Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Industry Blasts Granholm’s Rate Freeze, Advocate’s Report
Feb 22 2009 // Insurance trade groups have come out swinging against Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s call for auto insurers to freeze rates until lawmakers can enact some of the reforms in a report by the state’s insurance...
Priceless
Feb 22 2009 // In a bold and gutsy move in the face of an economy in downward spiral and unemployment levels approaching record highs, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has called for a freeze on price increases by all hospitals,...
Industry Questions Wisconsin Gov.’s Hike in Auto Insurance Limits
Feb 20 2009 // A proposal in Wisconsin Gov Jim Doyle’s budget would increase mandatory auto insurance limits and drive up costs for many drivers as much as 40 percent, according to the insurance industry. The governor would raise...
South Dakota Weighs Change in Auto Damage Disclosure
Feb 19 2009 // There’s a move afoot in Pierre to change South Dakota’s damage disclosure law for motor vehicles. SB98 would require vehicle titles to contain a statement as to whether the vehicle had been damaged in excess of...
Judges: Jury Should Hear Florida Carbon Monoxide Suit
Feb 19 2009 // A federal judge was wrong to dismiss a lawsuit that blamed an auto muffler maker for the carbon monoxide poisoning of a 19-year-old Florida woman and her boyfriend, rather than let a jury decide, an appeals panel ruled...
Allstate Lowering Rates on Colorado Auto Policies
Feb 18 2009 // Colorado’s Division of Insurance announced that Allstate Insurance Group has decreased its rates for private passenger automobile policies in the state, providing a savings of $6.8 million to consumers through...
Police: New York Man with Anti-DWI Device in DWI Crash
Feb 18 2009 // Police say a Long Island man whose car was outfitted with an anti-drunken-driving device rented another car and crashed it while intoxicated. Police say 27-year-old Marvin Rice, Junior, of Shirley, lost control of a rental...
Large Pickups Fare Poorly in Insurance Institute Safety Crash Tests
Feb 13 2009 // Three large pickup trucks, which serve as workhorses for construction crews, farmers and small business owners, are not providing good protection in side crashes, according to tests conducted by the insurance industry. The...
Wyoming Representatives Reject Bill to Raise Vehicle Liability Coverage Limits
Feb 12 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 168, the Motor Vehicle Financial...
5 Michigan Auto Insurers Pledge to Freeze Rates
Feb 12 2009 // One week after Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm called on auto insurance companies to freeze their rates, five insurers have said they will comply. In a Feb. 3 order, Granholm asked each automobile insurance company doing...
Jury Clears Volkswagen in Car Crash That Paralyzed Vermont Man
Feb 12 2009 // A jury says Volkswagen isn’t to blame for the injuries suffered by a Vermont man in a 2002 wreck that paralyzed him. The suit stemmed from a Christmas Eve accident in Hanover, New Hampshire, in which a 1999 Jetta...
Report: AIG in Talks to Sell Auto Insurance Unit to Zurich
Feb 11 2009 // American International Group is in advanced talks to sell its U.S. auto insurance unit to Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The auto insurance business is expected...
State Auto Mutual Completes Acquisition of Missouri’s Rockhill
Feb 10 2009 // State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. of Columbus, Ohio, has completed its purchase of Rockhill Insurance Group of Kansas City, Mo. Rockhill writes approximately $120 million in specialty property and casualty direct...
Michigan Governor Opposes Hike in State’s Auto Catastrophic Claim Fee
Feb 9 2009 // Gov. Jennifer Granholm doesn’t want Michigan motorists to pay any more than they are now to support seriously injured accident victims. The governor asked the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association to not increase...
North Carolina Auto Insurance Companies Seek 1.4% Hike
Feb 9 2009 // North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin has confirmed that his department has received the annual auto insurance rate filing from the North Carolina Rate Bureau. The bureau, which represents the auto insurance...
Auto Deaths Decline in 40 States; Less Driving, More Seat Belt Use Cited
Feb 6 2009 // Automobile fatalities declined in 40 states in 2008, according to a survey of state highway safety agencies, an early sign that traffic deaths could dip to their lowest levels in four decades. The Governors Highway Safety...
Oregon Legislature Weighs Increase in Motor Vehicle Liaiblity Coverage
Feb 6 2009 // The Oregon House is evaluating a bill, HB 2326, that would increase the amount of motor vehicle liability coverage required for property damage and certain personal injury protection benefits. According to bill text, PIP...
Automobile Club of Southern California Reducing Auto Rates 5.4%
Feb 6 2009 // The Automobile Club of Southern California announced it would be implementing a $101 million rate reduction for insurance policyholders in California, an average decrease of 5.4 percent. As the fifth largest auto insurer...
Michigan Auto Insurance System, Costs, Insurers Under Fire
Feb 5 2009 // Michigan’s insurance consumer advocate is charging that drivers are paying a high cost for years of state deregulation of insurance and record insurance company profits. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has threatened...
Alaskans Brace for Possible Volcanic Eruption
Feb 5 2009 // Maree Shogren knows firsthand the toxic power of a volcano, so don’t blame her for being a little freaked out about the expected eruption of Alaska’s Mount Redoubt. The Anchorage woman vividly recalls the 1992...
