Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
The Feds, the States and Self-Driving Cars
May 2 2016 // A big question looming is whether the federal government or state governments will play the primary role in setting standards for self-driving cars. Historically, the federal National Highway and Transportation Safety...
Police in Nevada Ticket 75 Distracted Drivers During 3-Week Blitz
Apr 29 2016 // Henderson, Nev., police say officers looking for distracted drivers during a three-week enforcement blitz ticketed 75 motorists for infractions like texting, checking emails, accessing the Internet or talking on...
AAIS Offers Its First Personal Auto Program for Insurers; Includes 60 Endorsement Options
Apr 28 2016 // The property/casualty insurance advisory organization AAIS has unveiled its first standardized personal auto insurance program for use by insurers that it says is the first new auto program available to the industry in...
Volvo to Launch Autonomous Driving Trial in London in 2017
Apr 28 2016 // Swedish car maker Volvo will begin an autonomous driving trial in London in 2017. Called “Drive Me London,” the UK trial will use real families in semi-autonomous cars. Starting with a handful of AD cars next...
Uber’s $100M Class Action Settlement Falls Short for Some Drivers
Apr 28 2016 // Uber’s proposed settlement of a high-profile class-action lawsuit last week has drawn opposition from some drivers and other concerned parties as the ride-hailing service seeks to avoid reclassifying drivers as...
Alabama Jury Orders Dollar General to Pay Injured Truck Driver $925K
Apr 27 2016 // A jury in Lauderdale County, Alabama has returned one of the largest personal injury verdicts in the county’s history, finding Dollar General at fault for injuries sustained by a Kentucky delivery driver five years...
Some Senior Drivers Have Higher Crash Risk
Apr 27 2016 // Older drivers with a history of falling have a 40 percent higher risk of being involved in motor vehicle crashes. But despite this increased risk, drivers ages 40 – 80 still have a lower risk of being involved in a crash...
Google, Ridesharing Firms, Automakers Form Lobby Group for Self-Driving Cars
Apr 26 2016 // A group of companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Ford Motor Co. and Uber Technologies Inc., are forming a coalition to advocate for safety regulations for self-driving cars and to bring them to American...
Hawaii Teenager Says Uber Driver Sexually Assaulted Her
Apr 25 2016 // A man who worked as an Uber driver is charged in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old passenger in Hawaii. Uber deactivated the driver, who was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of...
At Least 36 Killed by Distracted Driving in Arizona Last Year
Apr 22 2016 // State transportation officials say 36 people died and more than 8,000 were involved in accidents as the result of distracted driving last year. April is national Distracted Driving Awareness Month and Arizona Department of...
Uber to Settle Suit for $100M, Drivers Stay Independent Contractors
Apr 22 2016 // Uber has agreed to pay up to $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit which resolves a major challenge to its business model by allowing the ridesharing service to keep its California and Massachusetts drivers as...
Maine Police Step Up Distracted Driving Enforcement
Apr 21 2016 // The Augusta, Maine, Police Department says officers in the state’s capital city will be more focused on cracking down on distracted driving from now until September. Sgt. Christian Behr says extra patrols dedicated...
Do Drunk Drivers Have Constitutional Rights?
Apr 20 2016 // Can you be charged with a crime for refusing to take a Breathalyzer test when stopped on suspicion of drunken driving? It’s hard to think of a constitutional rights question that affects more people. On Wednesday,...
States with Ignition Lock Laws Curb Drunk Driving Deaths by 15%
Apr 19 2016 // State laws that require drivers who’ve been convicted of drunk driving to pass a breathalyzer-type test before starting their cars saved an estimated 915 lives between 2007 and 2013, according to a new study. The...
New York Launches New Effort to Increase Teen Driver Safety
Apr 18 2016 // New York state is launching a new effort to reduce teen driver deaths and injuries. Timed to coincide with high school proms, spring dances and graduations, the campaign includes public awareness and stepped up law...
Crashes Increase on Texas Roads; Distracted Driving Part of the Problem
Apr 18 2016 // The number of vehicle crashes in Texas involving injuries and fatalities rose from 139,646 in 2011 to 155,844 in 2014, an increase of 12 percent. That unfortunate trend continued in 2015, the Insurance Council of Texas...
New Sheriff in Mississippi County to Crackdown on Texting While Driving
Apr 15 2016 // Tickets for texting while driving may start to rise in Harrison County. Since Troy Peterson became sheriff in January, deputies have written a total of 22 tickets — 13 citations filed in Justice Court and nine...
Massachusetts Police Cracking Down on Distracted Driving
Apr 13 2016 // State and local police across Massachusetts have launched a crackdown on texting behind the wheel and other forms of distracted driving. The effort by the Executive Office of Public Safety Highway Safety Division is...
Alabama Woman Injured by Car Crash Inside Dollar General Sues Store
Apr 12 2016 // An Alabama woman is suing Dollar General saying she was injured when a car crashed inside one of its stores. News outlets report that 53-year-old Deborah Renae Gilliam filed a civil lawsuit April 4 in Tuscaloosa County...
N.Y. Authorities Wrote 85K Tickets for Texting While Driving in 2015
Apr 11 2016 // The number of drivers issued a ticket for talking on a hand-held cellphone is dropping in New York state — though more people than ever are being caught texting while behind the wheel. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said...
