Latest Personal Auto Headlines

All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Calif. Association to Oppose Proposed Tax Increase on Oregon Drivers

Dec 6 2006 // Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is renewing a once-defeated legislative proposal to impose a new sales tax on Oregon drivers that will raise auto insurance premiums by millions of dollars, according to Kenton Brine, Northwest...

Liquor Distributors Not Liable for Drunken Driving Crash

Dec 5 2006 // Liquor distributors can’t be held liable for a drunken driving crash during an Indian casino promotion that injured a Las Cruces, N.M., family, the state Court of Appeals has ruled. The May 2003 crash injured Joseph...

Mich. Bill Would Give Discounts to Seniors Taking Drivers Ed Class

Dec 4 2006 // When Michigan retirees Willie and Lois Gales asked for a way to ease a $200 increase in their auto insurance rate, they ended up at a two-day safety class in Detroit designed for older drivers. They got tips to prepare for...

Rental Firm Not Liable If Driver Lies About License, Miss. Court Decides

Dec 4 2006 // Rental car companies are not liable for accidents that result from their unknowingly leasing a car to a motorist who lies about having a valid driver’s license, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled. The court, in...

Arrowhead Offers Personal Auto, Renters Program in Mich.

Nov 21 2006 // Arrowhead General Insurance Agency’s, Inc. Non-Standard Auto and Basic Renters program’s, both with “A” rated admitted carriers, is now available to Michigan producers, according to a company...

One in five truck drivers reports falling asleep at the wheel

Nov 20 2006 // When a tractor-trailer overturned on a Maryland road, it spilled lumber onto the roadway below and killed a motorist. The same week in a nearby Virginia community, a jury awarded $17 million to the family of a 17 year-old...

Laptop stolen from broker has Villanova University insured student driver data

Nov 19 2006 // A laptop computer stolen from an insurance brokerage firm contained the names, birth dates and driver’s license numbers of more than 1,200 Villanova University students and staff members, the school said. No Social...

One in five truck drivers reports falling asleep at the wheel

Nov 19 2006 // When a tractor-trailer overturned on a Maryland road, it spilled lumber onto the roadway below and killed a motorist. The same week in a nearby Virginia community, a jury awarded $17 million to the family of a 17 year-old...

Ban Cell Phone Use While Driving, La. Safety Official Says

Nov 15 2006 // Louisiana needs to outlaw using cellular phones while driving, but probably won’t, says the state’s top highway safety official. Jim Champagne, executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission,...

Neb. Senator’s Driver’s Certificate Legislation Raises Questions

Nov 14 2006 // To combat problems created by uninsured drivers, Nebraska State Sen. Ray Aguilar of Grand Island plans to introduce legislation next year that would create a driver’s certificate. The certificate would allow a person...

Laptop Stolen from Broker Has Villanova Insured Driver Data

Nov 8 2006 // A laptop computer stolen from an insurance brokerage firm contained the names, birth dates and driver’s license numbers of more than 1,200 Villanova University students and staff members, the school said Thursday. No...

S.C. may put teen drivers’ cell phones on hold

Nov 6 2006 // A South Carolina legislator says he will file a bill before the end of the year to ban drivers under age 18 from using a cell phone while driving. Rep. Lanny Littlejohn says he wanted to extend the ban in his bill to all...

Navy, Marines battling fatal off-base car crashes

Nov 6 2006 // Frustrated Navy and Marine Corps officials are taking a hard line to try to reduce fatal traffic crashes off bases. The Navy has tallied the most traffic fatalities in more than a decade, and the Marine Corps had the...

Texas Truck Driver’s Fraud Conviction Nets Jail Time

Nov 1 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that Arthur Menard of Spring, Texas, pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges and a Travis County district court sentenced him to 14 months in jail. The...

Navy, Marines Battling Fatal Off-Base Car Crashes

Oct 24 2006 // Frustrated Navy and Marine Corps officials are taking a hard line to try to reduce fatal traffic crashes off bases. The Navy has tallied the most traffic fatalities in more than a decade and the Marine Corps had the...

Dear Ga. Parents: unsafe teen drivers nabbed

Oct 23 2006 // Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has launched a program to send letters to the parents of teen drivers who receive traffic citations or warnings from state troopers. The letters are to include the date and reason the teenager was...

S.C. Pol Wants to Ban Teen Drivers’ Cell Phone Use

Oct 19 2006 // A South carolina lawmaker says he will file a bill before the end of the year than would ban drivers under age 18 from using a cell phone while driving. Rep. Lanny Littlejohn wanted to extend the ban in his bill to all...

Truck Driver Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud in Texas

Oct 16 2006 // Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Travis County court sentenced Jerry S. Amaya of Cedar Creek, Texas, on workers’ comp fraud-related charges. The court sentenced Amaya to one year of probation and...

Deer Breeding Season Creates Driving Hazards in Kan.

Oct 12 2006 // Kansas state troopers are urging motorists to watch out as deer breeding season gets under way. The season, which lasts from October to December, causes an increase in car-deer collisions as bucks roam widely in search of...

N.D. Woman Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Charges of Abuse, Drunken Driving and Lack of Insurance

Oct 12 2006 // A North Dakota woman whose 8-month-old son was found wedged on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat of her car has pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse or neglect of a child. Sarah Dawn Gwin, 25, of Mandan,...