Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Safe Driving Habits Pay Off for Consumers with Usage-Based Insurance Programs
Aug 1 2011 // The driving habits of personal auto consumers are shaping the way carriers price coverage today. Those carriers providing usage-based insurance (UBI) options, including telematic systems or devices to monitor an...
Poll Says Washington Drivers Do Not Know Left-Lane Law
Jul 21 2011 // Forty-three percent of drivers in Washington State do not know that it is illegal to impede the flow of traffic in the left lane of a highway, according to a survey by Pemco Mutual Insurance Co., Seattle. “Camping...
Massachusetts Reports Decline in Drunk Driving Arrests
Jul 21 2011 // The state Registry of Motor Vehicles says the number of drunken driving arrests has declined in Massachusetts in the past five years. The agency’s numbers show there were 14,834 OUI (operating under the influence)...
Texas Troopers: Special Enforcement Gets Drunk Drivers Off Roads
Jul 20 2011 // Texas Highway Patrol troopers arrested 1,406 intoxicated drivers during a special July 4 holiday enforcement program from June 27 through July 6 across the state. Of the 1406 arrests, 575 were made by troopers whose...
Alaska Repeat Drunk Driver Seeks Retrial Due to Ad
Jul 19 2011 // A repeat drunken driver who was convicted of consuming at least a dozen drinks and causing a deadly head-on crash is seeking a new trial because of a public service announcement that aired over 1,400 times during her...
L.A. Escapes ‘Carmageddon’ as Drivers Stay Home
Jul 18 2011 // When Caltrans announced that it planned to close the busy 405 freeway July 15 to 18, the local populace immediately went into panic mode. The Interstate, which links the San Fernando Valley with West Los Angeles and points...
Arkansas Begins ‘Don’t Text While Driving’ Campaign
Jul 18 2011 // Arkansas motorists are about to get a steady stream of reminders that it can be deadly to text while behind the wheel. Digital message boards across the state will bear the message, “Stay Alive, Don’t Text and...
Beware the Aggressive Truck Driver
Jul 18 2011 // Aggressive truck drivers are nearly three times more likely to have a collision than drivers who are drowsy, a recent study suggests. San Diego, Calif.-based DriveCam’s Driving Insights Series analyzed the difference...
Florida Online Teen Driver Training
Jul 18 2011 // Florida teenagers once again will be allowed to take their learner’s permit tests online. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in January halted an online testing pilot program when they determined...
Kentucky Police Say Texting While Driving Law Tough to Enforce
Jul 7 2011 // Kentucky police agencies say the commonwealth’s texting-while-driving statute is well intended, but difficult to enforce. The law took effect a year ago, but officers issued only verbal warnings for the first six...
Florida Reinstates Online Driver Permit Tests for Teens
Jul 6 2011 // Florida teenagers once again will be allowed to take their learner’s permit tests online. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in January halted an online testing pilot program when they determined...
New Georgia Law Requires Drivers Yield Space to Bicyclists
Jul 5 2011 // Georgia cyclists are celebrating what they say is the biggest improvement to the state’s bike safety laws in decades. A new traffic law requires cars and trucks to keep at least 3 feet of distance from bicycles when...
Philly Boat Crash Intensifies Distracted Driving Debate
Jul 4 2011 // The nation risks a surge in deadly accidents unless it makes distracted driving – talking, texting and surfing the Internet while operating cars, boats and trains – as taboo as drunken driving, members of the...
Rhode Island Senate Passes Seat Belt, Cell Phone Driver Bills
Jun 27 2011 // The Rhode Island Senate has advanced two bills on driver safety, one boosting seat belt enforcement and another banning young drivers from using cell phones while behind the wheel. The cell phone proposal would make it...
Can U.S. Make Phoning While Driving as Taboo as Drunk Driving?
Jun 24 2011 // The nation risks a surge in deadly accidents unless it makes distracted driving — talking, texting and surfing the Internet while operating cars, boats and trains — as taboo as drunken driving, members of the National...
Even Low Blood Alcohol Level ‘Buzz’ Unsafe for Driving: Study
Jun 21 2011 // In the United States, the blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08 percent, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe for driving, according to a University of California, San Diego sociologist. A new study has found that...
Texas Governor Vetoes Texting While Driving Bill
Jun 20 2011 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry vetoed 23 bills on June 17, including legislation that would have outlawed sending or reading text messages while driving. Lawmakers approved the texting ban last month, but Perry called it an...
Employers Look the Other Way On Distracted Driving
Jun 20 2011 // A recent survey appears to confirm that there is growing concern among corporate managers about distracted driving risks and liability. Fifty percent of companies with more than 500 drivers said they have knowledge or...
New Jersey Court: Drunk Driver Can Sue Bar that Served Him
Jun 20 2011 // New Jersey’s Supreme Court has ruled that a convicted drunken driver has the right to sue the bar that served him. The court’s 5-2 ruling last month stems from a 2006 motorcycle crash in which Frederick Voss...
Fatal Virginia Bus Crash Shines Light on Driver Fatigue
Jun 14 2011 // Recent deadly crashes involving large interstate buses like the one involved in a fatal crash in Virginia two weeks ago have heightened concerns about driver fatigue. Four women were killed and dozens injured when...
