Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. Bills Would Ban Text Messaging by Drivers
Jan 4 2008 // The death of a 13-year-old Taunton, Mass. boy last month has prompted new calls to ban text messaging while driving. Craig Bigos of New Bedford told police he was sending a text message to a friend when he swerved and...
N.J. Relaxes Rules for Writing Personal Auto Insurance
Jan 4 2008 // New Jersey auto insurance agents will have a lot easier time quoting and writing new policies under a bill signed yesterday by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. The bill, which had awaited his signature since last month, eliminates the...
Virginia Legislator Wants to End Texting While Driving
Jan 3 2008 // Text-messaging while driving could be outlawed if a northern Virginia lawmaker gets his wish. Delegate James Scott, a Falls Church Democrat, has proposed a bill that would make it illegal for people to send text messages _...
Uninsured Drivers in Vermont Could Face Increased Fines
Dec 27 2007 // Uninsured drivers would face $500 fines under a bill that Vermont lawmakers plan to consider in their upcoming session. State Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, said he has heard many complaints from people who have been...
Driving History in Mass.
Dec 23 2007 // Thirty years ago, the last time Massachusetts tried to introduce competitive rating into private passenger auto insurance, Democrat Michael Dukakis was governor. That experiment lasted about seven months before being...
Flying Ice Injures Pa. Ambulance Driver
Dec 21 2007 // An ambulance driver in Bethlehem, Pa. says ice blew off a tractor trailer, smashed her windshield, struck her on the head and showered the inside of the ambulance with ice and broken glass. Jessica Strivelli says if the...
Only Way to Mainland, Bridge Safety Concerns N.C. Drivers
Dec 20 2007 // Catwalks on the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge have been repaired. Up next is the beginning of the nitty-gritty structural repair work on the only land link to North Carolina’s Hatteras Island. Contracts have been let on...
FedEx to Appeal Mass. Penalty over Classification of Drivers
Dec 20 2007 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has assessed penalties of more than $190,000 against FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. for what her office claims is an intentional misclassification of 13 drivers as...
Fla. Insurers Remind Drivers of Personal Injury Protection Law’s Return
Dec 19 2007 // Auto insurers in Florida are reminding drivers that Florida law will once again require drivers to carry personal injury protection insurance effective Jan. 1, 2008. Companies are sending notices to policyholders informing...
N.J. Turnpike Drops Lawsuit Against Deceased Drivers
Dec 19 2007 // The New Jersey Turnpike Authority admits it made a mistake suing two dead motorists for damage to the toll road. Four people died and four were injured when a truck loaded with bricks rear-ended a car last year, triggering...
N.C.’s Operation ‘Drive to Live’ Focuses on Teen Driver Safety
Dec 18 2007 // North Carolina state and local law enforcement officials alongside First Lady Mary Easley kicked off Operation Drive to Live last week. The N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety and the Highway Patrol...
Wis. Assembly Passes Cell Phone Ban for Teen Drivers
Dec 13 2007 // A proposal that would ban teen drivers from using cell phones passed the Assembly, 90-7, and now heads to the state Senate. Wisconsin would be the 16th state to limit or ban cell phone use by teen drivers if the bill...
Tenn. Officials Say Teen Driver in Fatal Wreck was Uninsured
Dec 7 2007 // The teenage driver of a sport utility vehicle involved in a crash in Jefferson County, Tenn., that resulted in the death of one of her passengers faces charges of failure to yield and having no insurance, officials...
Alabama Senator: English Only Driver Test Will Improve Highway Safety
Dec 5 2007 // An Alabama state senator who is vice chairman of a panel studying immigration issues in Alabama said Monday he will introduce legislation to require the state driver’s license exam be given in English only. The...
Neb. County Implements Special Drunken-driving Court
Nov 27 2007 // Scotts Bluff County, Neb. has been approved for a pilot program for a drunken-driving court. The county already offers an adult drug court, a juvenile drug court and a family drug court. Crystal Newton, problem-solving...
Mass. Drivers Get Taste of Competition; Insurers Cut Rates, Enhance Products
Nov 20 2007 // Drivers with good driving records, good grades, hybrid vehicles, property policies and pets are among those who could benefit under auto insurance rating plans filed for use in 2008 in Massachusetts. Indeeed, most drivers...
Richardson’s Stats Misleading in Defense of Immigrant Driver’s Licenses
Nov 19 2007 // Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Richardson points to a substantial drop in uninsured motorists in New Mexico when he defends his decision four years ago to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain a driver’s...
Security of Vermont’s Enhanced Drivers’ License Questioned
Nov 6 2007 // The technology planned for an enhanced drivers’ license system that will allow Vermonters to return to the United States from Canada without a passport is insecure and a threat to privacy, according to some computer...
GIA Launches Pricing Program for Personal Auto
Nov 2 2007 // Grange Insurance Association based in Seattle has launched a new pricing program for personal auto in Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming “GIA’s tiered auto program will position our agents to be more...
N.H. Lawmaker Seeks Ban on Texting While Driving
Oct 31 2007 // A New Hampshire lawmaker wants the Legislature to send drivers a clear message: stop sending text messages while driving! Nashua Democrat David Campbell has filed the paperwork for a bill to ban two-handed texting or...
