Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Distracted Driving Is More Deadly Than Data Shows: Special Report
Oct 18 2017 // Jennifer Smith doesn’t like the term “accident.” It implies too much chance and too little culpability. A “crash” killed her mother in 2008, she insists, when her car was broadsided by another...
Liberty Mutual Insurance Tailors Policy for Tesla Electric Car Drivers in U.S.
Oct 16 2017 // Tesla Inc. is partnering with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. to offer an auto-insurance plan designed specifically for its electric cars in the U.S. The plan made available to U.S. customers starting Friday is similar to...
Waymo, Nonprofits Team Up for Safety Campaign on Self-Driving Cars
Oct 11 2017 // AAlphabet Inc.’s self-driving car unit Waymo and several groups are launching a campaign aimed at convincing skeptical Americans of what they say is the value and safety of driverless cars, as Congress considers how...
Uber: Giving UK Drivers Workers’ Rights Would Cost Millions of Pounds
Oct 10 2017 // Uber said on Tuesday that paying National Insurance contributions for its British drivers would add tens of millions of pounds to the taxi app’s costs were they to be deemed employees. Uber currently classifies its...
Traffic Accident Deaths Still Increasing as Distracted Driving Reports Decline
Oct 9 2017 // Traffic accident deaths in the U.S. continue to rise, even while deaths related to distracted driving decline. Pedestrian and motorcyclist deaths are way up. The number of vehicle miles traveled on U.S. roads in 2016...
West Virginia Tops State Farm List of Deer-Car Crashes, Again
Oct 6 2017 // For the 11th consecutive year, West Virginia has topped State Farm’s list for the likelihood of vehicles crashes involving deer. Using claims data, the Bloomington, Illinois-based insurer released its annual deer...
U.S. Senate Panel Gives Green Light to Bill to Speed Use of Self-Driving Cars
Oct 5 2017 // A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously gave the green light to a bill aimed at speeding the use of self-driving cars without human controls, a measure that also bars states from imposing regulatory road blocks. The...
Driver Assist on Big Rigs Being Tested by Oregon Vehicle Manufacturer
Oct 4 2017 // A Portland-based manufacturer of commercial vehicles is performing trials on Oregon highways of tractor-trailers with driver-assist technology. The Bend Bulletin reported Daimler Trucks North America is testing the same...
Safety Groups Oppose Autonomous Driving Bill Backed by Car Makers
Oct 4 2017 // A coalition of auto safety advocates criticized a bill before the U.S. Congress that would allow automakers eventually to sell up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles annually if they could demonstrate they are as safe as...
Driver Concerns Over the Future of Autonomous Vehicles: AIG Study
Oct 3 2017 // Safety of the vehicles, including the risk of hacking, are key concerns when it comes to autonomous vehicles, according to a study by American International Group, Inc. on the whether or not Americans accept or reject...
Uber Drivers Will Need Licenses, Insurance in Australia’s Queensland
Oct 2 2017 // Ride-booking operators and drivers, such as those from Uber Technologies Inc., will need licenses to offer their services in the Australian state of Queensland under new regulations announced Sunday in Brisbane. The...
Two Charged in Scheme Selling Pennsylvania Driver’s Licenses
Oct 2 2017 // An employee at Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation granted driving privileges to more than 30 people without requiring them to show proper documents or take driving tests under a bribery scheme that netted...
Fake Uber Driver in Illinois Accused Of Picking Up and Raping Women
Sep 29 2017 // Additional charges have been filed against a suburban Chicago man accused of posing as an Uber driver who picked up women outside bars and raping them. Musaab Afandi of Glenview appeared at a bond hearing Wednesday after...
Police Say Drunk Driver Caused Power Outages at Schools in Georgia County
Sep 27 2017 // Power was knocked out to two college campuses and a high school in DeKalb County when a mini-van flipped and hit a utility pole. WSB-TV reports that the Monday morning crash happened in front of Georgia Piedmont Technical...
Saudi Decision to End Women’s Driving Ban Boosts Auto Insurers’ Shares
Sep 27 2017 // Saudi Arabia’s decision to end a driving ban for women is likely to save families billions of dollars, boost industries from car sales to insurance, and reassure investors that the kingdom’s push to diversify...
Oregon’s Cellphone And Distracted Driving Law Brings Bigger Fines, Jail
Sep 21 2017 // Oregon drivers soon can be pulled over for not only texting and talking on their cellphones, but also for navigating, using social media and any other “hands-on” cellphone and electronics use. The changes,...
Audi Goes Full Speed on Automated Driving, While Competitors Wary of Liability, Regulation
Sep 18 2017 // German carmaker Audi is taking a lead in bringing more automated driving to roads, but rivals seem in no rush to follow while legal and regulatory uncertainties still cloud the technology. At the Frankfurt car show, Audi...
PEMCO Insurance Launching Rideshare Driver Endorsement in Oregon
Sep 18 2017 // Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance launched an auto policy endorsement for rideshare drivers in Oregon in September. The company said the endorsement enhances personal auto policies for rideshare drivers. The product is already...
Trucking Industry Backs Bills Easing Self-Driving Vehicle Regulation
Sep 14 2017 // A U.S. trucking trade group and truck maker Navistar International Corp. urged a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday to include self-driving commercial trucks in proposed legislation intended to speed autonomous vehicles to...
LifeSaver and The Cincinnati Insurance Company Join Forces to Fight Fleet Distracted Driving
Sep 12 2017 // Cincinnati Insurance Promotes LifeSaver as a Loss Control Option to its Commercial Policyholders. San Jose, CA, September 12, 2017– LifeSaver and Cincinnati Insurance have joined forces to fight phone-related distracted...