Latest Personal Auto Headlines

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

Truck Driver in Accident That Killed 5 Kids Lied About Health: Safety Board

Jun 3 2021 // FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A fiery 2019 Florida interstate crash that killed five children from a Louisiana church headed to Walt Disney World was caused by a truck driver who hid his long medical history becoming...

Lawsuit Accuses Washington Pizza Chain of Underpaying Delivery Drivers

May 28 2021 // A proposed class-action lawsuit claims popular Western Washington chain restaurant Zeeks Pizza withheld wages, tips and other money owed to delivery drivers.Seattle attorney Toby Marshall filed the suit on behalf of Zeeks...

Car Crashes Through Roof of Missouri Home but No One Injured

May 27 2021 // Firefighters in suburban St. Louis said it’s astonishing no one was injured in a weekend crash that saw a car flip end-over-end down an embankment and crash through the roof of a home just feet from where two people...

Ban on Handheld Phone Use While Driving Passes Louisiana House

May 25 2021 // Louisiana drivers would have to use a handsfree device or put their cellphones on speaker mode to talk on the phone while driving or risk a fine from police, under a proposal that won House backing.Republican Rep. Mike...

Debate Over Liability Holds Up Self-Driving Car Legislation in Senate

May 24 2021 // A debate over who to blame — or sue — when a self-driven car hits someone is holding up legislation the industry says it needs to advance.“If another driver hits you, it’s clear who the driver...

Timing of Young Driver Learner’s Permit Cut in Half Under North Carolina Bill

May 19 2021 // Young drivers whose attempts to get their North Carolina provisional license were stymied by COVID-19 pandemic delays in the past year would get a timing break under legislation headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. The...

California Regulator Reviewing Tesla’s Self-Driving Claims

May 18 2021 // A California regulator said on Monday it is reviewing whether Tesla Inc. violated regulations by falsely promoting its advanced driver-assistance systems as being “full self-driving.”Tesla’s driver...

Labor Leader Urges U.S. to Require Human Drivers in Automated Vehicles

May 18 2021 // A senior American labor union leader will tell U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday that the government should require human operators in all self-driving passenger services to take over in the event of an emergency.Greg Regan,...

Uber Can’t Avoid Driver Classification Lawsuit, Says Supreme Court

May 18 2021 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away Uber’s bid to avoid a lawsuit over whether drivers for the ride-hailing company’s limousine platform UberBLACK are employees and not independent contractors as the...

Tesla Owner Got into Driver’s Seat Before Deadly Texas Crash: NTSB

May 12 2021 // Home security camera footage shows that the owner of a Tesla got into the driver’s seat of the car shortly before a deadly crash in suburban Houston, according to a new government report.But the preliminary report on...

Self-Driving Car Firms Seek to Charge for Rides in San Francisco: Reuters

May 12 2021 // Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and rival Cruise have applied for permits needed to start charging for rides and delivery using autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, state documents reviewed by Reuters showed, setting the...

Ohio Bill Would Ban Drivers from Holding Phones, Devices

May 4 2021 // Holding a cell phone or other electronic device while driving in Ohio would be illegal under legislation introduced May 3 that takes aim at distracted driving by targeting not just texting but scrolling through social...

Driver in California Crash That Killed 9 Was Drunk, Report Shows

May 4 2021 // The driver of an SUV involved in a central California crash that killed nine, including seven children, was drunk and didn’t have a license, federal investigators said in a preliminary report.The children, who were...

9th Circuit Lifts Stay on Labor Law Classifying Truck Drivers as Employees

May 3 2021 // A federal appellate court on April 28 reversed a ruling that prevented California from enforcing a new labor law that trucking companies contend will force them to discontinue the use of independent owner-operators and...

Toyota Constructs a Sensor-Laden Entire City to Test Its Self-Driving Cars

Apr 29 2021 // In late February, Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda gathered with a handful of Shinto priests in a white tent at the foot of Mount Fuji. The group prayed — as is customary when embarking on new builds in Japan —...

UK Is First Country to Green Light Self-Driving Cars on Motorways

Apr 28 2021 // The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this...

Agency Start-up Sigo Serving Latinx, Immigrant Drivers Raises $1.5M

Apr 27 2021 // A start-up managing general agency focused on auto insurance for underserved populations including immigrants and Latin Americans has raised seed funding to help it launch an initial product.Sigo pulled in $1.5 million in...

Governor Signs Oklahoma Bill Allowing Third-Party Drivers License Examiners

Apr 27 2021 // Legislation allowing for state, county and municipal government agencies in Oklahoma to contract with third-party examiners for commercial drivers license (CDL) exams and other similar tests has been signed into law.House...

Senators File Bill to Mandate Driver Monitoring Systems

Apr 27 2021 // Three Democratic U.S. senators on Monday said they are introducing legislation that would require U.S. regulators to mandate installation of driver-monitoring systems to ensure motorists pay attention while using systems...

Citing China, Senators Bid to Accelerate U.S. Self-Driving Vehicle Industry

Apr 23 2021 // Two U.S. senators are working to attach legislation to allow automakers to deploy tens of thousands of self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads to a bipartisan China bill, a significant reform that could help speed the...