Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fatal Car Crashes Fell 2% in 2017; 2018 Appears to Follow Trend
Oct 15 2018 // Final U.S. highway fatality numbers for 2017 are down following two consecutive years of large increases. In addition, preliminary estimates for the first six months of 2018 appear to show that this downward trend...
UK Self-Driving Startup Oxbotica Appoints Former Uber Executive to Board
Oct 10 2018 // Oxbotica, a U.K. startup whose self-driving vehicle software will help guide the European Space Agency’s Mars rover, has appointed former Uber executive Fraser Robinson to its board. Robinson served as the...
Autonomous Driving Hype Now at ‘Peak Absurdity,’ Claims Auto Dealer Group Leader
Oct 10 2018 // The auto industry is a long way from seeing autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing companies put an end to traffic deaths and personal car ownership, according to one of the top U.S. auto dealers. “We have reached peak...
Michigan Court Rules No Liability for Bank in Wrong-Way Driver’s Crash
Oct 9 2018 // The Michigan appeals court says a bank can’t be blamed for a crash that occurred when a confused driver went the wrong way in suburban Detroit. Frank Scola was a 7-year-old passenger when his mother turned the wrong...
It’s Not Easy to Teach Robot Drivers to Think Like Humans
Oct 9 2018 // Robot cars make for annoying drivers. Relative to human motorists, the driverless vehicles now undergoing testing on public roads are overly cautious, maddeningly slow, and prone to abrupt halts or bizarre paralysis caused...
Insurance Industry in Best Position to Advance Consumer Trust in Automated Driving
Oct 9 2018 // While the race to automated vehicles picks up speed, a new survey reveals consumer are skeptical of the technology and the safety claims of its advocates, a new survey finds. Also, the insurance industry may be in the best...
Uber Conducting Background Checks on Colorado Drivers Under Settlement
Oct 4 2018 // Uber has implemented a number of safety measures, including annual background checks on its drivers in Colorado, as part of a proposed settlement with the state. The Denver Post reports the Colorado Public Utilities...
OptOn Offering On-Demand Insurance for Illinois Rideshare Drivers
Oct 4 2018 // OptOn has launched its mobile, on-demand, commercial insurance product for rideshare drivers in Illinois. The company said the mobile app provides short-term primary insurance coverage for rideshare drivers across all...
Fatal Car Crashes Fell 2% in 2017; 2018 Appears to Follow Trend
Oct 4 2018 // Final U.S. highway fatality numbers for 2017 are down following two consecutive years of large increases. In addition, preliminary estimates for the first six months of 2018 appear to show that this downward trend...
Bus Driver Found Guilty in Citi Bike Death in New York
Oct 3 2018 // The driver of a charter bus that fatally struck an investment banker riding a Citi Bike in Manhattan last year, marking the first death involving the city’s bike-share program, was found guilty of failing to yield...
Fatal Drunk-Driving Crash Rate High in Northwest Indiana
Oct 1 2018 // A newspaper review has found that three northwestern Indiana counties have a higher percentage of fatal drunken-driving crashes than the rest of the state and the U.S. because of the region’s heavy traffic, weather...
Study Says New Haven Leads State in Distracted Driving Crashes
Sep 27 2018 // New Haven and Hartford, Conn., lead the state in distracted driving accidents, according to a new study. The Travelers Institute and the Connecticut Safety Research Center say between 2015 and the first half of 2018 there...
Florida Auto Shop Suffers $800k in Damage After Car Crashes Into It, Causes Fire
Sep 27 2018 // Fire officials say a Florida auto shop erupted in flames when a vehicle crashed into it. Tampa Fire Rescue reports multiple people called 911 early Saturday morning to report the fire at a Havoline Express Lube shop. The...
Decision in Uber Employee vs. Contractor Suit Cuts Driver Bargaining Power
Sep 25 2018 // Uber drivers seeking pay and benefits like those employees get were handed a big defeat by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. A panel of court justices ruled that drivers must go through arbitration and could not...
Uber Drivers Lose Key Ruling in Pay and Benefits Suit
Sep 25 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. drivers suffered a major defeat in one of the gig economy’s most closely watched labor fights with a ruling barring hundreds of thousands of drivers from suing as a group for better pay and...
Mississippi Urges Drivers to Watch for Road Workers After Multiple Incidents
Sep 24 2018 // State transportation officials are urging drivers to be more careful in work zones after six road workers were hit on job sites last week. WLBT-TV reports three workers were treated for injuries after a produce truck...
Arizona Uber Driver Suing NFL Quarterback in Groping Incident
Sep 20 2018 // A female Uber driver in Arizona is suing Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, accusing him of sexual assault. Court documents say the woman filed the suit in Arizona this week and is seeking more than $75,000...
Americans’ Interest in Self-Driving Cars Goes in Reverse
Sep 19 2018 // Less than half of Americans (43 percent) are interested in utilizing self-driving cars, down from 53 percent last year. According to an annual sharing economy index by Allianz Global Assistance, the lack of interest is...
Drivers of Marsh & McLennan-JLT Deal: Too Much Capital, Not Enough Growth – Opinion
Sep 19 2018 // Too much capital and not enough growth. Faced with this ailment, the insurance sector is reaching for a costly remedy — M&A. Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. Tuesday became the latest [insurance industry participant]*...
Oklahoma Agencies Seeking to Curb Teens’ Distracted Driving
Sep 17 2018 // Several state agencies in Oklahoma, including the insurance department, are working together on an initiative to curtail distracted driving among teenagers. Oklahoma law bans texting and driving but despite that,...
