Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rhode Island Drivers Who Pay Tickets by Mail Escape Scrutiny
Dec 14 2010 // An analysis finds some Rhode Island drivers are moving unnoticed through the system and staying behind the wheel despite multiple violations. The Providence Journal reports Sunday that some drivers’ lengthy records...
Dec. 15 Most Dangerous Day for California Drivers
Dec 14 2010 // More Californians crash their cars on December 15 than any other day of the year, according to an Allstate Insurance Co. review of its California auto insurance claims over the past four years. The number of accident...
Connecticut Says Tougher Teen Driving Rules Save Lives
Dec 10 2010 // State officials say Connecticut’s tough new restrictions on teenage drivers are saving lives. There were six fatal crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers in 2009, the lowest in 12 years. Gov. M. Jodi Rell...
Survey: Texting While Driving in Texas Getting Worse
Dec 2 2010 // Texans believe texting and talking on phones while driving is getting worse and that roads are less safe than they were five years ago, despite declines in accident deaths. A survey by the Texas Transportation Institute...
Nearly 20% of Drivers in Fatal Crashes Test Positive for Drugs: Report
Dec 1 2010 // About 1 in 5 drivers who were killed last year in car crashes tested positive for drugs, raising concerns about the impact of drugs on auto safety, according to a new government report. Researchers with the National...
Drunk Driving Arrests Up, Fatalities Down in Mississippi
Nov 30 2010 // DUI arrests have skyrocketed in Mississippi in the past several years, helping lead to the lowest number of drunken driving deaths in decades. It’s welcome news for a state that has ranked among the nation’s...
Texas Driver Records Now Available Instantly Online
Nov 30 2010 // The Texas Department of Public Safety announced that Texas drivers can now order their driving records online and print them out immediately instead of waiting to have the record mailed to them. “We are pleased to...
Drivers Beware When Deer Search for Mates
Nov 24 2010 // Paula Reid was cruising at the speed limit on U.S. 460 in Virginia, near Montvale, her big BMW sedan slicing through the dark highway’s miles. Then, thwack. “Out of nowhere she hit me,” Reid, 49, of...
Massachusetts Falls Short Fighting Drunken Driving
Nov 17 2010 // The National Transportation Safety Board is faulting Massachusetts for not doing enough to combat what they call “hardcore” drunken drivers. The NTSB said Massachusetts is among 10 states in the country that...
Driver in Fatal Connecticut Crash Sues Victim’s Parents
Nov 16 2010 // A Connecticut driver who’s serving a manslaughter sentence for striking and killing a 14-year-old boy is suing the victim’s parents, blaming them for their son’s death because they allowed him to ride his...
Louisiana DWI Simulator Adds Texting while Driving
Nov 16 2010 // She took off the virtual reality headset, got out of the car and looked at her printed-out ticket for running a red light and killing a pedestrian while sending a cell phone text message. “I got a ticket for...
Virginia Firm Eyes High Tech Fix for Distracted Driving
Nov 14 2010 // Despite a public outcry over drivers who text, talk and e-mail that has prompted dozens of states to ban the practice, enforcing those laws is proving difficult. But Matthew Howard, co-founder and CEO of ZoomSafer, says...
Nevada Board Bans Texting While Driving State Vehicles
Nov 11 2010 // The Nevada Board of Examiners has approved a policy banning employees from texting or using electronic devices while driving state vehicles. Gov. Jim Gibbons, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Secretary of State...
Workers’ Compensation Fees Would Cost New York Drivers, Insurers Warn
Nov 10 2010 // Proposed 30 percent increases in what medical providers in New York are paid for treating workers’ compensation injuries could have unintended consequences for the state’s motorists, an industry group has...
Rates for High Risk Drivers in Texas Falling; Coverage Minimums to Rise
Nov 9 2010 // Insurance rates for high-risk drivers insured through the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan Association (TAIPA) will decrease overall by 7.6 percent from 2010 rates effective Jan. 1, 2011. According to TAIPA, Texas Insurance...
Virginia Firm Eyes High Tech Fix for Distracted Driving
Oct 28 2010 // Despite a public outcry over drivers who text, talk and e-mail that has prompted dozens of states to ban the practice, enforcing those laws is proving difficult. But Matthew Howard, co-founder and CEO of ZoomSafer, has...
New Jersey to Cite Drivers for Ice and Snow on Cars
Oct 25 2010 // New Jersey drivers are now required to remove ice and snow from their vehicles under a new law that has gone into effect. The law, passed last October, authorizes fines and citations for drivers who fail to clean off their...
Tennessean Cited for 17 Driving License Violations
Oct 20 2010 // A Nov. 17 hearing is set in Cookeville for a Tennessee man cited for driving on a suspended or revoked license 17 times. Forty-one-year-old Fred Burton Adams Jr. of Cookeville was arrested about two weeks ago, and after...
Maine Courts Fail to Notify Drivers of Suspensions
Oct 19 2010 // Court officials say nearly 300 people continue to drive on Maine roads with suspended licenses after failing to be notified their licenses were suspended. Court officials told the Morning Sentinel that the drivers in...
Enforcement Issues Complicate Mississippi’s Efforts on Texting Drivers
Oct 13 2010 // Undoubtedly bills will be filed to strengthen Mississippi’s texting-while-driving ban during the 2011 legislative session, and questions about enforcement are sure to be raised. A law enacted in 2009 banned beginning...
