An Obama-era regulation designed to prevent unnecessary interest-rate hikes on auto loans may be gone soon. On Tuesday, the Senate approved a resolution to repeal guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2013 designed to keep lenders from disproportionately charging minorities...Read More»
Touting lower greenhouse gas emissions and higher fuel economy, Detroit's automakers want the U.S. to boost its octane. GM, Ford, and FCA are working with the U.S. Council for Automotive Research on a plan to switch from the three octane choices at most pumps to just one: 91 octane. Such a move...Read More»
The left hand doesn't always follow the right hand. The trade association that represents most major automakers won its battle to get the EPA to announce it wants to ease emission limits for 2022 through 2025 cars, even as the lobbying group simultaneously works to promote electric cars that don't...Read More»
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed a so-called congestion charge in an attempt to combat New York City—and specifically Manhattan—traffic jams. If implemented, drivers would face fees of $11.52 to enter the most traffic-prone areas of Manhattan, and trucks would see a daily fee...Read More»
Last week, the United States Chamber of Commerce proposed a 25 cent increase in the so-called gas tax. The rise would represent a 135 percent increase over the current 18.4 cent tax, which was set in 1993. Since then, most states have raised their own fuel tax rates, and myriad business leaders and...Read More»
A British company has a colourful plan designed to help drivers keep their focus on the road. Highways England, a UK Government-owned company, is planning over £15 billion worth of purely visual improvements alongside the country’s highways over the next three years. Translation...Read More»
The United States postal service is preparing for a future in which drivers won’t be a required part of mail delivery. It’s has been developing a self-driving mail truck, and now the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has publicly revealed a quintet of ways in which self-driving mail...Read More»
It shouldn't take a government agency to figure out that texting while driving is dangerous. There's ample evidence to support the claim. But today the National Transportation Safety Board nonetheless recommended a nationwide ban on the use of handheld cell phone and text messaging devices while...Read More»
There's no need to signal, the small-town joke goes, because everyone knows where you're going. We're learning you need to be less concerned about nosy Aunt Margaret than Uncle Sam. Mind you, what follows aren't the rants of a government conspiracy junkie, the kind that wears a tinfoil hat and is...Read More»
After announcing plans to change its terms and conditions to enable what one U.S. Senator called a "brazen" invasion of privacy, OnStar has decided to reverse its course, and will not collect and share data from canceled subscribers. OnStar had planned to change its terms of service to allow it to...Read More»
By now, the travails of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY)--and the photo of a bulging male crotch in gray underwear that may or may not be his, which he may or may not have Tweeted to a young woman--are far too well known. This article is not about that. It's an editorial to express our disappointment at...Read More»
If you work for the federal government and want to keep driving a government-owned, full-size sedan or SUV, you’d better be able to explain how the vehicle is essential to your duties. Under a new presidential order for federal agencies, vehicles should be “mid-size or smaller...Read More»
President Obama's draft budget for 2012 hasn't made as many headlines as it might've due to the current Middle Eastern political turmoil, but tucked away inside the $3.7 trillion dollar document is something that should interest electric vehicle fans. The budget contains funds for a $200 million...Read More»
Research completed earlier this year by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute is helping guide the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its decisions to make stability control systems mandatory for tractor-semitrailers. With costs to retrofit most...Read More»
We've written a lot about traffic enforcement cameras, both the ones that nail red-light runners and those that send automatic tickets to drivers who exceed the speed limit. Now a new wrinkle in evolving technology has been proposed: Wouldn't it be nice if the camera system not only sent you an...Read More»
The auto industry won a major victory in Congress this week, when the landmark financial bill passed by both houses on Congress excluded auto dealers from regulation -- so Congress can't stop them from taking a kickback for funneling you toward a particular lender, or marking up a loan to a higher...Read More»
Think those deep potholes and frost heaves along the commute—and all the rattles and squeaks they elicit from your car—are costing you big in extra repairs and vehicle wear? You're right! Awful road conditions cost U.S. motorists $67 billion per year in additional repairs and operating...Read More»
Both General Motors and Chrysler are working as hard as they can to take advantage of the last-ditch bailouts provided last year by the U.S. government. This morning, each issued a separate sign of its progress. GM chief executive officer Ed Whitacre is expected to announce that the company will...Read More»
Lots of people, including Teamsters Union members and Tea Party protesters, seem to have a beef with last spring's bailout and restructuring of the two bankrupt U.S. automakers, General Motors and Chrysler. As our colleague Bengt Halvorson notes, the automakers themselves aren't complaining...Read More»
