This week seems to be all about vehicle defects that could cause quite a nasty surprise on the road. Yesterday we heard about sunroofs shattering on Hyundai Velosters, and today General Motors announced it’s recalling 145,628 mid-sized pickups because the hood should not pop up unexpectedly while you’re driving. [More]
Government Policy
Hyundai Recalls 13,500 Veloster Coupes Because Sitting Beneath A Shattered Sunroof Isn’t Fun
By 12.19.12 — Updated: 12.20.12
Driving along on a gorgeous day with the sunroof open is fantastic, which is ostensibly why the Hyundai Veloster Coupe and its panoramic sunroofs could be attractive to custoemrs. But having that closed sunroof shatter? Well that’s far from fantastic, which is why the car company is recalling 13,500 model year 2012 Velosters. [More]
FTC Closes Loophole That Let Website Plug-Ins Collect Personal Info About Kids Under 13
By 12.19.12
The Federal Trade Commission has announced updates to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection (COPPA) Rule intended to bolster the privacy protections for Internet users under the age of 13 while giving parents greater control over what information websites and online services collect from these kids. [More]
Remember That The Gift You Packed Might Not Make It Through Airport Security With The Wrapping Intact
By 12.18.12
With Christmas a week away, we figured it was time to remind everyone who plans on traveling with gifts in their bags that the TSA might have to undo your handiwork at the airport. [More]
FTC To Investigate What Info Data Brokers Are Collecting & Selling About Consumers
By 12.18.12
You may remember earlier this fall when Facebook’s new partnership with data broker Datalogix spurred privacy advocates to ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. Now it looks like Datalogix, along with eight other data brokers, will be going under the agency’s microscope. [More]
Toyota Will Pay A Record Fine Of $17.35M Over Delay In Reporting Safety Defects
By 12.18.12
Toyota says it will be paying out a record $17.35 million — the maximum fine allowably by law — after the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the company had delayed reporting a safety defect to the government. It’s the highest single civil penalty that’s ever been paid to the NHTS Afor violations that are a result of a recall. [More]
TSA Apologizes To 11-Year-Old For Detaining Her After Detecting Bomb Residue
By 12.17.12
While it is entirely possible, if not unlikely, that an 11-year-old with brittle bone disease and using a wheelchair could be carrying hazardous materials, the Transportation Security Administration has apologized for detaining a young girl for nearly an hour last week. The girl went through what sounds like quite an ordeal after TSA agents said they detected explosive residue on her hands. [More]
Ford & EPA Try To Figure Out Why C-Max, Fusion Aren’t Getting Advertised MPG
By 12.14.12
Following last week’s announcement that Consumer Reports’ real-world fuel-economy testing of Ford’s C-Max and Fusion hybrid vehicles showed these cars are not getting the 47 mpg touted by the car maker, both Ford and the Environmental Protection Agency have said they are looking into the matter. [More]
Chase Damages Woman’s Credit Report With $16,159 Error, Doesn’t Really Care
By 12.13.12
Imagine waking up one day and finding out that you can’t get a credit card because someone at the bank screwed up and told the credit reporting agencies that you owed more than $16,000 to Chase. You’d think that this could be easily resolved — but apparently not without getting the local news involved. [More]
Advocates Ask Court To Unmask Company Behind Anonymous Consumer Safety Lawsuit
By 12.13.12
We previously told you how a company from somewhere in the U.S. that presumably makes some sort of product had sued the Consumer Product Safety Commission without having to publicly reveal its identity or any relevant details about the case. Now, a group of consumer advocates are again asking the court to identify the plaintiff in the case. [More]
More Than 800,000 Honda & Acura Vehicles Recalled Over Ignition Concerns
By 12.12.12
The garage at your local Honda/Acura dealer might be a bit busier in the coming months, as the car maker has issued a recall for certain model years of Honda Odyssey and Pilot vehicles, along with hundreds of thousands of Acura MDX vehicles, over concerns the ignition interlock could fail, causing the cars to possibly roll around when they’re not supposed to. [More]
Regulators Want To Lock Steering Wheels Of Convicted Drunk Drivers If They’re Intoxicated
By 12.11.12
How do you keep a convicted drunk driver from climbing behind the wheel while intoxicated? Just lock’em out, say federal regulators. Federal safety regulators are pushing for a policy that would allow for special ignition interlock devices to be installed in the vehicles of convicted drunk drivers. The devices would lock up if the driver tries to go anywhere while intoxicated. [More]
Pennsylvania Surplus Store Lets You Buy Back That Shake Weight The TSA Confiscated
By 12.11.12
You’ve just gone through airport security and you’re feeling bereft, after the Transportation Security Administration confiscated your pocket knife/Shake Weight (yes, really)/Play-Doh or anything that could be used as a weapon. It doesn’t just get dumped in a lost and found bin to collect dust or straight into the pockets of TSA agents, so where does it go? [More]
NJ Lottery: Gambling Addiction Is Not A Merry Holiday Gift For Your Child
By 12.10.12
Sure, you can’t take your favorite 10-year-old niece with you to your favorite casino to feed electronic quarters into a dazzling slot machine until her eyes glaze over and she enters a gambling-induced trance. That’s generally illegal. What’s perfectly legal, though, is buying her a nice pile of instant lottery tickets to play. You have to be 18 years old to buy scratchers, but not to play them. Which is why the New Jersey State Lottery and the state Council on Compulsive Gambling put out a statement this week warning that giving lottery tickets to kids might just win them a lifetime of gambling addiction. [More]
Police Arrest Man At JFK Airport Because Trying To Smuggle 26 Stun Guns Is Frowned Upon
By 12.10.12
It’s one thing if you somehow forget you’ve got a gun in your carry-on at the airport (although that still seems like a stretch) but moving multiple illegal weapons past security is an entirely different feat. And you probably won’t be successful, as the Transportation Security Administration is usually paying somewhat close attention. Cops say a man tried to scoot a 26 stun guns past security at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport recently. [More]
FCC Asks FAA To Lighten Up About In-Air Wireless Device Restrictions
By 12.10.12
With pilots approved to use iPads as flight manuals in their cockpits, and the FAA’s own studies finding “no evidence saying [wireless] devices can’t interfere with a plane, and… no evidence saying that they can,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has asked the FAA to ease up on restrictions against wireless device use on planes. [More]
Report: Only 1-In-6 TSA Pat-Downs Done Properly At Newark Airport
By 12.10.12
Pat-downs at airport security checkpoints are meant as alternatives to the controversial full-body scans that are becoming the standard at major air hubs. But a recently uncovered report casts some doubt on whether or not Transportation Security Administration screeners actually know or care about what they are doing when it comes to patting a traveler down. [More]
SEC Warns Netflix CEO: A Facebook Post Does Not A Disclosure To Investors Make
By 12.7.12
When it comes to running a big company, there are certain things the Securities and Exchange Commission will be a stickler about. Even if you’re the CEO of Netflix like Reed Hastings, the SEC won’t let you off the hook for Facebook and blog posts it says were violations of the Regulation Fair Disclosure rule. Ruh roh. [More]
