Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Union Pacific Freight Car Carrying Molten Sulfur Derails in Louisiana
Mar 9 2009 // Louisiana State Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order resulting from the derailing of a freight train car carrying molten sulfur near Placquemine, La., on Mar. 7. The derailed freight car sprang a leak and dribbled...
Illinois, Michigan Among States Showing Declines in Auto Deaths
Mar 9 2009 // Automobile fatalities declined in 40 states in 2008, a sign that traffic deaths could dip to their lowest levels in four decades. The Governors Highway Safety Association said that vehicle deaths dropped in 40 states and...
Industry Questions Wisconsin Gov.’s Hike in Auto Limits
Mar 9 2009 // A proposal in Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle’s budget to increase mandatory auto insurance limits would drive up costs for many drivers as much as 40 percent, according to the insurance industry. The governor would raise...
It Figures
Mar 9 2009 // $500 Million The financial toll from the January 2009 ice storm in north Arkansas is estimated at $500 million, with most of the cost for restoring electric utilities, the Associated Press reported. Three major utilities...
Wyoming Representatives Reject Bill to Raise Vehicle Liability Coverage Limits
Mar 9 2009 // The Wyoming House of Representatives has defeated a bill that would have increased the financial minimum limits on personal automobile liability coverage. If it had passed, HB 160, the Motor Vehicle Financial...
Recession Gives Agents New Opportunity with Car Lovers
Mar 9 2009 // Agents can offer collector-vehicle coverage to customers as a money-saving opportunity that also will provide broader coverage more tailored to a collector’s needs. Last month, firefighters saved a 1964 Ford Mustang...
Don’t Emulate How the Big Auto Insurers Sell
Mar 9 2009 // Market Auto Discounts Differently It’s pretty safe to say that money isn’t everything. Your health, happiness and, of course, golf are all more important. A lot more important, right? Well, maybe not if you...
Mass. AG Questions Insurer’s High Risk Insurance Auto Rates
Mar 6 2009 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley wants a public hearing to review the auto insurance rates of a new company entering the market in Massachusetts. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. of North Carolina is...
Former New Jersey Police Officer Sentenced for Insurance Fraud
Mar 6 2009 // A former Camden City, New Jersey police officer has been sentenced for insurance fraud for falsely claiming that vans used by his patient transportation business were only being driven for personal use, according to state...
A.M. Best: Positive Impact on MEEMIC of Sale to Michigan Auto Club
Mar 6 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” of MEEMIC Insurance Co. in Michigan under review with positive implications. These rating...
Auto Club Insurance to Buy GMAC Affiliate MEEMIC in Michigan
Mar 5 2009 // Auto Club Insurance Association, a Dearborn, Michigan-based insurer, reported it has agreed to acquire MEEMIC Insurance Co. and its insurance agency affiliate, MEEMIC Insurance Services Corp. ACIA is the second largest...
Wyoming House Passes In-Car Breathalyzer Bill
Mar 5 2009 // The Wyoming House of Representatives approved a bill to mandate in-car breathalyzers for some convicted drunken drivers. Senate File 88 was one of three DUI bills proposed during the session, but the only one to make it...
12 Michigan Auto Insurers Pledge Rate Freeze
Mar 4 2009 // Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s call for auto insurance companies to freeze their rates has won over 12 companies thus far, although most of the state’s largest insurer have not consented to the freeze. In a...
MetLife Auto & Home Picks Sebastiani To Grow Company in San Diego
Mar 3 2009 // MetLife Auto & Home announced the appointment of San Diego resident Rodrigo Sebastiani to the position of regional sales manager, overseeing the company’s growth plans in the San Diego market. Sebastiani has...
Nebraska Trial in Florida Insolvent Insurer Case Put on Hold
Feb 25 2009 // The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a judge to put a new trial on hold in a multimillion-dollar insurance dispute and follow the high court’s ruling from last summer. Last June, the Supreme Court threw out the...
Arkansas Motorcycle Helmet Bill Stalls
Feb 25 2009 // A proposal requiring motorcyclists to make a choice between wearing a helmet or carrying thousands of dollars in health insurance has been thwarted by a state Senate panel. The bill, which would have required motorcyclists...
Without Insurance, Race Car’s Theft May Mean End of Racing Team
Feb 25 2009 // A pickup truck and a trailer containing an expensive open-wheel race car have been stolen from the parking lot of an Oklahoma City motel, police said. Eugene Nolen of Indianapolis said the $250,000 loss could mean the end...
A Few Small Market Insurers Agree to Michigan Auto Rate Freeze
Feb 24 2009 // Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s call for auto insurance companies to freeze their rates has won over eight companies thus far, although they are insurers with small share of the market in the state. In a Feb. 3...
One Quarter of Oklahoma Bridges Structurally Deficient
Feb 24 2009 // In 2004, a football-sized piece of concrete fell from a bridge and crashed through Yvonna Osborn’s windshield while she was driving home on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma. The 52-year-old Irving, Texas, mother of two died...
Declarations
Feb 22 2009 // Drunken System “It is surprising to the authors that these tragedies do not occur more frequently than they do in Kansas. As we studied this issue, we found many things that need attention, and many parts of the...
