Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Next up to Test Self-driving Cars on California Roads: Mercedes-Benz
Sep 18 2014 // Mercedes-Benz has followed Volkswagen AG’s Audi unit in getting a license to test self- driving vehicles on California roads as the luxury-car makers vie for a market predicted to grow to $87 billion by...
Prop. 103 vs. Self-driving Cars Revving up in California
Sep 17 2014 // Way back in 1988 it probably seemed like the idea of self-driving vehicles was about as far off as flying cars or hovercraft. That was the year California voters enacted Proposition 103, giving among other things an...
Drivers in California Must Give Bikes 3-Foot Buffer
Sep 17 2014 // Californians will now need to take extra care to steer clear of cyclists. Under statewide regulations taking effect Tuesday, drivers must give bikes a buffer zone of at least 3 feet while passing. Cited violators will face...
Self-driving Cars Could Require Overhaul of Insurance Regulation
Sep 16 2014 // What is an autonomous vehicle? As demonstrated in a Sept. 15 California Department of Insurance informational hearing, that’s a misleadingly simple question. Regulators’ attempt to stay in front of the curve,...
California Drivers Lose $44B Over Worn-Out Roads Cost, Report Says
Sep 12 2014 // California’s worn-out, congested roads and bridges are costing drivers $44 billion a year, a report released today shows. Higher vehicle operating costs, congestion-related delays and traffic accidents cost $2,458...
Industrial Boom Driving Louisiana’s Ascension Parish
Sep 8 2014 // More than 2,000 construction workers are building a $2.1 billion expansion of CF Industries’ nitrogen complex in Louisiana’s Ascension Parish. The 100-acre addition to the nation’s largest nitrogen plant...
2017 Cadillacs to Feature Hands-Free Driving, V2V Technology
Sep 8 2014 // General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, will introduce a Cadillac model in two years that can travel on the highway without the driver holding the steering wheel or putting a foot on a pedal. The 2017 Cadillac...
Drunk Driving Cases at a 20-Year Low in Minnesota Last Year
Sep 8 2014 // The number of arrests and criminal convictions for drunken driving in Minnesota has dropped to the lowest level in 20 years. Authorities credit changing attitudes about driving drunk and improved enforcement for the...
Massachusetts Tells Drivers Their LOLs, OMGs Can Wait
Sep 2 2014 // Massachusetts state transportation officials first got the attention of drivers in June when they posted electronic highway signs that implored Bostonians to “use yah blinkah.” The latest effort to combine a...
Use of Hand-Held Cell Phones While Driving Banned in Austin
Sep 2 2014 // The Austin, Texas, City Council has approved a law banning the use of hand-held cellphones and many other portable electronic devices while driving. The Austin American-Statesman reports the city council approved the law...
Young Male, Female Drivers Differ in Types of Crashes: Study
Aug 28 2014 // Young female drivers have more crashes at intersections and collisions with pedestrians than do young male drivers, who have more off-road and nighttime accidents than young female drivers. Gender is often related to what...
Brownsville, Texas Ranks Second Among Safe Driving Cities
Aug 26 2014 // Allstate Insurance Co.’s 10th annual “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report” ranks Brownsville, Texas, second safest among America’s 200 largest cities in terms of car collision...
Desert, Central California Cities Have State’s Best Drivers: Report
Aug 26 2014 // Slow-paced, sprawling Visalia ranks first in California and seventh nationally as safest among the 200 largest U.S. cities in terms of car collision frequency. Allstate Insurance Co. on Tuesday released its 10th annual...
Boston Is Tops When It Comes to Risky Drivers: Study
Aug 26 2014 // Drivers in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, are the most accident-prone in the U.S., landing at the bottom of an annual ranking of the nation’s 200 biggest urban areas by Allstate Corp. Worcester’s drivers...
Focus Is on Teens in Missouri Anti-Distracted Driving Campaign
Aug 21 2014 // Stressing the financial consequences resulting from an auto accident, the Missouri Department of Insurance is focusing on distracted driving and teens in its latest safety campaign. The department’s MO Eyes on the...
Louisiana Holding Theft Prevention Video Contest for Teen Drivers
Aug 18 2014 // The Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) and the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) are also encouraging teen drivers to “Park Smart” with the launch of a new high...
Oregon Family of DUI Victim Settles with Driver, Restaurants
Aug 18 2014 // A settlement agreement in a Lane County, Ore., drunk driving lawsuit appears to award slightly more than $180,000 to the victim’s heirs. The mother and two children of a Cottage Grove woman killed by a drunken driver...
Drunk Driving Deaths, Injuries Drop in Wisconsin
Aug 18 2014 // Wisconsin transportation officials say drunken driving deaths and injuries in the state have dramatically declined over the last decade. The Department of Transportation says the number of fatalities in alcohol-related...
Oregon Family of DUI Victim Settles with Driver, Restaurants
Aug 18 2014 // A settlement agreement in a Lane County, Ore., drunk driving lawsuit appears to award slightly more than $180,000 to the victim’s heirs. The mother and two children of a Cottage Grove woman killed by a drunken driver...
Clerical Errors Delayed 100s of Driver License Suspensions in Penn.
Aug 11 2014 // Driver’s license suspensions in hundreds of criminal cases in Pennsylvania since 2008 are being carried out now because of what York County, Penn., officials say was an oversight. The York Dispatch reported on August...
