Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Uber Finally Gets $1-per-Driver Pay Settlement in California
Jan 18 2018 // Though at first Uber Technologies Inc. didn’t succeed in settling a lawsuit by California drivers alleging labor-code violations, it tried and tried again. A Los Angeles state judge finally said on Tuesday...
After Another Death by Airbag, Ford Warns Owners of Older Pickups to Stop Driving
Jan 12 2018 // Ford Motor Co. said on Thursday it had confirmed a second death in an older pickup truck caused by a defective airbag inflator of Takata Corp. and urged 2,900 owners in North America to stop driving immediately until they...
GM Seeks OK for Self-Driving Commercial Vehicle Without Steering Wheel for 2019
Jan 12 2018 // General Motors Co. is seeking U.S. government approval for a fully autonomous car – one without a steering wheel, brake pedal or accelerator pedal – to enter the automaker’s first commercial ride-sharing...
Uber Settles New York Drivers’ Class Action Over Fees for $3 Million
Jan 10 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay up to $3 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of 2,421 drivers in New York who accused the ride-sharing company of docking excessive fees from their...
Would You Put Your Newborn in A Self Driving Car?
Jan 9 2018 // I have anxiety about the movement toward self driving cars. I’ve challenged myself to be forward thinking and familiarize myself with the technology and enhanced safety it promises to bring. I understand that we are...
Drivers Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon, Say Driverless Car Leaders
Jan 9 2018 // Carmakers and tech companies have fallen over one another in recent weeks to show the strides they’ve made with self-driving cars. At CES — usually a stage for bragging about futuristic bona fides — top...
California Pulls Stoned Driving Ad Critics Argued Promoted Pot Use
Jan 8 2018 // California officials on Friday pulled an ad aimed at discouraging stoned driving after critics said it glorified and promoted marijuana use. The public service announcement was rolled out as California began allowing...
Mississippi to Stop Suspending Driver’s Licenses Over Unpaid Fines
Jan 8 2018 // A top Mississippi official said in December that the state will stop suspending people’s driver’s licenses purely because they haven’t paid court fines and fees, meaning tens of thousands of people who...
N.Y. Finalizes Regulation to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Rates
Jan 8 2018 // The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a regulation that protects New York drivers from unfairly discriminatory auto insurance rates and has already reached agreements with two major insurers...
Florida Lawmakers to Reconsider Texting While Driving Ban
Jan 3 2018 // Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Wysocky says it is hard to separate texting drivers from drunken drivers as he cruises down a suburban interstate highway. Both weave. They speed up and slow down for no obvious reason and...
Michigan Fights Federal Judge’s Ruling Restricting Driver’s License Suspensions
Dec 28 2017 // The state of Michigan is trying to stop a court order that prevents officials from suspending the driver’s licenses of people who can’t afford traffic fines. Lawyers representing the secretary of state have...
Self-Driving Technology Being Developed to Enable Driving on Snowy Roads
Dec 27 2017 // Self-driving cars may be the future, but relinquishing control of the wheel certainly takes some getting used to. It’s one thing to go (slowly) with the flow on well-marked city streets, for which many self-driving...
Prosecutor Claims Tennessee School Bus Driver in Deadly Crash Was on Phone
Dec 22 2017 // The driver in a Tennessee school bus crash that killed six elementary school students took a cell phone call at the time of the crash, a prosecutor said Tuesday. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Hamilton...
Mississippi to Stop Suspending Driver’s Licenses Over Unpaid Fines
Dec 21 2017 // A top Mississippi official said Tuesday that the state will stop suspending people’s driver’s licenses purely because they haven’t paid court fines and fees, meaning tens of thousands of people who lost...
Oklahoma Supreme Court Strikes Down State’s New Drunk Driver Law
Dec 20 2017 // The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a new drunken-driving law that created a new program for first-time DUI offenders and abolished the appeals process for those trying to keep their licenses after a DUI arrest is...
Michigan Moped Driver Hurt By Low-Hanging Wire Awarded $2.9M at Trial
Dec 20 2017 // A jury has awarded $2.9 million to a moped driver who was badly injured when he struck a low-hanging telecommunications wire in Michigan. The Ann Arbor News reports a Washtenaw County jury last week reached the verdict...
Startup Trov, Munich Re to Insure Riders of Waymo’s Self-Driving Car Service
Dec 20 2017 // Trov, an on-demand insurance startup, plans to provide trip insurance for passengers using Waymo’s soon-to-be launched self-driving, ride-hailing service. Waymo, formerly Google’s self-driving car project,...
N.Y. Finalizes Regulation to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Rates
Dec 19 2017 // The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a regulation that protects New York drivers from unfairly discriminatory auto insurance rates and has already reached agreements with two major insurers...
Former Tennessee Deputy Insurance Commissioner Giannini Killed in Car Crash
Dec 18 2017 // A former deputy commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has died in a car crash. Media outlets report that Bill Giannini, who also was a former chairman of the Shelby County Election Commission...
Safety Group Says GM’s In-Car Shopping App Encourages Distracted Driving
Dec 12 2017 // A new in-car application from General Motors Co. that lets drivers order coffee and browse for hotels while behind the wheel has been met with outcry from a prominent safety group. The app, dubbed Marketplace, allows...
