Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Uber Drivers Get Class Action Status in Employment Suit
Sep 2 2015 // Uber drivers are entitled to class action status in litigation over whether they are independent contractors or employees, a key development in a case threatening Uber’s business model and that of other hot startups...
Drivers Convicted, Jailed for Crashes Now Blamed on Car Defects
Sep 2 2015 // Lakisha Ward-Green spent three months in jail after she lost control of her Chevrolet Cobalt, killing her teenage passenger. Last week, a Pennsylvania judge, citing “newly discovered evidence” erased her guilty...
Driver’s ‘Selfie’ Attempt Causes Crash, Maine Police Say
Sep 1 2015 // Maine State Police have issued a distracted driving summons to a man who they say crashed into a tree while taking a “selfie” with his passengers, injuring several of them. State police say Jordan Toner was...
Six Southeast States Team Up to Combat Driving Under the Influence
Sep 1 2015 // Law enforcement officials in six states are launching their 24th annual “Hands Across the Border” campaign aimed at catching motorists driving under the influence. The five-day campaign kicked off August 31...
Delaware Cities Tell Uber Drivers to Obtain Business Licenses
Aug 31 2015 // Officials in numerous Delaware cities have asked drivers who use the ride-hailing app Uber to obtain business licenses. The News Journal of Wilmington reports that under a deal struck by Delaware and the company this year,...
Confessions of an Underage, Unlicensed Truck Driver
Aug 28 2015 // American Trucking Associations executive Howard Abramson recently made a case in the New York Times for higher safety standards for trucks. It’s not hard to understand why: Large trucks were involved in at least...
Uber Deploys Lobbyists to Reshape Driver Rules in California
Aug 24 2015 // Uber has spent more on lobbyists in California than Facebook and Apple combined to fend off regulations aimed at the heart of its worldwide business model. The San Francisco company’s lobbyists are pushing lawmakers...
Court Says Jury Should Decide If FedEx Drivers are Employees in Missouri
Aug 24 2015 // FedEx Corp. drivers will have to start over in a fight over their employee status in Missouri. A federal appeals court said Friday that a trial judge should have let a jury decide whether the drivers were independent...
Hands-Free Law Urged for Massachusetts Drivers
Aug 21 2015 // Welcome to Massachusetts signs can mean more to drivers than just crossing a state line. For some, they also signal that it’s OK to pick up their cellphones, punch in a phone number and make a call. That’s...
Uber Headache if More Drivers Want Full-Time Status
Aug 19 2015 // Thousands of new full-time workers would spring into existence if Uber is forced to stop treating some of its drivers like contract workers, and the benefits that come with that employee status may entice part-time...
Maine Highlights New State Law to Protect Rideshare Drivers, Passengers
Aug 19 2015 // Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa is highlighting a new Maine law, the Transportation Network Company Insurance Act, emphasizing that it will help to protect passengers, pedestrians and other motorists from losses...
Florida Man Gets 6 Years for Staging Car Crashes, Filing False Claims
Aug 19 2015 // A 50-year-old Jacksonville, Florida, man has been sentenced to six years in prison for staging car crashes. The Florida Attorney’s Office announced Monday that Guillermo de la Vega pleaded guilty earlier this month...
NYC Taxi Driver-Owners Form New Association to Take on Uber
Aug 14 2015 // Dozens of angry, independent taxi medallion owners in New York City have been making their opinions about Uber heard at City Hall. The newly formed Taxi Driver-Owner Association said Wednesday that the rapid growth of the...
New N.J. Law Emphasizes Traffic Safety to Young Drivers
Aug 12 2015 // Applicants for a New Jersey driver’s license must answer whether they’re aware of the dangers of failing to follow traffic laws under a law signed by New Jersey Acting Gov. Kim Guadagno. Guadagno signed the...
U.S. Safety Board Focuses on Driver Fatigue in Tracy Morgan Crash
Aug 11 2015 // A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. driver who struck a limo van carrying comic Tracy Morgan last year had been awake for 28 hours and worked almost 14 hours at the time of the accident, U.S. investigators found. The National...
New Jersey Drivers Still Frowning Over ‘No Smile’ Driver’s License Policy
Aug 10 2015 // Smile and the world smiles with you — unless you’re having your driver’s license renewed in New Jersey. It’s been three years since New Jersey instituted its “no smiling” policy for...
Uber Drivers Want to Streamline Suit in California over Employee Status
Aug 7 2015 // Drivers suing Uber Technologies Inc. for better pay and benefits are proposing to pursue their group lawsuit in phases focused first on whether they qualify as employees. If they win that round, then the two sides can...
Uber Driver Case Tests ‘Sharing Economy’ Business Model
Aug 4 2015 // The most serious challenge to Uber Technologies Inc.’s “Be your own Boss” business model might also present an early test to the wider sharing economy as well as undermine its own $50 billion...
Uber, Driver Attorneys Steering Toward Crucial California Hearing
Aug 3 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. is jostling with drivers suing for reimbursement of their expenses in advance of an important hearing next week in the fight over whether drivers are independent contractors or employees entitled to...
U.S. Appeals Court Sides with Kansas Drivers in FedEx Employee Status Case
Aug 3 2015 // In early July, FedEx lost a round in employment practices litigation over whether or not its drivers are employees of the company under Kansas labor statutes. On July 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit agreed...
