Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Distracted Driving Bill Crashes In Alabama Legislature
Apr 15 2021 // The Alabama House of Representatives last week narrowly rejected a proposal to fine people for using a smartphone while driving. The bill by Republican Rep. K.L. Brown of Jacksonville would have prohibited a driver from...
Distracted Driving a Major Problem in Texas, Transportation Officials Say
Apr 9 2021 // Distracted driving comes in second for the cause of traffic crashes in Texas, state transportation officials say. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reports that one in five traffic crashes are caused by cell...
Maine Lawsuit Over Uber Driver’s Refusal of Guide Dog Can Go On
Apr 9 2021 // A judge in Maine has ruled that a woman who has impaired vision can go ahead with a claim against Uber, which she has said discriminated against her by refusing to allow her guide dog into a vehicle. The lawsuit stretches...
North Carolina Agents Launch Distracted Driving Campaign
Apr 7 2021 // The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) have launched a campaign designed to inform and educate the driving public, especially parents and young drivers, about the peril of distracted driving, which...
South Carolina Senate Passes Bill to Ticket Slow Drivers in Left Lane
Apr 1 2021 // The South Carolina Senate has passed a bill to fine people who don’t get over from the left lane of a three-lane highway when overtaken by traffic. The version passed last week by the Senate fines drivers $25 but...
Distracted Driving Behaviors Increased During Pandemic. Are Bosses to Blame?
Mar 31 2021 // One in four drivers thinks that roads are safer today than they were before the pandemic, yet a growing number of drivers are texting or emailing while driving– in part as more of them feel pressured to be available...
Former California Uber Driver Convicted of Raping Passengers
Mar 29 2021 // A former Uber driver in Central California was found guilty of sexually assaulting and stealing from five passengers. Jurors took less than three hours to convict Alfonso Alarcon Nunez of 13 felonies, including three...
Judge Lets Massachusetts Claims Over Uber, Lyft Driver Classification Proceed
Mar 26 2021 // A Massachusetts judge on Thursday denied a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general challenging Uber’s and Lyft’s classification of drivers as independent contractors instead of employees...
Data: Florida’s Texting-While-Driving Law Rarely Enforced
Mar 24 2021 // A Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy was heading east on Interstate 4 in his red Dodge Charger on a brilliantly sunny afternoon in Florida when he saw him: A young driver behind the wheel of a Jeep texting on his...
American Family Rolls Out Rewards Program for Infrequent Drivers in Arizona
Mar 22 2021 // American Family Insurance has partnered with Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), a smartphone telematics company, to create the MilesMyWay auto insurance program that rewards drivers for driving less. The app-based program...
Uber Reclassifies 70,000 UK Drivers as Workers – Providing Minimum Wage, Benefits
Mar 17 2021 // Uber Technologies Inc. will reclassify all 70,000 of its UK drivers as workers, entitling them to the minimum wage, vacation pay and other benefits after a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court last month. The...
Ride-Hailing Firms Uber, Lyft to Share Background Data on Deactivated Drivers
Mar 16 2021 // Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have created a program to share information about drivers and delivery people deactivated from their platforms for the most serious offenses, furthering a safety push by ride-hailing...
California Commissioner Says Insurers Overcharged Drivers During Pandemic
Mar 11 2021 // Insurers in California continued to overcharge drivers despite reduced risk of accidents during the pandemic, according to a report released today by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. Lara ordered auto insurance...
Fitch Sees 2020’s Personal Auto Insurer Profits as Unsustainable
Mar 8 2021 // Highly profitable sub-90 personal auto combined ratios recorded by 10 publicly traded property/casualty insurers in 2020 don’t look anything like the 106 recorded in 2016. But they’re headed in that direction,...
Judge Permits Suit Alleging Geico Overcharged Drivers During Pandemic
Mar 7 2021 // The auto insurer Geico Corp., a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., must face a proposed class action claiming it overcharged policyholders as the coronavirus pandemic led to less driving and fewer...
Car Crashes Into Pennsylvania Gift Shop, Setting Two Buildings on Fire
Mar 3 2021 // A vehicle slammed into a Gettysburg gift shop and burst into flames, killing the driver and setting the building and a neighboring structure on fire, authorities said. Emergency dispatchers in Adams County said the vehicle...
3 Vehicles Stolen in Attack on Illinois Luxury Car Delivery Driver
Mar 1 2021 // Four men attacked a luxury car delivery driver in suburban Chicago and took off with three high-end vehicles, authorities said. The attack, which was captured on video, took place early in the morning on Feb. 25 at Jidd...
UK Court Rules Uber Drivers Should Be Classed as Workers, in Blow to Business Model
Feb 19 2021 // LONDON – A group of Uber drivers are entitled to worker rights such as the minimum wage, Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday in a blow to the ride-hailing service that has ramifications for millions of others...
North Carolina Offering Altered Road Test for Teen Drivers to Receive Licenses
Feb 19 2021 // North Carolina’s Division of Motor Vehicles has started offering road tests to teen drivers again. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the DMV had largely stopped the tests last March to prevent the spread...
California Commissioner Wants More Group Discounts for Lower-Income Drivers
Feb 18 2021 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday released revised draft regulations to expand drivers’ access to group discounts. The revised draft regulations will extend discounts to previously...
