Articles by Valerie Insinna and David Shepardson

Loss of Alaska Airlines Cockpit Recording Rekindles Industry Safety Debate

The cockpit voice recorder data on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet which lost a panel mid-flight on Jan. 5 was overwritten, U.S. authorities said, renewing attention on long-standing safety calls for longer in-flight recordings. National Transportation Safety …

New Contractor Rule to Be Unveiled Soon That Could Upend Gig Economy

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will release a final rule as soon as this week that will make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors rather than employees that typically cost a company more, …

Truck Engine Maker Cummins to Pay Record $1.675 Billion US Environmental Fine

Truck engine maker Cummins Inc. has agreed in principle to pay a $1.675 billion fine for installing devices on hundreds of thousands of engines to allow them to emit excess pollution, the largest-ever civil penalty for a Clean Air Act …

Tesla Recalls 120,000 Vehicles Over Doors That Could Unlock in Crash

Tesla is recalling just over 120,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in the United States over the risk of doors being unlocked and opening during a crash, the automaker said Friday. Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update for …

Honda Recalling 2.5 Million US Vehicles Over Fuel Pump Issue

Honda Motor‘s American unit is recalling 2.54 million vehicles in the United States over risks of fuel pump failure, the first recall for the issue by the Japanese automaker. Honda previously recalled 628,000 U.S. vehicles in 2021 and 136,000 in …

Toyota Recalling Over 1 Million Vehicles Over Potential Air Bag Issue

Toyota Motor said on Wednesday it will recall 1.12 million vehicles worldwide because a short circuit in a sensor could cause air bags not to deploy as designed. The recall covers 2020 through 2022 model year vehicles including various Avalon, …

Automakers Oppose NHTSA Bid to Force Recall of 52 Million Air Bag Inflators

Major automakers including General Motors, Toyota Motor and Volkswagen and two air bag makers said on Tuesday they oppose the U.S. auto safety regulator’s bid to require the recall of 52 million air bag inflators. Officials with the U.S. National …

NHTSA Opens Probe Into 447,000 VW, Audi Vehicles

A U.S. auto safety regulator said on Thursday it is opening an investigation into 447,000 Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3 and cars over fuel leak reports and whether a 2016 recall adequately addressed the issue. The National Highway Traffic Safety …

GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Unit Dismisses Nine Execs After Safety Probe

General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit dismissed nine key people amid an ongoing safety investigation, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday, which the company confirmed included Chief Operating Officer Gil West. The investigation relates to an Oct. 2 …

Tesla Recalling 2 Million US Vehicles Over Autopilot Safeguards

Tesla is recalling just over 2 million vehicles in the United States fitted with its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system to install new safeguards, after a federal safety regulator said the system posed safety concerns. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …