Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Car Crash Deaths Increase Starting at Age 12, Study Finds
Mar 24 2008 // Child passengers, ages 12 to 16, are more likely to die in a car crash than younger children, according to a study released in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. This risk increases with each teenage...
RLI Transportation Now Covers Fleets of Driver Training Schools
Mar 21 2008 // RLI Transportation has introduced a monoline commercial auto coverage targeting driver training schools nationwide. The driver training school coverage is admitted in all states except Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana and...
Urban Sprawl Poses Extra Risk for Teen Drivers, Virginia Study Finds
Mar 21 2008 // The spreading out of cities’ residential, commercial, recreational and public spaces, otherwise known as urban sprawl, poses a special risk for teen drivers according to a new University of Virginia Health System...
New Jersey Court: Bars Liable Even When Drivers Get Drunk Elsewhere
Mar 21 2008 // New Jersey bars can be sued for the actions of drunken drivers who leave those establishments, even if the drivers consumed no alcohol while at the bars, a panel of judges has unanimously declared. The ruling by the state...
Maryland Senate Revives Ban on Cell Phones, Texting While Driving
Mar 20 2008 // A cell phone driving ban that has been rejected many times by Maryland lawmakers — as recently as last week — is alive again and headed for approval in the Maryland Senate. But it’s still unclear whether this is...
Wisconsin Bill Would Tie Drunken Snowmobiling to Driving Record
Mar 19 2008 // Snowmobilers caught operating their sleds while drunk are fined, but the offense doesn’t show up on their regular driving record. The Department of Natural Resources’ snowmobile safety administrator wants to...
Maine Man Convicted of Drunk Driving for 10th Time
Mar 17 2008 // Maine officials say a Clinton man who was convicted last week of drunken driving has the dubious distinction of being the state’s worst OUI offender. Fifty-seven-year-old Daniel Dumont was convicted in Waterville...
Ex-NFL Player McCants, Driving without Insurance, Jailed in Alabama
Mar 13 2008 // Former linebacker Keith McCants, who played for Alabama before a stint with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is serving 10 days in jail after being arrested for driving without insurance. Police stopped McCants, 39,...
Tennessee House Panel Kills Measure to Ban Text Messaging by Drivers
Mar 12 2008 // A Tennessee House subcommittee has killed a legislative proposal to ban text messaging while driving. The Public Safety and Rural Roads Subcommittee on Tuesday moved the legislation sponsored by Rep. Jon Lundberg, a...
Mass. Officials: Drivers Can Opt Out of Current Auto Insurance Policies
Mar 11 2008 // Massachusetts car owners who want to see if they can get a better deal under the state’s new managed competition system may decide to opt out of their existing insurance plans early. State regulators say car owners...
Connecticut DMV Employee Says Agency Fails Driver-Training Standards
Mar 11 2008 // An agent for Connecticut’s Department of Motor Vehicles has accused the agency of failing to consistently enforce its own standards in driver training and retraining. Commissioner Robert M. Ward disputes the...
What Teens Think About Impaired Driving
Mar 10 2008 // The U.S. Department of Transportation held focus groups with teens on impaired driving. Its report, Teen Unsafe Driving Behaviors, Focus Group Final Report, was released in 2007 and included these observations from the...
Maryland Weighs Premium Installments for High Risk Drivers
Mar 10 2008 // Lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund, the insurer of last resort for many motorists, to accept installment payments like private companies. Advocates say the proposal...
Calif. Commissioner Poizner Abandons Uninsured Driver Initiative
Mar 10 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has withdrawn support for a proposed ballot initiative that would have required state and local law enforcement officers to remove the license plates of, and eventually...
Connecticut Lawmakers Weigh Stricter Teen-Driving Laws
Mar 7 2008 // Connecticut lawmakers are hoping a bill aimed at tightening teen driving laws will clear its first legislative hurdle today. That’s when a vote in the Transportation Committee is scheduled. The bill – a...
S.C. Drivers Face Penalties for not Switching Lanes to Avoid Emergency
Mar 6 2008 // South Carolina Drivers who don’t slow down and switch lanes on a four-lane highway to avoid law enforcement or emergency workers on the roadside could get four points on their license under legislation approved...
Study: Traffic Crashes Cost American Drivers $1,051 per Person
Mar 6 2008 // Traffic crashes cost American motorists more than $160 billion a year while inflicting a staggering per-person toll on small cities such as Little Rock, Ark., Columbia, S.C., and Pensacola, Fla., according to a AAA...
S.C. House Toughens Drunk Driving Bill; Gov. Sanford Urges Senate Follow
Mar 5 2008 // The South Carolina Congress amended key penalties in a bill aimed at toughening the state’s drunk driving laws, which Gov. Mark Sanford called for in his state of the state address as part of his “First 30 Days...
Study: Car Crash Deaths Increase Starting at Age 12
Mar 4 2008 // Child passengers, ages 12 to 16, are more likely to die in a car crash than younger children, according to a study released today in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. This risk increases with each teenage...
N.J. Approves 2 Online Defensive Driving Courses
Mar 4 2008 // New Jerseyans may soon start taking their eyes off the road and focusing on their computers screens in a bid to lower their insurance rates. And no, it’s not because they’ll be looking for a new agent or...
