Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Dam Crisis Driving National Examination
Feb 13 2018 // One year after the worst structural failures at a major U.S. dam in a generation, federal regulators who oversee California’s half-century-old, towering Oroville Dam say they are looking hard at how they overlooked...
Takata U.S. Deal With Drivers, Creditors Clears Way to Sell Operations
Feb 12 2018 // Takata Corp.’s U.S. unit reached a settlement with its creditors, lawyers for those injured by its deadly air bags and automakers that smoothes the way to end its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and sell its viable operations,...
U.S. Judge Rules ‘Gig Economy’ Driver Is Independent Contractor
Feb 9 2018 // A U.S. judge in San Francisco on Thursday said a former Grubhub Inc. delivery driver was an independent contractor and not the company’s employee, in the first case of its kind against a “gig economy”...
Personal Auto Insurance Business Performed Better in 2017: A.M. Best
Feb 1 2018 // The underwriting profitability of the U.S. personal auto line showed signs of improvement in 2017 as rate hikes have been effective against loss frequency and severity trends, according to a new A.M. Best report. The...
Florida Highway Patrol Report Confirms Driver Killed by Faulty Takata Airbag
Jan 24 2018 // A Florida woman died because a faulty air bag ruptured and fired shrapnel into her head during a crash she should have survived, a report released Jan. 17 by the state’s Highway Patrol said. Nichol Barker, 34, of...
Good2Go Auto Insurance to Offer Distracted Driving App Through LifeSaver
Jan 23 2018 // Good2Go Auto Insurance, Inc., has partnered with mobile software provider LifeSaver to fight distracted driving. Good2Go Auto Insurance’s direct policyholders now have access to the The LiveSaver mobile app to help...
Uber Finally Gets $1-per-Driver Pay Settlement in California
Jan 18 2018 // Though at first Uber Technologies Inc. didn’t succeed in settling a lawsuit by California drivers alleging labor-code violations, it tried and tried again. A Los Angeles state judge finally said on Tuesday...
After Another Death by Airbag, Ford Warns Owners of Older Pickups to Stop Driving
Jan 12 2018 // Ford Motor Co. said on Thursday it had confirmed a second death in an older pickup truck caused by a defective airbag inflator of Takata Corp. and urged 2,900 owners in North America to stop driving immediately until they...
GM Seeks OK for Self-Driving Commercial Vehicle Without Steering Wheel for 2019
Jan 12 2018 // General Motors Co. is seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car – one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal – to enter the automaker’s first commercial ride-sharing...
Uber Settles New York Drivers’ Class Action Over Fees for $3 Million
Jan 10 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay up to $3 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of 2,421 drivers in New York who accused the ride-sharing company of docking excessive fees from their...
Would You Put Your Newborn in A Self Driving Car?
Jan 9 2018 // I have anxiety about the movement toward self driving cars. I’ve challenged myself to be forward thinking and familiarize myself with the technology and enhanced safety it promises to bring. I understand that we are...
Drivers Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon, Say Driverless Car Leaders
Jan 9 2018 // Carmakers and tech companies have fallen over one another in recent weeks to show the strides they’ve made with self-driving cars. At CES — usually a stage for bragging about futuristic bona fides — top...
California Pulls Stoned Driving Ad Critics Argued Promoted Pot Use
Jan 8 2018 // California officials on Friday pulled an ad aimed at discouraging stoned driving after critics said it glorified and promoted marijuana use. The public service announcement was rolled out as California began allowing...
Mississippi to Stop Suspending Driver’s Licenses Over Unpaid Fines
Jan 8 2018 // A top Mississippi official said in December that the state will stop suspending people’s driver’s licenses purely because they haven’t paid court fines and fees, meaning tens of thousands of people who...
N.Y. Finalizes Regulation to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Rates
Jan 8 2018 // The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a regulation that protects New York drivers from unfairly discriminatory auto insurance rates and has already reached agreements with two major insurers...
Florida Lawmakers to Reconsider Texting While Driving Ban
Jan 3 2018 // Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky says it is hard to separate texting drivers from drunken drivers as he cruises down a suburban interstate highway. Both weave. They speed up and slow down for no obvious reason and...
Michigan Fights Federal Judge’s Ruling Restricting Driver’s License Suspensions
Dec 28 2017 // The state of Michigan is trying to stop a court order that prevents officials from suspending the driver’s licenses of people who can’t afford traffic fines. Lawyers representing the secretary of state have...
Self-Driving Technology Being Developed to Enable Driving on Snowy Roads
Dec 27 2017 // Self-driving cars may be the future, but relinquishing control of the wheel certainly takes some getting used to. It’s one thing to go (slowly) with the flow on well-marked city streets, for which many self-driving...
Prosecutor Claims Tennessee School Bus Driver in Deadly Crash Was on Phone
Dec 22 2017 // The driver in a Tennessee school bus crash that killed six elementary school students took a cell phone call at the time of the crash, a prosecutor said Tuesday. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Hamilton...
Mississippi to Stop Suspending Driver’s Licenses Over Unpaid Fines
Dec 21 2017 // A top Mississippi official said Tuesday that the state will stop suspending people’s driver’s licenses purely because they haven’t paid court fines and fees, meaning tens of thousands of people who lost...
