Can a financial incentive make people change their driving habits? One police department in Pennsylvania is taking a slightly passive-aggressive approach to preventing accidents with signs that remind motorists how stop signs work. “Complete Stops: FREE,” the signs say. “Rolling Stops: $128.50. Your choice.” Police in neighboring towns are interested in the signs now, too. [More]
Government Policy
Takata Airbag Recall Lowered, Still Largest Auto Recall In History
By 9.2.15
Months after Japanese auto parts maker Takata gave into pressure by federal regulators and recalled more than 30 million vehicles equipped with potentially deadly airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revised the number of vehicles, reducing it to 19.2 million. [More]
Federal Advisory Panel Recommends Clearer Disclosure Of Airline, Hotel Resort Fees
By 9.1.15
It’s no secret that airlines have increased their fees and shrunk the size of their seats over the years in an attempt to maximize revenue. While those extra costs and seat sizes are generally available through the carrier’s website, a federal panel thinks that information would better serve passengers if it were readily available during the ticket purchasing process. [More]
Following Deaths, FDA Warns Makers Of Powdered Caffeine That Their Products Are Dangerous
By 9.1.15
Last summer, two young adults died after ingesting powdered caffeine, leading the Food and Drug Administration to warn consumers of the potential hazards of the popular stimulant while public health advocates called for a ban on the powdered product. Now the FDA is taking things to the next level and warning caffeine manufacturers that their products are “dangerous and present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” [More]
Store-Brand Frozen Corn Recalled For Potential Listeria Contamination
By 9.1.15
Time to check your frozen vegetable stash: bags of frozen corn sold as store private-label brands that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes have been recalled by the company that packaged it. Some of the corn was distributed to Save-A-Lot discount grocery stores and to Market Basket stores, but two of the brands were not exclusive to any one retailer. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Offers $100 Gift Cards To Get Your Recalled Car Fixed Already
By 8.31.15
The federal government has fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million for its failure to address vehicle defects and active recalls, and perhaps they’ve concluded that customers will respond to a cash incentive, not a cash punishment. Taking a break from desperately hugging General Motors, today the automaker announced an offer: car owners get $100 if they bring their vehicle in for repair, and an extra $1,000 or $2,000 trade-in incentive to buy a new car instead. [More]
Broadcasters Association Sues FCC Over Cable Competition Rules
By 8.31.15
Under federal law, a city can regulate cable TV rates for its residents if there is not “effective competition” in that market — that is, if one cable operator dominated the TV landscape in that area. But the Federal Communications Commission recently revised its way of looking at things so that it now presumes that satellite providers offer effective competition for the cable industry. This change hasn’t gone over well with broadcasters, who have petitioned a federal appeals court to challenge the FCC. [More]
After FDA Warning, Kim Kardashian Posts Corrected Endorsement Of Morning Sickness Pill
By 8.31.15
Weeks after federal regulators took issue with drug company Duchesnay for allowing mom-to-be Kim Kardashian to tout the benefits of its morning sickness pill on social media without properly disclosing the drug’s associated risk and limitations, the reality star posted updated endorsements, complete with acknowledgement of the pill’s side effects. [More]
Newark Airport Terminal Locked Down Sunday Night After Security Breach
By 8.31.15
People traveling through Newark Liberty International Airport on Sunday were in for a bit of a wait, as authorities locked down Terminal C for more than two hours after a man breached security. [More]
Court Rules NSA Phone Data Collection That Is Now Changing Anyway Is Still Legal
By 8.28.15
After several years of back-and-forth rulings, an appeals court in Washington, D.C. has ruled today that the NSA’s controversial bulk phone data collection program can indeed continue… at least until November, when it gets shut down anyway because Congress changed the law in June. [More]
Ten ISPs Sign On With FCC Fund, Will Expand Rural Broadband To Over 7M Customers In 45 States
By 8.28.15
While those of us who live in or near the country’s medium and large cities see slow but eventual improvements in broadband service and sometimes even some competition, the same is not true for millions of Americans who live in the more rural parts of the country. Running wires outside of the ‘burbs costs more money than it brings in, so carriers aren’t keen to do it without a boost. And that’s where the FCC’s Connect America fund comes in. [More]
Cascadian Farms Recalls Frozen Green Beans From 2014 For Possible Listeria
By 8.27.15
We have really terrible news for anyone out there who was planning to make a turkey bacon and green bean sandwich on whole wheat or multi-grain bread, even though that has probably never been a sandwich that a real person would eat or make. All three of those foods have been recalled in the last few days, now including green beans from Cascadian Farm. [More]
College-Bound Students Should Shop Around For Bank Accounts
By 8.27.15
With millions of young adults heading off to college this month, federal regulators are reminding those consumers to do their homework. Okay, not that homework, but the kind related to researching college-sponsored bank accounts. [More]
Regulators Halt Alleged Energy Drink Pyramid Scheme That Targeted College Students, Other Young Adults
By 8.27.15
Federal regulators continued their crackdown on supposedly deceptive dietary supplement companies this week by temporarily shutting down an Arizona-based company that allegedly ran a pyramid scheme promising college students they would rake in the big bucks by selling energy drinks. [More]
Dish, Sinclair End Broadcast Network Blackout… For Now, At Least
By 8.27.15
Dish’s latest contract fight with the networks it airs has wrapped up much more quickly than usual: less than a day after nearly 130 Sinclair channels went dark on the satellite provider, the local channels are back on in 5 million subscribers’ homes. At least, for now. [More]
Hundreds Of Local Channels Go Dark For Millions Of Dish Subscribers In Latest TV Blackout Fight
By 8.26.15
Dish Network subscribers may have a hard time getting their local news and weather today along with some of their favorite network programming. A contract dispute between the satellite TV company and one of the biggest network owners in the country has resulted in one of the biggest TV blackouts to date, with 5 million viewers losing access to nearly 130 channels. [More]
Target Won’t Face SEC Charges Over Breach
By 8.26.15
Nearly two years after a massive data breach at Target left millions of consumers’ personal information at risk, the company announced it won’t face enforcement action from at least one government agency. [More]
Regulators Open Investigation Into Jeeps That Just Roll Away When Parked
By 8.26.15
When putting your vehicle in the “park” position, you probably have the expectation that your car won’t be moving. That’s apparently not the case for more than 400,000 Jeeps now under investigation by federal regulators because they have a tendency to simply roll away after being parked. [More]
