Latest Personal Auto Headlines
All the headlines from our Personal Auto Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tougher Drunken Driving Bill Navigates New Mexico Legislature
Feb 19 2014 // A proposal to toughen drunken driving penalties has cleared the New Mexico House but it likely faces difficulty in the Senate. The measure would add mandatory prison time to the basic sentence of drunken driving offenders...
Hawaiian Language Driver’s License Test Soon Available
Feb 18 2014 // Even though Hawaiian is one of the official languages of the state, Hawaii residents won’t be able to take driver’s license exams in the language until next month. The state Department of Transportation is...
Mississippi Lawmakers Move to Tighten Law on Texting While Driving
Feb 18 2014 // Mississippi could tighten its law against sending text messages while driving. The House passed House Bill 484 last Thursday. It would ban texting while driving for anyone 18 or younger. Current law bans it for any younger...
Saving Southern California Drivers From Flooding Aim of Signs
Feb 14 2014 // Southern California may be in a drought, but San Bernardino County is thinking about the safety of motorists who use roads prone to flash flooding. Signs warning drivers to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown”...
New Texting-While-Driving Ban Proponents: Oklahoma Teens
Feb 13 2014 // A group of teenagers who support a ban on texting while driving in Oklahoma are urging legislators to pass a new state law outlawing the practice. About a dozen high school students with a group called “Generation...
South Carolina City Bans Texting While Driving
Feb 13 2014 // Greenville, South Carolina has banned texting while driving. The city council voted this week to make it illegal to use a hand-held device while driving. The ban taking effect April 1 also applies to vehicles stopped in...
N.H. Court Upholds Assault Conviction in Texting-While-Driving Case
Feb 12 2014 // New Hampshire’s highest court is upholding the assault conviction of a driver who was reading a text message as his car drifted across two lanes and into oncoming traffic. The state Supreme Court’s ruling means...
North Carolina Driver Apologizes for Death Due to Texting
Feb 12 2014 // A Belmont, North Carolina woman charged with hitting and killing a pedestrian has apologized. Forty-five-year-old Belinda Strange Hudspeth apologized to the victim’s family in court on Monday. Seventy-five-year-old...
Florida Trooper Case Raises Driver Data Privacy Issues
Feb 12 2014 // Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Donna Jane Watts was on routine patrol early one morning when a Miami police car whizzed past at speeds that would eventually top 120 mph. Even with her blue lights flashing and siren...
Bill to Repeal New Mexico Immigrant Driver’s License Law Stalls
Feb 11 2014 // A bill that would have stopped New Mexico from granting driver’s licenses to most immigrants without proper documentation has stalled in the Legislature. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported the legislation could not...
North Carolina Driver Faces Murder, Texting Charge
Feb 10 2014 // A North Carolina woman faces murder and other charges after authorities say she was texting a message when she hit and killed a 75-year-old woman walking to visit a neighbor. The North Carolina Highway Patrol said...
Mississippi Senate Backs Fine for Texting While Driving
Feb 7 2014 // The Mississippi Senate has voted to make texting a driving a crime _ but not much of one. Senate Bill 2434 says anyone caught sending a text message or checking a social media site while driving can be charged with...
Senator Presses Tech Firms, Car Makers to Develop Distracted Driving Solutions
Feb 7 2014 // A top U.S. senator is vowing to pursue rules governing in-vehicle use of mobile phones and Internet-connected entertainment systems unless automakers and technology companies do more to reduce driver distractions. Senate...
Alabama Bill Raises Penalties for Drunk Boaters to Same As for Car Drivers
Feb 3 2014 // The Alabama Senate is trying to increase the penalties for alcohol-related boating deaths to the same as deaths caused by drunken car drivers. The Senate voted 18-1 last week for a bill to equalize the penalties. The...
Advocates Push for Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Immigrants in Mass.
Jan 28 2014 // The largest immigrant advocacy group in New England is again pushing lawmakers to support a bill that would allow foreign-born residents living in the country illegally to secure Massachusetts driver’s...
Colorado Gets Stoned Driving Prevention Grant
Jan 27 2014 // Colorado plans to advertise the dangers of stoned driving and train more police officers in spotting drivers impaired by marijuana with a new $400,000 federal grant. “It’s ironic we’re using federal...
Texting While Driving Ban Goal of South Dakota Lawmaker
Jan 22 2014 // A South Dakota lawmaker plans to press “send” again and try to persuade his colleagues in the Legislature to join 41 other states and ban texting while driving. Similar measure have failed in recent legislative...
Colorado Gets Stoned Driving Prevention Grant
Jan 14 2014 // Colorado plans to advertise the dangers of stoned driving and train more police officers in spotting drivers impaired by marijuana with a new $400,000 federal grant. “It’s ironic we’re using federal...
Most Fail Test For Driver Authorization Card: Nevada DMV
Jan 7 2014 // Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles officials have advice for immigrants seeking a driver authorization card: study. They estimate 75 percent of applicants have failed the written test needed for the card under a new law...
Texting While Driving Ban Again in New Mexico Lawmaker’s Sights
Jan 7 2014 // Another attempt is being made at the New Mexico Legislature to prohibit texting while driving. Democratic Sen. Peter Wirth of Santa Fe has pre-filed a bill, marking the fifth time a version of a texting-while-driving ban...
