Latest Auto Headlines

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

Israel Emerges as Leader in Developing Cyber Defenses for Cars

Jan 13 2016 // Building on its expertise in technology, Israel is emerging as a leader in the race to keep cars secure and prevent the nightmare scenario of a hacker commandeering your vehicle. Most cars today are equipped with some...

Expert Sounds off on Legal, Insurance Issues of Self-driving Cars

Jan 12 2016 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Editor’s note: To hear the full interview click on the podcast above or visit www.insuarncejournal.tv. Hilary Rowen, a partner in the law firm of Sedgwick LLP in Sacramento, Calif., for...

Automakers, U.S. to Unveil Safety Collaboration Pact

Jan 12 2016 // The U.S. government and a group of global automakers are set to unveil a voluntary agreement at the Detroit auto show on Friday aimed at improving auto industry safety and spurring culture changes, according to company and...

South Dakota Official Blames Highway Elevation Change for Car Accidents

Jan 11 2016 // A county official says an elevation change on a highway in South Dakota’s Day County is partly responsible for the high accident rate along that stretch. Day County Emergency Management director Wes Williams calls...

Crash Rates Lower for Self-Driving Cars: Virginia Tech Study

Jan 11 2016 // Crash rates for self-driving cars are lower than the national crash rate of conventional cars, according to a new report out of Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that was commissioned by self-driving car developer...

Ohio High Court: Consumer Laws Don’t Apply to Insurer Repair Estimates

Jan 11 2016 // The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that laws protecting consumers from deceptive practices don’t apply to insurance company repair estimates. In Dillon v. Farmers Ins. Of Columbus, Inc., the Court voted 5-2 to overturn...

Oregon Wife Files $7.9M Suit After Husband Crushed by Dump Truck

Jan 11 2016 // A Medford, Ore., woman has filed a lawsuit against two construction companies after her husband was crushed to death by a dump truck in a construction area on Interstate 5 near Cottage Grove. Karee Battenfield filed a $7.9...

Oregon Woman Struck by Car Files Suit over Designer Clothes

Jan 11 2016 // A Portland, Ore. woman struck by a drunken driver in a crosswalk has filed a lawsuit seeking $4,600 for the designer clothes she was wearing at the time, on top of the cost of her medical bills. Susan Layne sued in...

Fatal Auto/Pedestrian Accidents Continue to Rise in Texas

Jan 11 2016 // The number of fatal auto pedestrian accidents in Texas has risen 36 percent since the Texas Department of Transportation began keeping the records in 2010, recently released National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...

Van Riet Promoted to Director of Operations at Compass Specialty Risk

Jan 6 2016 // Jamie Van Riet has been promoted to the role of Director of Operations at Middleton, Wis.-based Compass Specialty Risk LLC. Van Riet previously worked as an account manager for Compass Specialty Risk and oversaw compliance...

Automakers Outpacing Tech Firms in Driverless Car Patents

Jan 5 2016 // Automakers, not technology companies, are in the driver’s seat in developing self-driving, “autonomous” cars, and Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. is best positioned to lead the way, according to a new...

Maine Sees Most Motorcycle Deaths Since 1991

Jan 5 2016 // Maine ended the year 2015 with 32 motorcycle deaths, the most since 1991, and safety officials say there’s no single factor that seems to be behind the spike. Mild weather that extended the riding season through...

Honda Reports 9th Death Linked to Takata Air Bag

Jan 4 2016 // Honda Motor Co. confirmed last Thursday that a Takata airbag inflator ruptured in a July crash of a Honda Accord and likely led to the death of the young driver, the ninth death in the world linked to the faulty...

Insurance Journal’s Most Popular East Region Stories of 2015

Dec 31 2015 // As the year 2015 comes to a close, here’s a look at InsuranceJournal.com’s most popular East region news stories of the year. Among the 1,100 stories posted in the East region this year, the following were 50...

Insurance Safety Group Cites 63 Vehicles as Top Safety Picks

Dec 31 2015 // Nearly 50 vehicles meet tougher criteria for 2016 to take home the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Top Safety Pick+ (Plus) award, earning good ratings in all five IIHS crashworthiness evaluations and an...

Top 10 Property/Casualty Insurance News Stories of 2015

Dec 30 2015 // The year 2015 was a year during which the property/casualty insurance industry worried and learned about disruptive forces, new competitors, new leaders and emerging risks. Also, some of the industry’s news revived...

Retired State Auto Chairman, President and CEO, Robert H. Moone, Passes

Dec 29 2015 // State Auto Financial Corp. announced its former Chairman, President and CEO Robert H. (Bob) Moone died on Friday, Dec. 25, 2015. He was 72 years old. “I was blessed to have gotten to know Bob in recent months,”...

Oregon Woman Stuck by Car Files Suit over Designer Clothes

Dec 29 2015 // A Portland, Ore. woman struck by a drunken driver in a crosswalk has filed a lawsuit seeking $4,600 for the designer clothes she was wearing at the time, on top of the cost of her medical bills. The Oregonian reported that...

Christmastime Storm Ravages Southeast States

Dec 28 2015 // Lightning illuminates a house after a tornado touched down in Jefferson County, Ala., damaging several houses, Friday, Dec. 25, 2015, in Birmingham, Ala. A Christmastime wave of severe weather continued Friday. (AP...

Latest Death Linked to Takata Air Bag Exposes Recall System Flaw

Dec 27 2015 // From 2010 to 2012, Honda Motor Co. said it made multiple attempts to notify the owner of a 2001 Accord that the car’s air bag was faulty and needed replacing. Last July, with the car sold to another person and...