Insurance Journal » Joan Lowy

Probe Blames Deadly Copter Crash on Pilot Texting

Joan Lowy — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 09:00:13 +0000

Texting by the pilot of a medical helicopter contributed to a crash that killed four people, federal accident investigators said this week as they approved a safety alert cautioning all pilots against using cellphones or other distracting devices during critical …

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More U.S. Than European Drivers on Phone: Study

Joan Lowy — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:00:53 +0000

Distracted driving is more widespread in the U.S. than in Europe, according to a study that surveyed drivers about their cellphone and texting habits. More U.S. drivers reported talking on their cellphones behind the wheel than their counterparts in seven …

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Teen Driver Deaths Increased in First Half of 2012

Joan Lowy — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:15:26 +0000

Deaths of younger teen drivers increased sharply in the first six months of last year, reversing a decade-long trend, according to a report released Tuesday by state highway safety officials. Deaths of 16- and 17-year-old drivers in traffic accidents in …

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Report Questions Safety Oversight of Smaller Airlines

Joan Lowy — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:05:40 +0000

Since a deadly airline crash in 2009, the government hasn’t kept its promise to ensure that major airlines are holding their smaller partners to the same safety standards, a federal watchdog says. The Transportation Department’s inspector general faults the Federal …

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Industry Opposition Slows Airline Safety Law Implementation: Report

Joan Lowy — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:14:24 +0000

Federal regulators are struggling to overcome substantial industry opposition and implement a sweeping aviation safety law enacted after the last fatal U.S. airline crash nearly four years ago, according to a report by a government watchdog. The Federal Aviation Administration …

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States Urged to Require Ignition Locks for Drunk Drivers

Joan Lowy — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:01:18 +0000

A federal safety board is recommending that all states require ignition interlock devices for convicted drunk drivers, including first-time offenders. The five-member National Transportation Safety Board said the devices are currently the best available solution to reducing drunk driving deaths, …

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Women with Driver’s Licenses Now Outnumber Men

Joan Lowy — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Women have passed men on the nation’s roads. More women than men now have driver’s licenses, a reversal of a longtime gender gap behind the wheel that transportation researchers say is likely to have safety and economic implications. If current …

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Women with Driver’s Licenses Now Outnumber Men

Joan Lowy — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:25:25 +0000

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Feds Shut Down 26 Bus Operators in Safety Crackdown

Joan Lowy — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:50:22 +0000

Twenty-six bus operations that transported more than 1,800 passengers a day along Interstate 95 between New York and Florida have been closed for safety violations in what federal officials say is the government’s largest single safety crackdown of the motor …

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Federal Aviation Safety Regulators Ignore Whistleblowers: Watchdog

Joan Lowy — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:31:42 +0000

The Federal Aviation Administration has repeatedly dragged its feet in responding to whistleblower complaints about safety problems and stronger oversight of air safety is needed, a government watchdog said. Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, whose job is to protect from retaliation …

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Lawmakers Block Safety Rules for Lithium Battery Shipments

Joan Lowy — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:18:14 +0000

Lawmakers responded to pleas from industry and foreign governments on Friday with a tentative agreement to block the Obama administration from requiring that air shipments of lithium batteries be treated as hazardous cargo because of the danger of fires during …

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Safety Oversght of Government Aircraft Lacking

Joan Lowy — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:38:01 +0000

Nonmilitary government agencies operate more aircraft than the world’s largest airline but are subject to little federal safety oversight — a situation accident investigators say has contributed to air crashes and deaths. Federal, state and local agencies own or lease …

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Probe Into Montana Oil Spill Cause to Take Months

Joan Lowy — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:04:34 +0000

A federal safety official says it will probably be months before investigators know what caused an ExxonMobil oil pipeline to rupture near Billings, Mont., spilling about 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River. Cynthia Quarterman, head of the …

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Safety Advocates, Industry Spar Over Bus, Truck Safety Rules

Joan Lowy — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:00:47 +0000

On a clear June afternoon, a tractor-trailer truck crested a small rise on a stretch of interstate highway in Oklahoma. Plainly visible in the distance were more than a dozen cars and trucks that had stopped while a fender-bender was …

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Technology to Prevent Bus Accidents Exists But Isn’t Implemented

Joan Lowy — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 08:00:17 +0000

The technology exists to prevent many bus crashes and to make it more likely passengers will survive those that do occur, but government regulators have failed to implement safety recommendations that in some case stretch back decades, safety advocates told …

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Local California Fire Chief Unaware of Gas Line Before Explosion

Joan Lowy — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:04 +0000

Until a deadly explosion south of San Francisco last year, local firefighters had no idea there was a large gas transmission pipeline underneath their town — a recurring problem in pipeline accidents, federal safety officials said this week. Pacific Gas …

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Feds Urges All States to Require Motorcycle Helmets

Joan Lowy — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Federal safety officials are calling on states to require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, citing a surge in fatalities since the late 1990s. Motorcycle deaths have increased over the last decade even as other traffic fatalities have declined, the …

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U.S. Auto Fatalities Down But Safety Efforts Lag

Joan Lowy — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The United States is lagging behind nearly every other high-income country in reducing annual traffic fatalities, said a report released this week by a U.S. government research panel. There’s some good news: U.S. traffic fatalities fell 9.7 percent in 2009 …

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Distracted Pilots Becoming Aviation Safety Worry After Laptop Incident

Joan Lowy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Two Northwest Airlines pilots who flew 150 miles past their destination because they were focused on laptop computers instead of cockpit displays may have opened a new avenue of concern for safety regulators — distracting personal electronic devices on the …

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U.S. Safety Agency Eyes Cell Phone Use Ban for Bus, Truck Drivers

Joan Lowy — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Safety investigators told federal regulators three years ago that it was dangerous for bus drivers to talk on cell phones while driving and recommended a ban. The National Transportation Safety Board put that recommendation on its list of most important …

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Report Warned About Lax Oversight of ‘On Demand’ Airlines Before N.Y. Crash

Joan Lowy — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Less than a month before the deadly midair collision involving a private plane and a sightseeing helicopter over New York’s Hudson River, a federal watchdog warned about the lax safety oversight of the for-hire flight business. A report issued by …

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Feds Probe Pilot Training, Behavior in Upstate New York Crash

Joan Lowy — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The training and behavior of the pilot and first officer in the worst U.S. air crash in more than seven years are prominent on the agenda of an unusual three-day safety hearing that began yesterday. All 49 people aboard Flight …

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Evidence Points to Crew Error in Upstate New York Plane Crash

Joan Lowy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Flight data point to possible flight crew errors rather than ice accumulation as a key factor in last month’s plane crash near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people, aviation safety experts said. The National Transportation Safety Board said information …

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New Federal Safety Rules Target Medically Unfit Truck, Bus Drivers

Joan Lowy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Federal safety regulators have begun taking steps to get medically unfit truck drivers and bus operators off the road. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says it will require states to merge commerical truck and bus drivers licenses and drivers’ …

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Traffic Fatalities Go Down as Gasoline Prices Go Up

Joan Lowy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Roll back the clock to 1961: John F. Kennedy was inaugurated president. The Peace Corps was founded. The Dow Jones industrials hit 734. Gasoline reached 31 cents a gallon. And the number of people killed in U.S. traffic accidents that …

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