Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Jersey Lawmakers Advance Bill Hiking Cell Phone Fines for Drivers
Oct 4 2010 // New Jersey lawmakers have advanced a bill that would impose heftier fines for talking or texting while driving. The bill approved last month by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee would double the fine for first...
Alabama Students Learn Driver Safety from Simulation Software
Oct 1 2010 // Heather Myers, 18, will tell you she has texted while driving, but she’s quick to point out it’s only in an emergency. “I’ve never texted when I’m on the highway, though,” said the...
San Diego, San Jose Lead in Number of Drunk Drivers
Sep 29 2010 // San Diego and San Jose lead the nation in the ranking of major metropolitan U.S. cities with the largest percentage of drivers with alcohol-related driving convictions. Data provided by Insurance.com indicates California...
Tennessee Ignition Cutoff Law Targets First Time Convicted Drunk Drivers
Sep 28 2010 // Tennessee, already considered tough on first-time DUI offenders, is about to get tougher. Lawmakers recently passed a bill that will require some drivers convicted of a first DUI to install alcohol-detecting ignition...
Traffic Cameras Make Washington Drivers More Cautious
Sep 24 2010 // Red-light cameras — recent additions at many Washington intersections — make drivers more cautious in pushing the limits of yellow lights, according to a recent poll. In a survey conducted by PEMCO Insurance,...
ISO Developing Data on Driver Behavior for Use by Insurers
Sep 23 2010 // ISO’s Applied Informatix unit is developing a data source for insurers that want to develop state-of-the-art underwriting and rating plans involving driving behavior or use analytics to differentiate their driving...
ISO Equips Own Fleet with Devices to Monitor Driving Behavior
Sep 21 2010 // ISO has announced that it will equip more than 600 ISO company vehicles with telematics devices to monitor and record data about driving behavior. Information will include Global Positioning System (GPS) and On-Board...
Michigan Considers Repeal of New Drivers’ Fees
Sep 17 2010 // The Michigan House this week took a step toward repealing parts of a law that imposes extra fees on drivers for certain traffic offenses. A four-bill package to partially repeal the state’s driver responsibility fee...
Virginia County Goes After Distracted Drivers Who Text
Sep 14 2010 // Yes, it’s illegal to text while driving in Virginia, just as it is in 29 other states. And yes, police see the same things on the roads that all motorists see: distracted drivers paying more attention to their cell...
Kentucky Simulator Program Aims to Improve Driver Safety
Sep 3 2010 // Baby, you can drive Larry Roberts’ car er, simulated driving machine. But first you have to get an official invitation from Roberts, who is the Fayette County attorney. And you have to be between 16 and...
Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries Costing $99 Billion a Year, or $500 per Driver
Aug 27 2010 // In a one-year period, the cost of medical care and productivity losses associated with injuries from motor vehicle crashes exceeded $99 billion – with the cost of direct medical care accounting for $17 billion. A new...
8% of Drivers Have Driven Drunk in Past Year
Aug 26 2010 // Eight percent of all drivers, as many as 17 million people, have driven drunk at least once during the past year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released that data as the U.S. Department of...
Poll: Washingtonians OK Fines for Texting While Driving
Aug 19 2010 // Although the number of Washingtonians who text message while driving has increased, a recent poll indicates that the majority (83 percent of drivers surveyed) either support the fines for enforcing the new no-texting law,...
Kansas Report: 1 in 10 Fatal Crashes Involves Unlicensed Driver
Aug 18 2010 // Kansas officials say it’s a maddening when someone who has no driver’s license is involved in a fatal crash, but they’re not sure how to fix the problem. The Kansas Department of Transportation says that...
Boise Aims to Improve Young Driver Safety
Aug 18 2010 // The Boise, Idaho, Police Department has adopted a new program to help young drivers stay safe, and potentially reduce their insurance premiums. Working with a grant from the Idaho Department of Transportation, the Police...
S.C. to Issue Improved Driver’s Licenses
Aug 5 2010 // South Carolina will begin issuing a more secure driver’s license this fall. The State newspaper reported that Department of Motor Vehicles director Marcia Adams said Tuesday the new licenses and identification cards...
Tennessee Opens Driver Reinstatement Center
Aug 3 2010 // The Tennessee Department of Safety is opening a new driver service center for reinstatement assistance in Memphis’ Shelby County on Monday. The center at 2516 Mt. Moriah Road is for the reinstatement of driving...
Enforcement Lax on Indiana Teen Driver Cell Phone Ban
Aug 3 2010 // Indiana police agencies have issued almost no tickets to drivers younger than 18 for using cell phones since a ban on them using mobile devices while behind the wheel took effect a year ago. Indiana State Police report...
Poll: More New Jersey Drivers Are Texting
Aug 2 2010 // More New Jersey motorists surveyed say they’re texting behind the wheel and speeding. But Garden State residents believe New York motorists are the worst drivers. Some 25 percent of New Jersey motorists surveyed in...
Tennessee Reports Decline in Teen Driver Deaths
Jul 28 2010 // The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says it is seeing a decrease in the number of teen driver fatalities across the state. The patrol said on that it has investigated the deaths of 28 teen drivers so far this year....
