Gadgets and Distracted Driving

By Eli Wolfe on March 7, 2019
When sued for withholding records, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has fared poorly in court.
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Gadgets and Distracted Driving, Government accountability |

By Myron Levin on February 27, 2019
Editor's note: See update at end of story.
Garrett Wilhelm was chatting with the Facetime app on his Apple iPhone, police say, as he sped along an interstate highway northwest of Dallas on the day before Christmas in 2014. He crashed his SUV into a sedan carrying a young family, killing five-year-old Moriah Modisette and injuring her parents and sister. Ashley Kubiak was…
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Cell Phones, Consumer Protection, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |
By Chelsea Conaboy on November 6, 2018
Despite federal assurance that the research doesn’t apply to people, critics say the results raise health concerns for children and others.
Posted in Warning Wire | Tagged Cell Phones, Climate Change, Consumer Protection, Environmental Safety and Health, Firearms, food safety, Gadgets and Distracted Driving, Government accountability, Medical Errors, Smoking and Tobacco Industry, Workplace Safety and Health |

By Myron Levin on September 13, 2018
Consumer advocates are attacking a bill heading for a vote soon in the U.S. Senate that would clear legal obstacles for the deployment of driverless cars.
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Consumer Protection, Gadgets and Distracted Driving, Government accountability |

By Myron Levin on June 26, 2018
Automakers have packed many of their new models with distracting infotainment features that allow drivers not only to play music and get directions, but to talk, text and use social media while tooling down the road. Now new research has found that two popular smartphone-based systems –Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto – are somewhat simpler…
Posted in FairWarning Reports | Tagged Auto and Highway Safety, Cell Phones, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |

By Christopher Jensen on May 1, 2018
Six manufacturers of products including computers, cellphones, video game gear and autos have been told by federal regulators to change the language in their warranties or possibly face charges of “unfair or deceptive acts.” The Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters three weeks ago to the six companies — Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Hyundai, ASUSTek Computer…
Posted in FairWarning Reports, Recent Stories | Tagged Cell Phones, Consumer Protection, Gadgets and Distracted Driving |

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 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 |