Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Google Self-Driving Car Hits Bus in California Crash
Feb 29 2016 // Alphabet Inc.’s Google self-driving car struck a municipal bus in a minor crash, in what may be the first case of one of its autonomous cars hitting another vehicle. In a Feb. 23 report filed with California...
Insurance Council: Ford Truck #1 Target for Auto Thieves in Texas
Feb 29 2016 // The Ford pick-up truck is stolen more often than any other vehicle on the roadway in Texas, according to the Insurance Council of Texas. The monthly report from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) lists Ford...
State Farm Reports Investments Overcame Underwriting Loss in 2015
Feb 28 2016 // State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest U.S. property/casualty insurer, said 2015 profit rose 48 percent on investment gains tied to pharmaceutical holdings. Net income increased to $6.2 billion from $4.2...
E-Cigarette Explosion Injures Florida Woman, Destroys Car
Feb 28 2016 // A Florida woman says an e-cigarette exploded as she took a puff, knocking her teeth loose and catching her rental car on fire. Cassandra Koziol told the Naples Daily News she had parked her car outside a friend’s...
New York Classical Pianist Awarded $2.5M for Car Crash Injuries
Feb 26 2016 // A classical pianist from New York City who hurt his elbow in a car accident and can no longer play at the level he mastered has been awarded $2.5 million by a New Jersey jury. The award was against a motorist from...
Officials: 45 Died in Rhode Island Vehicle Crashes Last Year
Feb 24 2016 // Rhode Island transportation officials say 45 people died on the state’s roadways last year, a steady decline from previous years. Most victims were in a motor vehicle. Nine were riding bicycles and eight were...
Ramsey Named Commercial Lines Director for State Auto’s Western Region
Feb 24 2016 // State Auto Insurance Co. has selected Gayle Ramsey to lead the company’s Western Region as commercial lines regional director. She is based in Austin, Texas. Ramsey joined State Auto in 2013 as an underwriter in...
Minnesota AG Says Missouri Auto Company Deceives Customers about Repair Coverage
Feb 24 2016 // Minnesota’s attorney general is suing a Missouri company, accusing it of misleading consumers into unnecessarily buying coverage for auto repairs. The lawsuit by Attorney General Lori Swanson was filed in Dakota...
State Auto Names Gritton Commercial Lines Regional Director in Midwest
Feb 24 2016 // Rob Gritton will move from a product manager role in homeowners to become the commercial lines regional director in State Auto Insurance Co.’s Midwest Region. He replaces Kevin Kelly. In addition to various...
California Insurance Agent Faces Felony Charges for Pocketing Auto Premiums
Feb 23 2016 // Anthony John Diaz, 35, was arraigned today in the Fresno County Superior Court in California to answer charges that he allegedly stole insurance premiums from policyholders. Diaz was arrested earlier this month by...
Former NYPD Cop Jailed for Filing False Auto Claims
Feb 23 2016 // Authorities said a former New York City police officer has been sentenced to two to six years in state prison for a scheme to defraud auto insurance companies. New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the...
GEICO Expands Ridesharing Coverage to South Carolina Drivers
Feb 23 2016 // GEICO is now offering a new ridesharing insurance product to drivers in South Carolina. GEICO’s ridesharing product replaces the driver’s personal auto policy and provides coverage for personal, ridesharing and...
Michigan’s Inadvertent Tax Break for Car Insurers Targeted for Repeal
Feb 22 2016 // Gov. Rick Snyder and lawmakers inadvertently gave auto insurers a tax break worth $80 million a year. Now, they want to end it _ either to bail out Detroit’s state-managed school district or to address other...
State Auto Says Corrections Underway After Disappointing 2015
Feb 22 2016 // State Auto Financial Corp. ended 2015 with a steep drop in net income and a combined ratio that landed well above 100. Executives blamed a bad year for the insurer’s auto lines but added that they’ve taken...
Louisiana Using New Way to Collect Fines for Auto Insurance Lapses
Feb 22 2016 // Louisiana has implemented new ways of collecting fines from people the state believes are driving without insurance. The Advocate reports the recently formed Office of Debt Recovery has the authority to extract money from...
Trucking Industry Sees Safety Improvements
Feb 22 2016 // The rate of commercial truck-involved fatalities is declining, an industry trade group says. The American Trucking Associations say its analysis of federal Department of Transportation data shows safety improvements in the...
U.S. Safety Agency to Google: Software Qualifies as a Driver
Feb 22 2016 // U.S. vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward ultimately winning approval for...
3 Examples of How Telematics Can Aid Insurance Claims Handling
Feb 19 2016 // While information derived from usage based insurance telematics hasn’t been fully utilized in the claims process, the benefits it can provide – consistency, efficiency and accuracy – offer a way to reduce claims...
Williams Joins J.M. Wilson as Public & Business Auto Underwriter
Feb 18 2016 // J.M. Wilson has added Robin Williams as public and business auto underwriter in Portage, Mich. Williams is responsible for quoting new and renewal public and business auto accounts, working with company underwriters, and...
Missouri Senators Debate Government Role in Road Safety
Feb 12 2016 // Bills governing seat belt use, texting while driving and helmet requirements for motorcyclists prompted debate in a Missouri Senate committee over whether the government should play a larger role in road safety. Two bills...
