Latest Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Highway Guardrails Need Upgrade, Says U.S. Safety Agency

Sep 14 2015 // U.S. highway guardrail systems made by Trinity Industries Inc. and Road Systems Inc. have “safety performance issues” in some real-world crash scenarios, the Federal Highway Administration said as it urged a...

Technology May Outpace Humans on Road to Automated Driving

Sep 14 2015 // From his laboratory at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, automated vehicle pioneer Raj Rajkumar says self-driving cars will evolve step-by-step, with humans staying in charge for a long time to come. More than...

AssuredPartners Acquires Nashville Broker Bandy Van Cleave & Williamson

Sep 10 2015 // AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Bandy Van Cleave & Williamson of Nashville, Tenn. The agency’s staff will continue to operate from their Nashville location under the local leadership of Bob Van Cleave and Chuck...

More Crashes Cause Ohio Car Insurance Rates to Climb

Sep 10 2015 // An uptick in vehicle crashes in Ohio may be denting motorists’ wallets, along with their cars and trucks. The Columbus Dispatch reports several insurers have begun raising rates because of rising claims. Geico, the...

TDI Posts Summary of Bills Affecting Property/Casualty Insurers

Sep 9 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance has produced a summary of various bills passed by the Texas Legislature this year that impact property/casualty insurance companies. Many but not all of the following were effective Sept....

Survey: Many Drivers Unaware of Auto Safety Technology

Sep 9 2015 // Adaptive cruise control has been an option on some cars for almost a decade. But in a recent national survey, 65 percent of U.S. drivers didn’t know what it was. The survey, by the University of Iowa Public Policy...

Members of Ohio Auto Insurance Fraud Ring Sentenced

Sep 9 2015 // Two additional members of a Cincinnati-area fraudulent auto insurance claim ring have been sentenced in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, the Ohio Department of Insurance announced. The three main participants in the...

General Star Launches Online Excess Auto Program

Sep 8 2015 // General Star Management Co. has enhanced its automated excess auto quoting capabilities with its new web-based Excess Auto Instant Quote (EAIQ) platform. The new platform is available to all appointed casualty wholesale...

How Population Shifts Are Changing Personal Lines Insurance

Sep 8 2015 // There are “far-reaching implications” for personal lines insurers and the products and services they provide as the U.S. continues to undergo changes in its demographic structure, an industry report states. The...

Auto Insurance Affordability Improves in Most States: IRC

Sep 7 2015 // Personal auto insurance has become more affordable over time for all income groups, including low-to-moderate income groups, and in most states, according to a report from the Insurance Research Council (IRC). The industry...

Missouri Fines Insurer Safe Auto for Alleged Violations

Sep 4 2015 // Missouri motorists insured by Safe Auto may receive a refund or credit following a market conduct examination conducted by the Missouri Department of Insurance. The department contends that the auto insurer failed to...

Women Truckers Outperform Men; More Recruited to Ease Labor Shortage

Sep 3 2015 // Female truckers are sliding into long-haul cabs as companies seek to end a U.S. driver shortage, and they’re proving to be better behind the wheel than men. That’s no surprise to Stephanie Klang, 57, who used...

Towers Watson & Cambridge to Provide Usage-Based Auto Insurance Market Info

Sep 3 2015 // Global professional services company Towers Watson and Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), a telematics technology provider will use “advanced mobile sensing, data analytics and behavioral science,” in an...

Drivers Convicted, Jailed for Crashes Now Blamed on Car Defects

Sep 2 2015 // Lakisha Ward-Green spent three months in jail after she lost control of her Chevrolet Cobalt, killing her teenage passenger. Last week, a Pennsylvania judge, citing “newly discovered evidence” erased her guilty...

Maine’s Cross Insurance Announces Leadership for Franchised Dealer Practice

Sep 1 2015 // Cross Insurance, an independent insurance agency based in Bangor, Maine, appointed vice presidents Michael J. McInnis, Sr. and Scott S. Colford as co-leaders of its newly formed Franchised Dealer Practice that will focus...

Shopping, Banking from Car Dashboards Opens Door to Identity Theft

Sep 1 2015 // Hackers can already take control of a car. And as vehicles become rolling shopping malls, cybercriminals will have an opportunity to snatch your identity, too. Eager for a cut of drivers’ purchases of fast food, gas...

Uber Plans for Driverless Cars, Hires Hacking and Robotics Experts

Aug 31 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. has hired two top vehicle security researchers, the company said on Friday, high-profile additions that come as the ride-hailing service ramps up its work on technology for self-driving cars. Charlie...

Confessions of an Underage, Unlicensed Truck Driver

Aug 28 2015 // American Trucking Associations executive Howard Abramson recently made a case in the New York Times for higher safety standards for trucks. It’s not hard to understand why: Large trucks were involved in at least...

Hubley Approved as President of Mass. Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers

Aug 27 2015 // Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Automobile Reinsurers (CAR), the state’s industry-operated residual market and statistical agent for auto insurance, announced that Insurance Commissioner Daniel Judson has approved...

Unmanned Work Zone Trucks Promise Road Safety, Savings

Aug 27 2015 // Roving construction crews โ€” the kind you see blacktopping a road, painting lines, inspecting a bridge or installing a traffic signal โ€” are often protected from oncoming traffic by a specialized truck outfitted with a...