Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Commission Rules Uber Drivers Employees, Not Contractors
Jun 17 2015 // A San Francisco-based driver for smartphone-based ride-hailing service Uber is an employee, not a contractor, according to a ruling by the California Labor Commission. The ruling, filed on Tuesday in state court in San...
Ethics of Self-Driving Cars: Should They Kill Driver to Save Others?
Jun 16 2015 // Imagine being in charge of the switch on a trolley track. The express is due any minute; but as you glance down the line you see a school bus, filled with children, stalled at the level crossing. No problem; that’s...
The High Cost of Insuring a Teen Driver
Jun 15 2015 // Parents pay an average of 80 percent more for car insurance after adding a teen driver to their policy. The highest jump in premiums—96 percent—comes from placing a 16-year-old driver on a policy while the average...
Study: Insurance Plan Could Lower Costs for Detroit Drivers
Jun 11 2015 // Drivers in Detroit could save $600 to $2,300 annually on car insurance under a plan the city is hoping the Legislature will pass, according to a report. The six-month study by Bloomington, Ill.-based Pinnacle Actuarial...
Judge Denies Uber Arbitration in Dispute with Drivers
Jun 10 2015 // Uber lost a bid to force arbitration in a lawsuit brought by its drivers, as a U.S. judge ruled the smartphone-based taxi service’s 2013 and 2014 employment contracts dealing with arbitration from were...
Nevada Governor Wants Officials to Support Self-Driving Cars
Jun 10 2015 // Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said this week he wants state transportation officials to consider adding support for self-driving cars as part of a multimillion-dollar highway widening and expansion project in Las Vegas. The...
Louisiana Driver’s Death May Be 7th from Recalled Air Bag
Jun 10 2015 // A Louisiana woman who got an air bag recall notice for her 2005 Honda Civic two days after the crash that killed her may be the seventh fatality linked to the defective Takata Corp. safety device. The driver, Kylan...
Florida DMV Changes Drivers’ License Process to Prevent Sex Offender Error
Jun 10 2015 // The Florida agency that issues driver’s licenses has changed how clerks enter information into the computer system after two people were given licenses that wrongly labeled them sex offenders or predators. An agency...
N.Y. Launches Statewide Multimedia Campaign Against Impaired Driving
Jun 9 2015 // New York is launching a statewide multimedia campaign to remind motorists of the deadly impacts of impaired driving. The campaign funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee will use billboards, radio,...
Google to Issue Monthly Reports on Self-Driving Car Accidents
Jun 8 2015 // Google Inc. said it would give monthly updates of accidents involving its driverless cars. The report for May showed Google cars had been involved in 12 accidents since the company first began testing its self-driving cars...
Allstate to Offer Ridesharing Endorsement in Four States
Jun 5 2015 // Allstate has launched a “Ride for Hire” endorsement for qualified transportation network company drivers that will be available in four states – Colorado, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia – by the end of this...
Liability Insurance Required for Rideshare Drivers in Elgin, Illinois
Jun 1 2015 // The Elgin City Council in Illinois has approved rules that make it legal for Uber and other ride-hailing services to operate in the city. The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports the Elgin ordinance mirrors a state law...
The Rideshare Insurance Challenge
Jun 1 2015 // Local communities, states and the insurance industry are all grappling with the issue of finding workable solutions that provide public protection while allowing for innovation and growth in new sharing, or on-demand,...
Allstate Sees Profit in Selling Customer Driving Data
May 28 2015 // Allstate Corp. said improved technology will eventually give the auto insurer a chance to boost revenue by selling customer driving data, much as Google Inc. profits by collecting information on those who use its search...
American Family Launches Coverage for Ridesharing Drivers in Colorado
May 21 2015 // American Family Insurance has introduced a new transportation network company insurance coverage in the state of Colorado, designed to meet the needs of customers who are independent contractors for transportation network...
South Carolina City Paints Patrol Car Like Taxi to Discourage Drunk Driving
May 20 2015 // The Spartanburg, S.C., Police Department has come up with a unique way to draw attention to the cost of drunk driving. The department announced last month that it will be stationing a police car in the downtown area with...
More Distracted Drivers Than Ever on Penn. Roads
May 18 2015 // Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel! A new report says more people in Pennsylvania are being caught for distracted driving than ever before. The report from the state’s court system says 1,410 drivers were cited for...
New Mexico AG Says Uber, Lyft Drivers Need Drug Testing
May 18 2015 // Drivers of ridesharing services Lyft and Uber in New Mexico should face strict drug testing requirements like taxi drivers and keep detailed records of such tests, the state Attorney General Hector Balderas told regulators...
Texas Driver ‘Inattentive’ in Bridge Crash; Review Ongoing
May 14 2015 // Texas Department of Public Safety says investigators are still trying to determine what caused a tractor-trailer to strike a partially constructed bridge over Interstate 35 in March, leading to the death of a...
Self-Driving Cars Getting Hit in California
May 12 2015 // Four of the nearly 50 self-driving cars now rolling around California have gotten into accidents since September, when the state began issuing permits for companies to test them on public roads. Two accidents happened...
