Latest Personal Auto Headlines

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

Hundreds Arrested in Michigan Drunken Driving Crackdown

May 12 2016 // Law enforcement officers in Michigan arrested more than 560 motorists for drunken driving during a stepped-up enforcement effort earlier this year. The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning on May 4 announced results...

Lyft Raises Offer to Drivers to $27M in Contractors V. Employees Suit

May 12 2016 // Lyft Inc. raised its proposed payout to 163,000 California drivers to $27 million in their lawsuit to be treated as employees rather than contractors. The revised settlement comes after a San Francisco federal judge...

Two-Car Crash On Rainy Texas Highway Kills 5

May 11 2016 // Five people are dead following a two-car crash on a rainy Texas highway on Mother’s Day. The Texas Department of Public Safety tells the Austin American-Statesman it happened Sunday afternoon near the town of...

Background Checks For Uber, Lyft Drivers Established in Iowa

May 11 2016 // Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has signed a bill into law that creates new statewide rules for ridesharing companies such as Uber and Uber to do business in Iowa. Branstad signed the bill this week following approval this...

Uber to Start Guild for 35K Drivers in New York City

May 11 2016 // Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to start a guild for 35,000 drivers in New York that will help them negotiate with the ride-hailing company, though the group will have less power to resolve disputes than a full-fledged...

Voters in Texas Capital Keep Fingerprinting for Rideshare Drivers

May 10 2016 // Fingerprinting drivers for ride-hailing companies must continue in Texas’ capital city after voters rejected a $9 million campaign by Uber and Lyft to overturn the safety measure. Both Uber and Lyft threatened to...

Louisiana Officials Tell Drivers Insured by Affirmative to Get New Coverage Now

May 10 2016 // Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles reminds drivers whose vehicles are insured by Affirmative Insurance or Affirmative Casualty Insurance that they need to have new coverage by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Otherwise, says...

Tennessee Revokes 14K Licenses of Clarksville Area Drivers

May 10 2016 // Thousands of people in the Clarksville, Tennessee, area received surprise notices in the mail that their licenses have been revoked because records show they have not paid court fines and fees dating back to 2012. A total...

Uber Drivers’ Unpaid Mileage Expenses Total $730 Million, Lawyers Claim

May 9 2016 // Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Uber in California and Massachusetts over the past seven years would have been entitled to an estimated $730 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than...

Delaware Gov. Supports Tougher Penalties for Texting While Driving

May 6 2016 // Delaware Gov. Jack Markell is pledging his support for a bill to toughen penalties for texting or otherwise using a handheld phone while driving. After experiencing a virtual reality demonstration May 3 of the potentially...

New Orleans Uber Drivers Let Riders Hail Illegally on Street, Say Cabbies

May 6 2016 // New Orleans taxi drivers say competitors with ridesharing service Uber illegally let passengers hail them on the street. In papers filed this week in Orleans Parish Civil District Court,The Times-Picayune reported that 26...

Boston Duck Tours Says Driver in Crash Had ‘Exemplary’ Record

May 5 2016 // Boston Duck Tours says the driver of the amphibious sightseeing vehicle that collided with a scooter in Boston, killing a woman, had an “exemplary record” during his six years with the company. A Boston Duck...

What Are Risky Drivers Thinking?

May 3 2016 // Road crashes are the world’s leading cause of preventable death and injury in people under 35, accounting for 5 million casualties every year. Repeat offenders make a disproportionate contribution to these statistics...

Alaska City Approves Ban on Texting While Driving

May 2 2016 // Sitka, Alaska officials have approved an ordinance that prohibits drivers from using their cellphones while driving. The measure approved by the Sitka Assembly last week bans more cellphone uses while driving than state...

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...