Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Top Insurance Journal National Stories of 2017
Dec 29 2017 // It wouldn’t feel right to close out the year without looking back at the most popular stories on Insurance Journal during the past 12 months. Here are the national stories that attracted the most readers in 2017,...
Deploying Technology, Security Measures to Fight Weaponization of Autos
Dec 28 2017 // A deadly attack this month in Melbourne, Australia, in which a man plowed an SUV into a crowd of Christmas shoppers, comes from the same playbook used by terrorists in recent years around the globe. Many new vehicles...
Fired Wisconsin Food Worker Charged in Car Rampage at Lambeau Field
Dec 28 2017 // A fired food service worker is charged with ramming other vehicles at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., last week. Forty-year-old Chay Vang was charged with two felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety...
Root Approved to Sell Auto Insurance in Arkansas
Dec 28 2017 // Columbus, Ohio-based insurtech company, Root Insurance, has received authorization to sell property/casualty (excluding workers’ compensation) products in Arkansas. Root is a private passenger auto insurance company...
A.M. Best Withdraws West Virginia National Auto, Downgrades Ratings
Dec 28 2017 // A.M. Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating to B- (Fair) from B (Fair) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “bb-” from “bb” of West Virginia National Auto Insurance Co. (Morgantown, WV)....
Self-Driving Technology Being Developed to Enable Driving on Snowy Roads
Dec 27 2017 // Self-driving cars may be the future, but relinquishing control of the wheel certainly takes some getting used to. It’s one thing to go (slowly) with the flow on well-marked city streets, for which many self-driving...
Zurich Acquires Bright Box, Specialist in Telematics, Connected Car Technologies
Dec 22 2017 // Zurich Insurance Group announced it has purchased 100 percent of the shares of Bright Box HK Ltd. and its subsidiaries – an acquisition designed to increase its capabilities in connected car technologies and...
Startup Trov, Munich Re to Insure Riders of Waymo’s Self-Driving Car Service
Dec 20 2017 // Trov, an on-demand insurance startup, plans to provide trip insurance for passengers using Waymo’s soon-to-be launched self-driving, ride-hailing service. Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car project,...
N.Y. Finalizes Regulation to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Rates
Dec 19 2017 // The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a regulation that protects New York drivers from unfairly discriminatory auto insurance rates and has already reached agreements with two major insurers...
Former Tennessee Deputy Insurance Commissioner Giannini Killed in Car Crash
Dec 18 2017 // A former deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has died in a car crash. Media outlets report that Bill Giannini, who also was a former chairman of the Shelby County Election Commission...
Missouri at ‘High-Risk’ for Deer/Vehicle Accidents
Dec 18 2017 // Insurance companies have classified Missouri as one of three states deemed “high-risk” for deer collisions. The other two states considered “high-risk” are Arkansas and Kansas according to State...
Florida Disaster Fraud Team Investigation Leads to False Claim Arrest
Dec 15 2017 // A Florida man was arrested last month after he was caught lying to his insurance company in an attempt to file a false insurance claim for vehicle for damage allegedly caused by Hurricane Irma, according to a statement...
Deadly Northern New York Crashes Spur Bill Requiring Truck Side Guards
Dec 15 2017 // A bipartisan bill introduced by two U.S. senators would change truck safety standards to prevent crashes like the one that killed four people in northern New York this summer. The law introduced by Democrat Kirsten...
Investor Sues Uber Directors Over $680M Acquisition of Autonomous Car Firm
Dec 14 2017 // Uber Technologies Inc. directors were accused of failing to properly review the ride-sharing company’s $680 million acquisition of a self-driving technology firm that wound up being accused of stealing trade secrets...
Safety Group Says GM’s In-Car Shopping App Encourages Distracted Driving
Dec 12 2017 // A new in-car application from General Motors Co. that lets drivers order coffee and browse for hotels while behind the wheel has been met with outcry from a prominent safety group. The app, dubbed Marketplace, allows...
California Commissioner Wants Halt to Moratoriums in Wildfire Areas
Dec 12 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has issued a formal notice to insurers directing them to cease any and all moratoriums on auto insurance and reminding them that California law prohibits the practice. Jones...
Harrold to Retire as Chairman, CEO of Auto-Owners Insurance
Dec 12 2017 // Jeff Harrold, chairman and chief executive officer of Lansing, Michigan-based Auto-Owners Insurance Co. and its affiliates, is retiring effective Dec. 31, 2017, the company announced. He has been with the company for more...
Death at Kentucky Ford Truck Plant Under Investigation
Dec 12 2017 // Authorities are investigating the death of a man at a Ford truck plant in Kentucky. Media outlets report that police responded to Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville just before 1 a.m. Saturday. Officers found...
California Brothers Nabbed in Staged Auto Accident Ring Involving 20 Others
Dec 5 2017 // A two-year investigation has netted 22 suspects in an auto fraud ring in California that cost insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Brothers Angel Topete, 36, and Joshua Topete, 34, both of San Martin, Calif., were...
Self-Driving Delivery Cars, Robot Taxis ‘Will Be Ready to Roll’ in 2018
Dec 5 2017 // Self-driving vehicles will be ready to roll next year, though the work to make them affordable to individual consumers is still “in the first inning,” according to the CEO of a company working on the...
