Vehicle Safety
Rhode Island Bill would Redefine “Unfair Insurance Practice” in Insurers’ Favor
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards A bill – known as S. 2210 – introduced in the Rhode Island State Senate would make it harder to hold insurance companies liable for unfair insurance practices. Under the state’s current law, failure to have a licensed appraiser conduct an appraisal on a vehicle estimated to…
Read MoreAV Bill in Washington State Scheduled for Jan. 30 Hearing
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards A bill introduced in the state of Washington’s legislature would create a new comprehensive regulatory framework that allows autonomous vehicles (AV) to operate on roads in the state without a human driver. Currently, AVs may only operate in the state under limited testing purposes. The bill -…
Read MoreRhode Island Bill would Limit Insurers’ Ability to Deny Coverage for OEM Repair Parts
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards A bill was introduced in the Rhode Island Legislature that would restrict insurance companies’ ability to refuse to cover OEM repair parts in certain situations. Under the current law in Rhode Island, insurers are not allowed to require the use of non-OEM parts on vehicles that are…
Read MoreNHTSA Begins Effort to Require Impaired Driving Prevention Tech in New Cars
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has formally launched an effort to require that drunk or impaired driving prevention technologies come standard in new vehicles. In its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, the agency requests the public’s input on the information…
Read MoreU.S. Senators Raise Alarm on Alleged Tesla Safety Flaws
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards United States Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have sent a letter to Elon Musk following a report from Reuters on Tesla vehicles’ safety flaws. In their letter, the Senators note that, “[t]he report details complaints about suspension connection points, including fore and aft links,…
Read MoreU.S. Senate Bill would Weaken Federal Insurance Office’s Authority
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards A bill titled the “Insurance Data Protection Act” (S. 3349) introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) would restrict the Federal Insurance Office’s (FIO) ability to collect information directly from insurance companies. It would also rescind the director of FIO’s subpoena authority. Housed in…
Read MoreLiDAR Imports and Exports to and from China Scrutinized by U.S. House Members
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards A bipartisan group of twenty members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to the Secretaries of the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and the Treasury raising concern with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology imports and exports to and from China. The letter – led…
Read MoreFTC Returns Additional $857K to Those Harmed by Junk Auto Fee Practices
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced it is disbursing more than $857,000 cumulatively in its second round of compensatory payments to customers harmed by Napleton Automotive Group’s illegal junk fees and discriminatory practices. Napleton Automotive Group, which is based in Illinois, is the thirteenth largest dealership…
Read MoreNHTSA Withdraws Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications Regulatory Proposal
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has withdrawn a regulatory proposal that would have required certain vehicle-to-vehicle communication technologies in all light-vehicles. In its formal filing declaring its decision to withdraw the regulatory proposal, NHTSA stated that it still believes that, “V2V and other vehicle-to-everything (V2X)…
Read MoreBangor Daily News Opposes Ballot Question 4
NHTSA Announces Effort to Modernize Vehicle Lighting Standards The Bangor Daily News Editorial Board published an editorial piece in which they urged Mainers to vote NO on ballot question 4. Mainers will be casting votes on this question on November 7. Proponents of ballot question 4 claim the law would enshrine a vehicle right to…
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