titanic": 30

Source: David's Bridal Inc.

Percentage of today's consumers who say that they eat snacks at least twice a day, according to Technomic's Snacking Occasion Consumer Trend Report: 51

Percentage who replace one or two daily meals with a snack: 45

Source: Technomic.

Year that the first commercially available frozen food (Clarence Birdseye's fish) became available, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1925

Today, estimated number of packaged frozen food wholesalers there are in the United States, selling $85 billion worth of heat-and-eat products: 3,500

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of businesswomen from 19 different countries and 30 different industries who indicated that they were mid- or senior-level leaders, according to "Women as Mentors" research conducted by Development Dimensions International: 75

Percentage of those who had never had a formal mentor: 63

Percentage who rated mentorship as highly important in helping to advance and grow their careers: 67

Source: Development Dimensions International.

Amount of revenue generated by the youth travel sector last year -- twice as much as the global video game industry, according to StudentMarketing CEO Samuel Vetrak: $203 billion

Year by which it's expected that young travelers will surpass business travelers in the number of international arrivals and revenues generated overall: 2015

Source: StudentMarketing.

Among U.S. adults who are aware of any data breaches at notable retailers, such as Target and Neiman Marcus, percentage who believe merchants are responsible for preventing future incidents, according to a study conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Feedzai: 60

Of those aware of any data breaches, percentage who say they started using cash for more of their purchases when shopping: 40

Source: Feedzai.

Idle Thought

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." -- Voltaire, philosopher (1664-1778)

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Amount of money in bonuses handed out by Wall Street banks in 2013, according to an Institute for Policy Studies analysis of New York state comptroller bonus figures: $26.7 billion

Number of full-time U.S. minimum wage workers for whom that money would more than double their pay: 1.085 million

If the $26.7 billion had gone into the pockets of minimum wage workers, amount by which the U.S. GDP would be expected to grow, more than triple the $10.4 billion boost expected from the Wall Street bonuses: $32.3 billion

Source: Institute for Policy Studies.

In 2012, amount of money contributed to the economy by manufacturers, up from $1.73 trillion in 2011 and comprising 11.9 percent of GDP, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Industry Economic Accounts: $1.87 trillion

In 2012, annual salary earned by the average manufacturing worker in the United States, including pay and benefits, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2012): $77,505

Annual salary earned by the average worker in all industries: $62,063

Source: National Association of Manufacturers.

Year that a deadly influenza, one of the most devastating public health crises in history, hit the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1918

With first cases being reported in March of that year, number of Americans who perished in the month of October, the deadliest month in the nation's history: 195,000

By 1920, estimated number of Americans who had died from this strain of the flu: 575,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of American adults who believe in sacrificing for the future, according to a survey conducted for TheStreet: 85

Despite this, percentage who are still worried about having enough money saved for retirement: 53

Percentage of respondents who are not satisfied with what they're currently putting aside for retirement: 38

Source: TheStreet Inc.

Amount of money lost by Russia's 10 richest individuals (4.7 percent of their combined net worth), according to a Wealth-X estimate, after the country's benchmark Micex index plunged nearly 11 percent due to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine: $6.6 billion

Amount lost by Alisher Usmanov -- the country's wealthiest man with interests in mining, telecommunications, media and sports, including a more than 30 percent stake in Arsenal Football Club: $1.7 billion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of people who say that being in debt makes them unhappy, according to a CreditDonkey.com survey: 82

Percentage who say that having a good financial cushion makes them happy: 74

If money were no object, percentage of respondents who said they would still prefer to work full time: 14

Source: CreditDonkey.com.

Ranks of London, Paris and Toronto on the list of Americans' most frequented international destinations, as identified by the Hotel Price Index: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla., Miami and Los Angeles on the list of destinations for overseas visitors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Hotel Price Index.

Percentage of uninsured Americans who plan to remain uninsured despite the Affordable Care Act's requirement that they obtain health insurance or pay a fine, according to a Bankrate.com report: 33

Of respondents who plan to stay uninsured, percentage who say their reason for doing so is that health insurance is too expensive: 41

Percentage of all uninsured Americans who do not know about the subsidies that reduce the cost of health insurance: 70

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of moms who believe children should be separated from peers in school based on a special-needs diagnosis (opinions were similar regardless of whether a parent had a child with special needs), according to a study released by Parents magazine: 15

Percentage of mothers of kids with special needs who say that their school meets their child's needs: 76

Percentage of moms of typically developing kids who wonder whether their child needs to be evaluated for a potential developmental disorder: 25

Source: Parents.

Percentage of U.S. retail banking executives who consider non-traditional competitors a threat, significantly higher than global counterparts overall (55 percent), according to a report from PwC: 71

Percentage of respondents from 17 countries who agree that it is important to consider how global trends (e.g., economic growth, regulation, demographic and technological changes) will impact the banking industry in 2020: 70

Percentage of U.S. executives who are less likely to believe that it is critical to form a view of the industry in 2020 as compared to executives in Asia-Pacific (71 percent), Europe (67 percent) and emerging markets (79 percent): 61

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Idle Thought

"The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think." -- Aristotle

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)