Latest Personal Auto Headlines

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

Rhode Island Senate Passes Seat Belt, Cell Phone Driver Bills

Jun 27 2011 // The Rhode Island Senate has advanced two bills on driver safety, one boosting seat belt enforcement and another banning young drivers from using cell phones while behind the wheel. The cell phone proposal would make it...

Can U.S. Make Phoning While Driving as Taboo as Drunk Driving?

Jun 24 2011 // The nation risks a surge in deadly accidents unless it makes distracted driving — talking, texting and surfing the Internet while operating cars, boats and trains — as taboo as drunken driving, members of the National...

Even Low Blood Alcohol Level ‘Buzz’ Unsafe for Driving: Study

Jun 21 2011 // In the United States, the blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08 percent, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe for driving, according to a University of California, San Diego sociologist. A new study has found that...

Texas Governor Vetoes Texting While Driving Bill

Jun 20 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed 23 bills on June 17, including legislation that would have outlawed sending or reading text messages while driving. Lawmakers approved the texting ban last month, but Perry called it an...

Employers Look the Other Way On Distracted Driving

Jun 20 2011 // A recent survey appears to confirm that there is growing concern among corporate managers about distracted driving risks and liability. Fifty percent of companies with more than 500 drivers said they have knowledge or...

New Jersey Court: Drunk Driver Can Sue Bar that Served Him

Jun 20 2011 // New Jersey’s Supreme Court has ruled that a convicted drunken driver has the right to sue the bar that served him. The court’s 5-2 ruling last month stems from a 2006 motorcycle crash in which Frederick Voss...

Fatal Virginia Bus Crash Shines Light on Driver Fatigue

Jun 14 2011 // Recent deadly crashes involving large interstate buses like the one involved in a fatal crash in Virginia two weeks ago have heightened concerns about driver fatigue. Four women were killed and dozens injured when...

Kentucky County Halts Program for Uninsured Drivers

Jun 14 2011 // Judges in Kentucky’s Jefferson County have stopped a program giving drivers without insurance a way to avoid a hefty fine because court officials say it nearly impossible to monitor the growing number of...

New York Governor Wants Tougher Penalty for Texting Drivers

Jun 13 2011 // Drivers who text behind the wheel in New York now run little risk of being pulled over by the police, but that would change under a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The governor said Friday that he plans to introduce a bill...

Oklahoma Commissioner Questions Legality of Driving Record Fee

Jun 10 2011 // Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak has requested that the state’s attorney general determine whether a 2010 bill increasing the costs of driving records was properly enacted by the Legislature. The bill...

Oregon Man Can’t Ride Bike Because of Suspended Driver’s License

Jun 9 2011 // When Paul McClain had his driver’s license suspended for driving a car without insurance, the 41-year-old Springfield, Ore., resident started riding an electric bicycle instead. But authorities say he can’t do...

Oregon Senate Passes Car Sharing Bill

Jun 7 2011 // In a seeming effort to encourage green behavior, Oregon senators have approved a bill that would remove some of the barriers to developing community car sharing programs. House Bill 3149 establishes standards for personal...

Nevada OSHA Encourages Employers to Ban Texting While Driving

Jun 3 2011 // The Nevada Occupational Health & Safety Section (OSHA) of the Division of Industrial Relations is hoping to stop one of the most dangerous forms of distracted driving. That’s why it is encouraging employers to...

New Jersey Court: Drunk Driver Can Sue Bar that Served Him

Jun 3 2011 // New Jersey’s Supreme Court has ruled a convicted drunken driver has the right to sue the bar that served him. Wednesday’s 5-2 ruling stems from a 2006 motorcycle crash in which Frederick Voss had a...

Driver of Car Hit by Train is Billed for Damage

Jun 2 2011 // Metro-North plans to bill a 40-year-old woman for the damage one of its trains suffered when it struck the woman’s car in Milford, Connecticut on Sunday. Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders says the commuter...

233 South Carolina Drivers Get Licenses Back in Amnesty Program

Jun 2 2011 // Hundreds of people regained their driving privileges during South Carolina’s first amnesty program for suspended licenses. The Department of Motor Vehicles said the agency reissued 233 licenses between May 16 and...

Employers Looking Other Way On Employees’ Distracted Driving

Jun 2 2011 // A recent survey confirms that there is growing concern among corporate managers about distracted driving risks and liability. Fifty percent of companies with more than 500 drivers said they have knowledge or evidence of...

Wash. Seeks Comment on Workers’ Comp Policy on For-Hire Drivers

Jun 1 2011 // Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries is seeking comment on proposed rules to implement legislation requiring workers’ compensation coverage for certain for-hire vehicle operators such as taxi and...

CEI Adds Secondary Driver Records to DriverCare Risk Manager

May 19 2011 // The CEI Group, Inc. (CEI) has enhanced its DriverCare Risk Manager designed to help fleets better control the risks of accidents and liability posed by members of fleet drivers’ households permitted to drive fleet...

Suit Says USAA Unfairly Denied Car Crash Claims

May 18 2011 // A Salem, Ore., attorney has filed a lawsuit accusing USAA Insurance Co, which represents military members and their families, of fraudulently denying claims after car crashes. The Salem Statesman Journal reports the suit,...