Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Pressure’s on the Trucking Sector
Nov 5 2018 // The transportation industry is considered a barometer of the U.S. economy. If freight is trending up, so too is the U.S. economy. But capacity constraints for trucking – including a shortage of qualified drivers, low...
Bipartisan Autonomous Vehicle Legislation Stalls on Capitol Hill
Nov 2 2018 // A push on Capitol Hill to speed development of self-driving vehicles may not cross the finish line in time for this Congress — casting doubt on the future of unusually bipartisan legislation in Washington. In order...
Confie’s Rothberg Exits California-Based Nonstandard Auto Insurance Giant
Nov 1 2018 // Adios Mordy Rothberg. One of the men behind Confie Seguros, a nonstandard auto insurance giant with an emphasis on serving Hispanic consumers that has been on an agency buying spree since it started in 2008, is calling it...
N.J. Woman Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud in Used Luxury Vehicle Theft Scheme
Nov 1 2018 // A New Jersey woman has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining insurance identification cards as part of a scheme to steal luxury used vehicles from dealerships in New Jersey and New York. Paige Hunt, 27, of Bloomfield,...
Suit Filed in Florida Against Tesla Claims Autopilot Failed, Caused Crash
Nov 1 2018 // A Florida man says the autopilot feature of his Tesla vehicle failed to detect a disabled car on a highway, leading to a collision that left him with permanent injuries, according to a negligence lawsuit filed...
Illinois Launches Autonomous Vehicle Testing Program
Oct 30 2018 // The Illinois Department of Transportation has begun a statewide initiative among multiple government agencies to develop a testing program for connected and autonomous vehicles. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed an executive order...
What’s Happening and What Lies Ahead for P/C Insurance Pricing: Moody’s
Oct 30 2018 // The current pricing environment for property/casualty insurers is “modestly positive,” with commercial and personal auto rates rising by mid-to-high single digits, homeowners and commercial property rates...
How High Customer Expectations Raise the Bar for Insurance Industry
Oct 30 2018 // Record high customer satisfaction among auto insurance customers is clearly good news for customers, especially at a time when their overall customer experience is being tested by the rising cost of auto insurance. For...
U.S. Safety Agency Probing Mercedes-Benz Recall Notice Practices
Oct 30 2018 // Mercedes-Benz USA is under investigation by U.S. safety regulators who say the luxury-auto maker may be taking too long to send safety recall notices to car owners and inform the government. The National Highway Traffic...
Wells Fargo Says Repaying Auto Insurance Customers to Take Until 2020
Oct 30 2018 // Wells Fargo & Co. will not finish paying back the estimated 600,000 customers it wrongly charged for auto insurance until at least 2020, the bank said in a letter to U.S. lawmakers seen by Reuters. U.S. regulators...
Mass. Court Rules for Auto Insurer in ‘Blood Relative’ Household Member Case
Oct 29 2018 // A Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled in favor of an insurer in a case involving an automobile accident in which the injured plaintiff sought to obtain underinsured motorist coverage under a policy held by the mother and...
Families Await Justice in North Dakota Oilfield Workplace Lawsuits
Oct 25 2018 // Brenda Austin was worried when her son, Casey, told her he planned to work in North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield in early 2013. “Don’t worry. I’ll be in a safe spot,” he told her when he left...
GM Hitting Bumps on $5 Billion Road to Driverless Cars by 2019
Oct 25 2018 // It’s one of the biggest bets going in the world of cars. Since May, General Motors Co. and its Cruise self-driving car unit have landed $5 billion in investment commitments from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. and...
Socal Gas Settles Motorcycle Crash Lawsuit For $46M
Oct 24 2018 // Southern California Gas Co. has agreed to pay $46 million to settle a lawsuit by a motorcyclist who was struck and badly injured by a company driver who suffered an epileptic seizure. U.S. Air Force Capt. Jason Lo was...
U.S. Agency Calls for Better Safety Metrics for Autonomous Cars
Oct 24 2018 // Autonomous vehicle manufacturers need a better yardstick to show that their products are safe, said Derek Kan, under secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation. The metrics that are most widely used by...
Parents of Florida College Student Killed by Garbage Truck Awarded $25M
Oct 23 2018 // Jurors have awarded $25 million to the parents of a University of Florida student who was run over and killed by a garbage truck near campus. The Gainesville Sun reports that an Alachua County jury awarded $12.5 million...
15 Emerging Risks from Policies to Playgrounds, Sandboxes to Scooters
Oct 18 2018 // When insurance experts are asked what they see as the most important emerging risk for the property/casualty insurance industry, their consensus is cyber in some form. While cyber obviously poses tremendous risks, some...
Uber Driver Charged with Kidnapping New York Woman
Oct 18 2018 // An Uber driver in New York City kidnapped a woman who fell asleep in his vehicle, groped her in the back seat and then left her on the side of a highway in Connecticut, federal authorities said Tuesday. Harbir Parmar, 24,...
Insurer Group Hammers Claim that California Prop 103 Saved Drivers Billions
Oct 17 2018 // The insurance industry is taking exception to a new report commemorating the 30th anniversary of one of California’s primary auto insurance laws that claims the law has saved drivers billions of dollars. The Consumer...
Fatal Car Crashes Fell 2% in 2017; 2018 Appears to Follow Trend
Oct 15 2018 // Final U.S. highway fatality numbers for 2017 are down following two consecutive years of large increases. In addition, preliminary estimates for the first six months of 2018 appear to show that this downward trend...
