Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Utah Bans Teen Drivers From Using Cellphones
May 15 2013 // Before she pulls out of the driveway, Stefhany Robles switches her phone on silent or turns it off. The 16-year-old junior at Salt Lake City’s West High School says the distraction isn’t worth shooting off a...
The Goal: Zero Alcohol-Related Driving Deaths
May 15 2013 // Transportation safety officials are exploring ways to eliminate drunken driving deaths, which account for about a third of the nation’s more than 30,000 annual traffic fatalities— a share that has remained...
Drowsy Driving Remains Elusive National Highway Dilemma
May 13 2013 // It probably happens to most drivers. Heading home after an overtime shift and the eyelids flutter. Up all night with a sick baby and you rest your eyes for just a moment on the way to dropping off the kids at school....
Driving-Stoned Debate Appears Settled In Colorado
May 9 2013 // Colorado’s long debates on marijuana regulation and driving high came to an end Tuesday, when the Senate voted on three pot measures they’ve been debating for months. The Senate gave final approval to a...
R.I. Bill Considers Allowing Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants
May 9 2013 // Rhode Island lawmakers reviewed legislation Tuesday that would allow immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of their legal status — but the controversial idea has already run into opposition from law...
Medical Malpractice Payouts Not Driving Up Health Costs: Study
May 8 2013 // Efforts to lower health care costs in the United States have focused at times on demands to reform the medical malpractice system, with some researchers asserting that large, headline-grabbing and “frivolous”...
West Virginia Enforcing Texting While Driving Ban: 125 Convictions
May 7 2013 // In the first 10 months since a West Virginia law banned driving while texting or talking on a hand-held cell phone, 125 offenders have been convicted of doing just that. The Charleston Gazette said the number of...
Idaho School Found Liable In Boy’s Driver’s Ed Death
May 6 2013 // A Blaine County jury has awarded $3.5 million in damages to the family of a 15-year-old Carey boy who died in a crash during his driver’s education class. The Idaho Mountain Express reports jurors deliberated for...
Connecticut Bill Would Report Chatty Drivers to Insurers
May 5 2013 // Frustrated by drivers who ignore Connecticut’s ban on talking and texting on hand-held cellphones, some state legislators want insurance companies to know when their customers break the law. Lawmakers hope the...
Oregon House Passes Immigrant Driver’s Card Bill
May 2 2013 // Tens of thousands of immigrants living in Oregon without legal permission will be able to get four-year driver’s licenses starting Jan. 1 under a bill given final legislative approval by the House on Tuesday. The...
Florida Lawmakers Advance Texting While Driving Bill
May 2 2013 // The Florida House has passed its version of a statewide ban on texting while driving, but the proposal’s fate is uncertain. The House passed the bill (SB 52) on a 110-6 vote Wednesday. It includes an amendment that...
Delaware Police Issue 2,000 Distracted Driving Tickets
May 2 2013 // Police in Delaware issued more than 2,000 tickets to drivers in a crackdown on using handheld cellphones behind the wheel. The Department of Highway Safety says the tickets were issued over two weeks in April in the second...
Montana Governor Signs Law to Crack Down On Drunken Driving
May 1 2013 // Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law a measure that will allow judges to look back 10 years to add penalties for multiple drunken-driving offenders. Attorney General Tim Fox says his bill sponsored by Republican...
South Carolina Drivers Get a Cost Break
May 1 2013 // The cost of driving in South Carolina is down for the first time in four years. AAA Carolinas announced that it will cost the driver of an average sedan about $9,200 to operate their vehicle this year. That’s down...
Storm Costs Driving Up New Jersey Auto Insurance Rates
Apr 30 2013 // Losses from previous storms are helping to drive up New Jersey’s auto insurance rates, which are already the highest in the nation. The Record newspaper reports the state approved increases for 26 insurance companies...
Oklahoma House Kills Texting and Driving Ban Again
Apr 25 2013 // An Oklahoma legislator has vowed to keep pushing for a ban on texting while driving after the House scuttled the proposal for the third time this session. The latest text ban attempt came in the form of an amendment by...
Transgender Driver’s Licenses for Idaho
Apr 25 2013 // The Idaho Transportation Department this week agreed to new regulations allowing transgender drivers to change the sex designation on their driver’s licenses without a note from a surgeon, after two people complained...
Report: Bus Driver in Fatal Texas Crash Says He May Have Blacked Out
Apr 24 2013 // The driver involved in a fatal North Texas bus crash told authorities he may have blacked out in the moments before the bus careened off the roadway and struck a concrete barrier, according to a report released April 22. A...
Minnesota Driver’s License Privacy Breaches Could Cost Millions
Apr 23 2013 // Liability claims for improper uses of Minnesota’s driver’s license database could reach several million dollars. Many cities, counties and state agencies involved in recent privacy breaches are backstopped by...
Texting While Driving Ban Advances in Texas House
Apr 18 2013 // A renewed push to make texting while driving illegal in Texas stayed afloat on April 17, but only after narrowly defeating bipartisan resistance to an outright ban over concerns that ranged from racial profiling to...
