Issues
Miles to Go on Highway Safety
The 50th anniversary of federal auto safety regulation approaches, but there’s not much to celebrate. Signing the regulatory laws on Sept. 9, 1966, President Johnson predicted they would “cure the highway disease.” They haven’t. The “disease” was a deadly pandemic, and still is. The year the laws were passed, some 50,000 people were killed in…
Updated Tesla Model X falcon wing door frustrates owners
A software update of the complex computer-controlled gullwing doors on Tesla’s Model X may have created a bigger problem than the one it solved. In an update this past week, Tesla says it adjusted a set of sensors inside the car doors that helped detect whether something was blocking a door from closing. Now, owners…
Editorial: On self-driving cars, proceed with caution: Our view
When Ford President Mark Fields announced this month that his company would produce a driverless car — with no steering wheel and no gas pedal — in five years, he did not mince words. Driverless cars, he said, “would have as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did 100 years ago.”…
FTC Sells Out Consumers & Justice Department in Consent Order Allowing GM to Sell Certified Used Cars With Outstanding Safety Recalls
August 26, 2016 FTC Sells Out Consumers & Justice Department in Consent Order Allowing GM to Sell Certified Used Cars With Outstanding Safety Recalls In allowing GM to sell unrepaired vehicles with outstanding safety recalls, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not only is out-of-touch with vehicle safety in America but also jeopardizes the Justice Department’s…
Auto, technology industries clash over talking cars
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cars that wirelessly talk to each other are finally ready for the road, creating the potential to dramatically reduce traffic deaths, improve the safety of self-driving cars and someday maybe even help solve traffic jams, automakers and government officials say. But there’s a big catch. The cable television and high-tech industries want…
How Secrecy Pacts Keep Regulators, Public in the Dark
by Ben Kelley April 13, 2016 For businesses that make and sell dangerous products, secrecy is a cherished ally. They work hard to prevent safety regulators and litigants from learning about their products’ hazards. One way they accomplish this is by concealing information revealed in lawsuits for those killed or injured by such products. Automobiles…
Harley-Davidson Clean Air Act Settlement
(Washington, DC – Aug 18, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Harley-Davidson, Inc., Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, LLC, Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company, Inc., and Harley-Davidson Motor Company Operations, Inc. (collectively Harley-Davidson), that requires the companies to stop selling and to buy back and…
General Motors innovation could rewrite service business
Imagine a customer arriving at a dealership’s service drive with the diagnostic work completed, the faulty part identified and the warranty repair approved before a service writer even greets the driver. You don’t have to imagine it. It’s happening. This spring, General Motors quietly introduced a new feature for its OnStar connected car technology called…
Report: 1 in 6 cars on road is recalled but not fixed
Click here to view the full article from KWWL By: PAUL A. EISENSTEIN (NBC) – You check your oil, tune the engine and make sure you car’s brakes are working right. But you may still be riding around in a four-wheeled time bomb, it turns out. At least 45 million vehicles – about one in six…
CAS 2016 Letter to US Attorney Preet Bharara
August 25, 2016 Mr. Preet Bharara, US Attorney Southern District of New York One St. Andrews Plaza New York, NY 10007 Dear Mr. Bharara: The Center for Auto Safety (“CAS”) calls on your Office to act to preserve the integrity of the Office’s authority under the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”) reached with GM on September…