Latest Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Driverless Truck Companies Plan to Ditch Human Copilots in 2024
Jan 5 2024 // Driverless trucks with no humans on board will soon cruise Texas highways if three startup firms have their way, despite objections from critics who say financial pressures, not safety, is behind the timetable. After years...
Vehicle Fleeing Suburban Madison, Wisconsin Police Stop Crashes, Killing All 3 People Inside
Jan 4 2024 // MONONA, Wis. (AP) – A vehicle fleeing a suburban Madison police traffic stop crashed overnight, killing all three people who were riding inside, authorities said. Monona police tried to stop “a suspicious...
New York Fund for Injured Black Car Drivers Wins Surcharge Fight
Jan 3 2024 // The New York workers’ compensation fund for black car drivers was within its authority to impose a 2.5% surcharge on noncash tips that passengers paid to drivers, a three-justice panel of the Second Circuit Court of...
Truck Engine Maker Cummins to Pay Record $1.675 Billion US Environmental Fine
Dec 28 2023 // 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...
Truck Hits Railroad Bridge and Explodes as Train Passes Overhead
Dec 27 2023 // A tractor-trailer loaded with what authorities believe were gas containers slammed into the bottom of an overhead railroad bridge in upstate New York and exploded last Thursday night as a freight train was traveling on the...
California Commissioner Warns Insurers About Auto Insurance Consumer Complaints
Dec 22 2023 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued an official notice to insurers regarding consumers who have been reporting issues obtaining auto insurance coverage. The California Department of Insurance continues to...
Toyota’s Daihatsu Unit to Halt All Vehicle Shipments, in Widening Safety Scandal
Dec 20 2023 // Toyota Motor’s Daihatsu unit will halt shipments of all of its vehicles, Japan’s biggest automaker said on Wednesday, after a safety scandal investigation found issues involving 64 models, including almost two...
Farmers Direct Asks for 20% Auto Rate Increase in West Virginia
Dec 15 2023 // The West Virginia Insurance Commissioner’s Office is accepting comments on a proposed 19.9% auto liability insurance rate increase for Farmers Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Co. The proposed increase is one...
Trends in Auto Thefts Add to Rising Claim Costs
Dec 14 2023 // Vehicle theft rates continue to put pressure on the personal auto insurance market. CCC Intelligent Solutions said in its year-end report that the number of vehicle thefts in the U.S. increased 2% in the first half of 2023...
Horse and Buggy Collision with Pickup Truck Seriously Injures 2 Occupants, Kills Horse
Dec 13 2023 // A horse and buggy collided with a pickup truck at an intersection in Maryland, ejecting all four passengers of the buggy and seriously injuring two, authorities said. The buggy was stopped at the intersection Sunday...
Higher Auto Claims, More Frequent Accidents Continue to Outpace Premium Hikes
Dec 12 2023 // As claim severity rises, US personal auto results are on the decline, according to AM Best’s latest Market Segment Report. The 112.2 net combined ratio in 2022 for personal auto was an almost 11-point deterioration...
Family of Man Who Died Sues Tow Truck Driver They Said Sat on the Man’s Head
Dec 7 2023 // ATLANTA (AP) — The family of a Georgia church deacon who died after struggling with a police officer following a minor car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a tow truck driver they say arrived during...
Auto Safety Regulators To Watch Unrecalled Takata Inflators After One Blows Apart, Injuring a Driver in Chicago
Dec 6 2023 // DETROIT (AP) – U.S. auto safety regulators said Monday they are monitoring data from a group of mostly unrecalled Takata air bag inflators after one of them exploded in a BMW and hurled metal fragments that seriously...
Car Fire on New Hampshire Interstate Sets Off Ammunition
Dec 6 2023 // A fiery crash on Interstate 93 in New Hampshire set off hundreds of rounds of ammunition before firefighters were able to douse the blaze, state police said. State Police received a report of a vehicle being driven...
Springsteen’s Drummer, Weinberg, Says Florida Car Restorer Took $125,000 From Him
Nov 30 2023 // FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen`s drummer, Max Weinberg, is suing the owners of a Florida car restoration company, saying they stole $125,000 by falsely promising him a like-new 1957 Mercedes-Benz and...
AM Best: Adverse Results Linger For Nonstandard Auto
Nov 30 2023 // AM Best reported a net underwriting loss of $333 million for the U.S. nonstandard auto insurance segment during the first half of 2023 — a year-over-year improvement from the $773 million loss seen in the first six...
Alleged Leader of Multi-State Auto Fraud Ring Arrested in Florida After 4 Years in Hiding
Nov 29 2023 // A Washington State man, on the lam for four years and wanted in connection with $6 million in auto insurance fraud schemes and staged accidents across the country, has been arrested in Florida. The U.S. Marshals Service...
Thick Fog Likely Caused 30-Vehicle Collision on Idaho Interstate, Police Say
Nov 29 2023 // A thick layer of fog is believed to have caused a roughly 30-vehicle collision on an Idaho interstate, state police said. The collision occurred Monday morning on eastbound Interstate 86, near milepost 56, west of...
LexisNexis: Auto Insurance Shopping Slows but Still Remains Elevated
Nov 29 2023 // For the first time in more than a year, overall U.S. auto insurance shopping growth registered as ‘cool’ on the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Insurance Demand Meter in the third quarter of 2023, continuing a...
FBI Closes Probe of Car Wreck at Niagara Falls Bridge, No Indication of Terrorism
Nov 27 2023 // FBThe FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a period of high tensions as Americans...
