15 Articles
Toyota reportedly set to pay $16.4M federal fine

According to a report by Automotive News, Toyota is ready to pay the $16.4 million fine levied against the company by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration... on one condition: the company wouldn't be required to admit wrongdoing. If the NHTSA goes for that, apparently it can stuff its coffers; if not, the repor

Report: Transportation Secretary LaHood concerned with influx of in-car technologies

Concerned that "gadgets and bells and whistles" are distracting drivers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is reportedly pushing to keep the technologies out of driver's hands – without going so far as to say he'll try to restrict them. LaHood, who has already campaigned for a ban on hand-held texting and cell phone use while operating a moving vehicle, says he is "going to ta

Solar Roadways get prototype funding from DOT

Tarmac 2.0 has just taken its first baby-step. The solar road technology that promises to produce clean electricity, replace power transmission and information infrastructure, requires no plowing and lights up to provide navigational and safety information is about to go from the drawing board to prototype production. The Department of Transport has seen fit to award the project $100,000 to construct the first 12' by 12' panel.

REPORT: Cash for Clunkers could be dead

Congress allocated close to $1 billion for the Cash for Clunkers program. That's billion with nine zeros. And all that money might be gone by midnight tonight. This, according to reports by both the Detroit Free Press and Edmunds AutoObserver. We learned earlier that the C4C program has proved to be Autoblog Staff

REPORT: Cash for Clunkers could be dead tonight [UPDATE]

Congress allocated close to $1 billion for the Cash for Clunkers program. That's billion with nine zeros. And all that money might be gone by midnight tonight. This, according to reports by both the Detroit Free Press and Edmunds AutoObserver. We learned earlier that the C4C program has proved to be Jonny Lieberman

Hybrids to get roll over testing for first time in 2008 model year

Want to know a dirty little secret about the car industry? A lot of cars are not that different from other cars. I don't mean designs look the same, I literally mean many car brands are exactly the same cars (frame, engine, etc, etc) except for small differences in things like the interior design. The term often used to describe these cars is corporate twins and these nearly identical vehicles are used not just by the car indust

What does your employer do for your commute? US government ranks top 20 workplaces for commuters

For the last three years, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transporation have ranked 20 companies that they feel offer the best benefits for commuters and for three years Intel has come out on top. Why shouldn't they? They offer their employees vanpools, subsidies for public transportation, showers and storage for those who bike or run and even a dry-cleaner to lessen the demand for driving. And what if you could measure your commute times in milliseconds? In 2005, a who

Federal judge requires NHTSA to release pre-recall safety data

A federal judge has declared that the public must have access to safety data from automotive OEMs and part manufacturers, even before a recall is officially announced. The ruling comes as the result of a suit filed by Public Citizen, which was claiming that manufacturers should not have blanket protection from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filings when it comes to the warranty claim data and other safety-related complaints that must be filed with the Department

Vehicles get safer, but crash fatalities climb

While new vehicles continue to sprout ever-increasing numbers of safety features, traffic fatalities still hit a 15-year high in 2005, notching 43,200 fatalities according to a recent release by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). This represents an increase of 1.2 percent over 2004, while miles traveled only increased by 0.03% to a jaw-dropping 2.964 trillion. The projected death rate is still only 1.46 per 100 mill