By Christopher Jensen on April 2, 2018
Polaris Industries has agreed to pay $27.25 million – a record penalty – to settle charges that it failed to immediately notify federal officials about a fire hazard on its recreational off-highway vehicles that regulators have linked to at least one death and more than 180 fires. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, in announcing…
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Product Hazards and Recalls |
By Christopher Jensen on March 12, 2018
Traffic safety measures ranging from seat belt and drunk driving enforcement to design standards for cars and trucks “averted a public health disaster” by preventing about 5.8 million deaths in the U.S. from 1968 through 2015, according to a new study. The analysis found that without federal and state policies, traffic deaths annually would “likely…
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |
By Paul Feldman on February 28, 2018
The increasing use of smartphones and recreational marijuana may be contributing to a surge in the numbers of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes, according to a new analysis. The report by the Governors Highway Safety Association estimates that pedestrian fatalities totaled about 6,000 in 2017, roughly the same as the year before, when the official…
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Cell Phones, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |
By Christopher Jensen on February 20, 2018
In recent years, Polaris Industries, the leading producer of off-road vehicles, has recalled hundreds of thousands of its trail machines due to a fire danger. The hazard is linked to at least three deaths and three dozen injuries ranging from minor scrapes to limbs burned so badly amputation was required. Despite the string of recalls,…
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Product Hazards and Recalls |
By Paul Feldman on February 6, 2018
The victims include a Bible college student in Iowa who was bicycling home from work, a 13-year-old Michigan boy riding in his older sister’s car and a Minnesota school bus driver picking up the morning newspaper in front of his home. All were killed in recent years by distracted drivers who had been texting or…
Posted in FairWarning Investigates, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Cell Phones, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |
By Paul Feldman on January 22, 2018
Amid a resurgence in U.S. traffic fatalities now taking roughly 100 lives a day, an advocacy group today issued a report card identifying states that do the most, and least, to improve highway safety.
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Cell Phones, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |
By Paul Feldman on December 7, 2017
The era of driverless vehicles appears to be rapidly approaching, raising a bevy of urgent questions about how to prevent the emergence of new hazards on the nation’s roads. So, how much preparation have federal transportation authorities carried out to meet the challenge of the advent of self-driving cars and trucks? Not nearly enough, according…
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Product Hazards and Recalls |
By Paul Feldman on October 26, 2017
Amid complaints by consumers about fumes and carbon monoxide seeping into the cabins of Ford Explorers, the nation’s No. 2 automaker next week will launch a free servicing program. Ford continues to insist that the vehicles are safe, despite complaints from more than 2,000 motorists who say they have been inhaling exhaust in their Explorers….
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Air Pollution/Toxic Exposure, Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection |
By Paul Feldman on September 28, 2017
More than one in every four vehicles being sold by used car giant CarMax are under recall for safety flaws, including some with potentially deadly defects, according to a survey by auto safety groups. The safety groups, which are waging a court battle to revamp used car sales practices, say the survey underscores the need…
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Product Hazards and Recalls |
By Christopher Jensen on September 20, 2017
Over the last five years, auto safety regulators have received hundreds of complaints of exhaust fumes and carbon monoxide wafting into the cabins of Ford Explorers. Investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who began looking into the issue only last year, say they’ve uncovered no medical evidence that motorists have been exposed to…
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Product Hazards and Recalls |
