Issues
The Car Book Blog: Reducing Insurance Costs
With the release of the 39th edition of The Car Book—now available online—we’re sharing some of our best tips for car buying and maintaining your vehicle after you buy. The Car Book 2019 provides today’s car buyer with in-depth ratings of the 2019 vehicles, The Car Book’s unique crash test ratings, comparative complaint ratings, and all of the information…
US expands probe into air bag failures to 12.3M vehicles
Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit consumer group, said the ZF-TRW case shows the auto industry thus far has learned very little from Takata. “A single supplier of an important safety component provided what appears to be a defective part across multiple manufacturers and 12 million cars,” Levine said.…
Mother demands answers after Hyundai SUV bursts into flames, nearly burns down her Lakeland home
Jason Levine of watchdog group the Center for Auto Safety said he also wants to know why the federal government waited nearly a year to open an investigation. “We were surprised to see it take this long over the seriousness of the defect,” said Levine. A Lakeland woman – whose Hyundai SUV burst into flames…
Used car dealers didn’t want to fix deadly defects, so they wrote a law to avoid it
Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy organization, said getting Congress to act on a sales ban is daunting. “One would hope that more education of policymakers about the dangers would be sufficient,” Levine said. “One fears that more deaths and serious injuries will be necessary.” Carlos…
Lyft nightmare: Mother, baby forced to walk down interstate in rain after rideshare breakdown
Jason Levine of the Center for Auto Safety says rideshares should get the same scrutiny as taxicabs. “It’s certainly a lower level of required inspection for Uber and Lyft than it is for your standard commercial taxi,” he said. “Maybe they’ve never been driven commercially until three weeks ago when somebody decided to sign up…
Pickup safety lags behind cars, SUVs in safety ratings
Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for auto safety in Washington, blames the government. “The reason pickups, which are among the most-driven vehicles in the U.S., are far behind all other cars and trucks is because larger pickups were given an additional three years when NHTSA negotiated…
Family escapes when Kia suddenly stalls, erupts in fire on 110 Freeway in LA
“Essentially, we have a large fleet spanning four and eight years, if not more, regularly catching on fire in noncrash situations,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, the nonprofit that pushed the NHTSA to open its probe. “As we saw with the NHTSA announcement yesterday, the manufacturers have a significantly…
U.S. safety agency to probe thousands of Hyundai and Kia fires
Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said in a statement that it’s long past time for the agency to investigate why so many Kia and Hyundai vehicles have caught fire when not involved in crashes. “While it may be six months post-due, we are gratified to see NHTSA’s Office of Defect…
Hyundai Finds New Engine Problem, Prompting Another Recall
Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer group that has petitioned the government seeking more Hyundai and Kia recalls, said the fire and engine problems keep spreading to more vehicles. “This recall raises the question of whether we are even beyond the tip of the iceberg with these non-crash fires…
Center for Auto Safety Letter to House THUD regarding Department of Transportation Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request
April 9, 2019 Chairman David Price Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development 2358-A Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development 2358-A Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 RE: Department of Transportation Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request…