Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Montana Governor Signs Law to Crack Down On Drunken Driving
May 1 2013 // Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law a measure that will allow judges to look back 10 years to add penalties for multiple drunken-driving offenders. Attorney General Tim Fox says his bill sponsored by Republican...
South Carolina Drivers Get a Cost Break
May 1 2013 // The cost of driving in South Carolina is down for the first time in four years. AAA Carolinas announced that it will cost the driver of an average sedan about $9,200 to operate their vehicle this year. That’s down...
Storm Costs Driving Up New Jersey Auto Insurance Rates
Apr 30 2013 // Losses from previous storms are helping to drive up New Jersey’s auto insurance rates, which are already the highest in the nation. The Record newspaper reports the state approved increases for 26 insurance companies...
Oklahoma House Kills Texting and Driving Ban Again
Apr 25 2013 // An Oklahoma legislator has vowed to keep pushing for a ban on texting while driving after the House scuttled the proposal for the third time this session. The latest text ban attempt came in the form of an amendment by...
Transgender Driver’s Licenses for Idaho
Apr 25 2013 // The Idaho Transportation Department this week agreed to new regulations allowing transgender drivers to change the sex designation on their driver’s licenses without a note from a surgeon, after two people complained...
Report: Bus Driver in Fatal Texas Crash Says He May Have Blacked Out
Apr 24 2013 // The driver involved in a fatal North Texas bus crash told authorities he may have blacked out in the moments before the bus careened off the roadway and struck a concrete barrier, according to a report released April 22. A...
Minnesota Driver’s License Privacy Breaches Could Cost Millions
Apr 23 2013 // Liability claims for improper uses of Minnesota’s driver’s license database could reach several million dollars. Many cities, counties and state agencies involved in recent privacy breaches are backstopped by...
Texting While Driving Ban Advances in Texas House
Apr 18 2013 // A renewed push to make texting while driving illegal in Texas stayed afloat on April 17, but only after narrowly defeating bipartisan resistance to an outright ban over concerns that ranged from racial profiling to...
Digital Signs to Warn Minn. Drivers About Tornadoes
Apr 18 2013 // Digital billboards in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties will be a new way to warn motorists about tornado warnings. The billboard warnings are a joint venture of the counties, billboard owners ClearChannel Outdoor, and the...
Washington Governor Announces Bill To Address Drunken Driving
Apr 18 2013 // Gov. Jay Inslee and a bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a plan that would make changes to the state’s impaired driving laws, including requiring an arrest on the first offense and mandatory jail time if...
Oregon Panel Passes Immigrant Driver’s License Bill
Apr 17 2013 // An Oregon Senate committee has advanced a bill granting four-year driver’s licenses to people who can’t prove they’re legally in the United States. The Senate Business and Transportation Committee...
Driver Fatigue Causes 20% of Auto Crashes: Study
Apr 15 2013 // A 100-car “naturalistic” driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute says that fatigue is a cause of 20 percent of car crashes, rather than the two or three percent previously...
Concealed Weapons Fuel Debate on Driver’s Licenses in Missouri
Apr 15 2013 // Republican lawmakers’ concerns about new driver’s license procedures in Missouri are being exacerbated by the state’s unique system for marking concealed weapons endorsements. Missouri appears to be the...
Louisiana Bill Would Ban Social Media Posts While Driving
Apr 12 2013 // Hold that Twitter thought. If you are driving in Louisiana, a proposed state law would make it illegal for you to post status updates or anything else to social media websites. With an eye toward closing a loophole in the...
Arkansas Senate Backs Penalties for Fatigued Drivers
Apr 10 2013 // The Arkansas Senate has approved legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge drowsy drivers with negligent homicide when they cause fatal crashes. By a 23-2 vote, the Senate approved a bill that would allow...
Oklahoma Panel OKs Bill Punishing Uninsured Drivers
Apr 5 2013 // An Oklahoma House committee approved a bill on April 2 aimed at preventing uninsured drivers from receiving any monetary damages after auto accidents – even if the accident is someone else’s fault – after...
New Vehicle Safety Ratings Would Reflect New Technologies, Aid Older Drivers
Apr 5 2013 // The U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday it is looking at ways to expand its vehicle safety ratings in response to rapidly changing technology, including the addition of ratings to help inform older...
Insurer Analyzes Top 10 Driving Distractions Involved in Fatal Car Crashes
Apr 4 2013 // Of the more than 65,000 people in the U.S. killed in car crashes over the past two years, one in 10 were in crashes where at least one of the drivers was distracted, according to an analysis by Erie Insurance. The Erie,...
Seat Belts Not Buckled in 59% of Alabama Car Crash Fatalities
Apr 4 2013 // Alabama Department of Transportation officials said more than half of the people killed in car crashes last year were not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. State officials released a report based on...
4 Insurers to Reimburse Mass. Drivers to Settle Allegations of Overcharges
Mar 29 2013 // Four auto insurers have settled allegations that they overcharged Massachusetts consumers relating to auto insurance surcharges that were overturned by the state’s Board of Appeal, or otherwise removed from state...
