Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Michigan Man Who Beat Odds Fights No-Fault Insurance Reform
Jan 2 2013 // Sam Howell could barely speak seven years ago. He pointed at letters on a board to communicate. He struggled to stand by himself in his driveway. Recently, Sam, 26, opened the door for me at his home. He spent the next...
Worker’s Comp Reforms, Portable Persistency Top West’s 2012 Headlines
Dec 31 2012 // Dec. 21, 2012 came and went and the apocalypse was so lackluster as to be forgotten among the year’s myriad headlines. Now that we are all well and good, and past doomsday, here are Insurance Journal’s best...
Program Specialists: Thriving in All Market Conditions
Dec 31 2012 // There is a strain of thinking that says generalists can adapt and survive in most environments whereas specialists are more at the mercy of their environment. That may be the case for some species but it’s...
Insurers Divided Over North Carolina Auto Insurance Rate System
Dec 28 2012 // A divided auto insurance industry will try again next year to change a unique regulatory system in North Carolina, which enjoys some of the lowest rates in the country. The industry will use the argument that average costs...
Florida Court Allows Drivers to Rebut Presumption of Fault in Rear-End Crashes
Dec 28 2012 // Florida’s high court has ruled that drivers that cause an automobile accident by striking another car from behind can still sue the other driver for damages depending on the circumstances of the accident and the...
GEICO Names Assistant VP of Regional Claims in Virginia
Dec 27 2012 // GEICO, a Chevy Chase, Md.-headquartered auto insurance unit of Berkshire Hathaway, recently named Jeremy Connor as assistant vice president of regional claims operations at GEICO’s regional office in Fredericksburg,...
Congress Repeals Insurance Booklet Mandate at Car Dealerships
Dec 26 2012 // The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that would eliminate the requirement that new-car dealerships keep on hand an information booklet about insurance. The bi-partisan legislation, H.R. 5859, endorsed by the National...
New Alabama Law Targets Drivers Without Insurance
Dec 26 2012 // The owners of the 900,000 Alabama vehicles without liability insurance stand a better chance of getting caught starting Jan. 1. That’s when the state will start enforcing a law designed to crack down on motorists who...
Progressive Data Shows 30% Rise in Single-Vehicle Claims on New Year’s Day
Dec 26 2012 // According to data from Progressive Insurance, single-vehicle claims were up 30 percent on New Year’s Day 2012, when compared to the same day of the week two weeks prior to and after New Year’s Day. The total...
Insurance Safety Group Releases Car Ratings Based on New Crash Test
Dec 20 2012 // Toyota Motor Corp.’s best-selling 2013 Camry received a “poor” crash-test rating on Thursday from an insurance industry group that awarded high marks to Honda Motor Co’s redesigned Accord sedan. The...
Louisiana Men Used Tow Truck to Steal Cars From Homes
Dec 18 2012 // A New Orleans, La., resident has helped police catch two men suspected of using a tow truck to steal cars from homes. Dawn Dedeaux tells WWL-TV that she caught two men trying to steal her van from a house near the Fair...
Allstate: Texas Car Crashes Spike More than 20% Around the Holidays
Dec 18 2012 // More Texans crash their cars during the holiday season than any other time of the year, according to an Allstate Insurance Co. review of its claims data over the five year period between 2006 and 2010. The number of auto...
Ohio Law Would Increase Auto Insurance Requirement
Dec 18 2012 // A new law approved by Ohio lawmakers would raise the minimum amount of car insurance motorists are required to carry. WBNS-TV reports that both the Ohio House and Senate passed bills that would raise minimum coverages. For...
Traffic Accidents Lead Cause of High-Severity Workers’ Comp Injuries: Study
Dec 18 2012 // Traffic accidents are a leading cause of high-severity workers’ compensation injuries. Moreover, they are pervasive; indeed, a 2006 study by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) noted that even the...
Louisiana Used Car Dealer Sentenced in Odometer Fraud Scheme
Dec 17 2012 // Beau Michael Guidry of Baton Rouge, La., has been sentenced in connection with an odometer tampering scheme that defrauded victims in and around Louisiana, the Justice Department announced. U.S. District Judge for the...
New Insurance Laws Taking Effect
Dec 17 2012 // A number of states have new insurance-related laws slated to take effect in 2013. Here’s a peek. Visit www.InsuranceJournal.com for more coverage. California: The California workers’ comp benefit delivery...
The Hartford to Pay $81K in Restitution for Auto Claims in Vermont
Dec 13 2012 // The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation says the Hartford Financial Services Group has agreed to pay more than $81,000 in restitution to Vermont customers whose auto insurance claims were improperly evaluated. The...
Deaths of Bicyclists, Large Truck Occupants Rise as Other Traffic Fatalities Fall
Dec 11 2012 // Deaths of bicyclists and occupants of large trucks rose sharply last year even as total traffic fatalities dropped to their lowest level since 1949, federal safety officials said Monday. Bicyclist deaths jumped 8.7 percent...
Dallas Cowboy Charged After Player Dies in Auto Accident
Dec 11 2012 // Police charged Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Josh Brent with intoxication manslaughter after he flipped his car in a pre-dawn accident that killed teammate Jerry Brown. Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz said the...
Ohio Auto Salvage Bill Pits Industry Against Insurers
Dec 10 2012 // Ohio’s salvage industry says proposed state legislation that would open the auto salvage auction market to unlicensed buyers could cost up to 2,500 salvage jobs and eliminate consumer protection. Opponents of Senate...
