Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Marijuana Driving Limits Again Poised For Colorado
May 16 2012 // A marijuana blood-level limit for drivers is once again poised for approval in Colorado – after two previous attempts to pass the bill failed. The Colorado House gave initial approval late Monday to a bill setting a...
Massachusetts Drivers See Insurance Rates Rise
May 16 2012 // Massachusetts drivers are starting to see higher auto insurance rates, four years after they tumbled when the state opened the market to more competition. Many of the state’s largest auto insurers have raised rates...
Naked Unicyclist in Texas Charged with Distracting Drivers
May 16 2012 // Police say a man arrested in a Southeast Texas city for riding his unicycle in the nude was distracting drivers and creating a hazard. Kemah police Chief Greg Rikard says 45-year-old Joseph Glynn Farley was not intoxicated...
R.I. Court Rules on Designated Drivers’ Liability
May 14 2012 // Rhode Island’s Supreme Court has ruled that designated drivers are not responsible for what their drunken passengers do after giving them rides. Last Thursday’s ruling involved a 2005 crash in Scituate that...
Future Vision: Will Driving Become Too Safe to Insure?
May 8 2012 // What would happen to the auto insurance industry if automobile safety improves to the point that vehicle collisions become relics of the past? That’s the question explored by global consulting and research firm,...
Young Drivers Know Risks But Text Anyway: Survey
May 8 2012 // Most young American drivers agree that it is dangerous to text while driving, but nearly a third admit they do it anyway, a survey by Consumer Reports shows. While eight in 10 said they knew of the risks, about 29 percent...
Jury Awards $24M to Woman Hit by Driver in Texas on Phone
May 7 2012 // A Corpus Christi jury awarded $24 million to a woman who was hit by a Coca-Cola truck driver who was chatting on her cellphone. The jury decided to give 37-year-old Vanice Chatman-Wilson $10 million in punitive damages and...
N.J. Judge to Decide If Text Sender Liable for Car Crash
May 7 2012 // A New Jersey judge will likely soon decide whether a woman who sent a text message to a male friend can be held liable for a car crash he caused while reading the message. The Daily Record reports the legal question stems...
Transportation Chief Calls for National Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving
May 7 2012 // U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has called for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country. Tough federal legislation is the only way to...
West Virginia Driver Data Access Eased
May 7 2012 // Individuals in West Virginia involved in a traffic accident will soon be able to access the other driver’s insurance coverage before filing a lawsuit under a new disclosure law. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law...
Mass. AG Coakley Advises Teenagers: Don’t Text While Driving
May 4 2012 // Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and officials from across the country are advising teen drivers to be mindful of the dangers of texting while driving. A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into an...
New Law Increases Drunk Driving Penalty in Oklahoma
May 3 2012 // Under legislation recently signed into law in Oklahoma, a drunk driver who caused an accident resulting in great bodily harm could face a maximum of 10 years in prison. House Bill 2568, by state Rep. Harold Wright,...
1000s Ticketed For Using Cellphones While Driving
Apr 30 2012 // Thousands of Nevadans have been ticketed for violating a new state law prohibiting the use of cellphones while driving. According to the Office of Traffic Safety, Las Vegas Metropolitan police issued 2,261 tickets in the...
Alabama Lawmakers Pass Ban on Texting While Driving
Apr 30 2012 // State lawmakers have voted unanimously to make Alabama the 38th state to ban texting while driving. A compromise version of the bill by Republican Rep. Jim McClendon of Springville cleared the House 95-0 and the Senate...
Transportation Chief Calls for National Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving
Apr 27 2012 // U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called on Thursday for a federal law to ban talking on a cell phone or texting while driving any type of vehicle on any road in the country. Tough federal legislation is the only...
Tennessee to Arrest Illegal Drivers Involved in Serious Auto Accidents
Apr 26 2012 // Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed into law a bill that for the first time would require law enforcement officials to arrest drivers involved in serious automobile accidents who don’t have a valid driver’s...
Returning Soldiers Involved in More Car Crashes: Study
Apr 24 2012 // U.S. military personnel have 13 percent more car accidents in which they are at fault in the six months after returning from overseas duty than in the six months prior, a USAA study revealed on Tuesday. USAA, a major...
Alaska Legislature Passes Ban On Texting While Driving
Apr 17 2012 // The Alaska state Senate passed HB255, a bill that bans texting while driving. The House passed the bill earlier. Lawmakers in 2008 passed legislation intended to ban texting while driving though it didn’t say texting...
West Virginia Permits Access to Driver’s Insurance Information Before Lawsuit
Apr 13 2012 // Individuals in West Virginia involved in a traffic accident will soon be able to access the other driver’s insurance coverage before filing a lawsuit under a new disclosure law. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law...
Ohio Numbers Show More Drowsy Driver Crashes
Apr 11 2012 // Reports show an increase in 2011 in the amount of drowsy Ohio drivers who were involved in crashes, but fewer fatalities. WBNS-TV in Columbus reported that highway patrol statistics show there were 3,403 crashes involving...
