Each state’s Department of Motor Vehicles keeps a list of letter and number combinations drivers are prohibited from having, whether because they’re offensive or for various other reasons known only to those DMVs. But one New Hampshire man disagrees with what his state’s DMV deems as a “no-no,” and is taking his fight for the right to have “COPSLIE” on his license plate all the way to the state’s Supreme Court. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
![Another Tesla Model S Catches Fire After Hitting Road Debris](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/teslafirevalusme.jpg?w=240&h=171&crop=1)
Another Tesla Model S Catches Fire After Hitting Road Debris
In the third fiery incident since October, another Tesla Model S electric car caught fire after hitting road debris. This time the blaze erupted in Tennessee after the car ran over a tow hitch on the interstate, possibly damaging the undercarriage and sparking an electrical fire. [More]
![Snoopy Sno-Cone Machines Recalled Because “Brass Rivet” Is Not A Very Tasty Flavor](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/snoopysnoconemachinelarge.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Snoopy Sno-Cone Machines Recalled Because “Brass Rivet” Is Not A Very Tasty Flavor
LaRose Industries, the company that made the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine that your kid used once and is now sitting in a closet somewhere, has recalled the gadget over concerns that a brass rivet in the machine might fall into a shaved-ice treat. [More]
![There Should Be A Kitten Delivery Service In Every Town Across This Country](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/somanycatsessm.jpg?w=240&h=160&crop=1)
There Should Be A Kitten Delivery Service In Every Town Across This Country
When our readers tell us they want more of something — in this case, stories about cats because who can ever get enough of those? — we listen. And we want that same listening spirit to extend to whoever might be able to set up a service that brings kittens to your door for some playtime and cuddly cat times in every town across this great country we call home. [More]
![Consumer Reports Pulls Recommendations For 3 Toyotas & An Audi Over Crash-Test Results](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/smalloverlap.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Consumer Reports Pulls Recommendations For 3 Toyotas & An Audi Over Crash-Test Results
Our cohorts at Consumer Reports do an awful lot of testing on the cars they rate, but one thing they can’t do is crash-testing. That’s why, following the results of recent crash tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (better known as the people that crash cars into walls), CR has pulled its recommendations on three Toyota models and one Audi vehicle. [More]
![Two examples of possible bad cheese.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/kraftspil.png?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Spoiler Alert: Kraft Recalls 735,000 Cases Of String Cheese Because It Might Go Bad Early
Kraft Foods Group isn’t stringing anyone along — pun intended, obviously — with a voluntary recall of certain varieties of Kraft and Polly-O String Cheese and String Cheese Twists. The problem is that no one likes eating processed cheese that’s past its time, and about 735,000 cases might be doing just that. [More]
![Toyota To Pay At Least $3 Million In Sudden Acceleration Wrongful-Death Suit](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/tyota.jpg)
Toyota To Pay At Least $3 Million In Sudden Acceleration Wrongful-Death Suit
Only two weeks after a California jury sided with Toyota in a wrongful-death lawsuit related to claims of sudden unintended acceleration in one of its vehicles, a jury in Oklahoma City has found that the car-maker is to blame for a separate incident that killed a woman in 2007. [More]
![(snow_00_angel)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/horsedmv.jpg?w=211&h=225&crop=1)
Woman Has No Choice But To Arrive At The DMV On A Horse To Get Her License Back
When you need to get where you’re going but can’t drive, it’s awfully handy to own a horse. A Virginia woman who had her driver’s license suspended during a paperwork mix-up decided to take matters (and the reins) into her own hands when she hopped atop her trusty steed and rode straight to the DMV to hand over her proof of insurance. Other non-car methods: Hoverboards, roller skates or hopping on the back of a trolley. [Associated Press] [More]
![(stellarview)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/tyota.jpg?w=240&h=171&crop=1)
Jury Says Toyota Wasn’t To Blame In Wrongful-Death Lawsuit
A California jury handed down a big decision for Toyota, saying that the car company wasn’t responsible in the 2009 crash of a Camry that accelerated out of control and killed the driver. Instead, the jury placed the blame squarely on another driver in the crash, saying it was the catalyst that set the whole accident in motion. [More]
![(Sh4rp_i)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/chickencdc.jpg?w=240&h=172&crop=1)
Are CDC’s Detectives At Work During Shutdown While Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Hundreds?
Often when we hear news of a food-borne disease, the worst has passed and the government works to educate consumers on which products have been recalled. However with 278 people in 18 states sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to raw chicken products from California, no recall has been announced and the United States Department of Agriculture says “the outbreak is continuing.” But are any of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s elite food detectives at work during the government shutdown to trace track down the source of the contamination? [More]
![(afagen)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/7586912362_785073a658_m.jpg?w=240&h=161&crop=1)
California City Requires All New Homes Be Wired For Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf may be the future of automobiles (personally, I’m holding out for someone to create the Mr. Fusion), but one city in California’s Silicon Valley is betting on EVs by requiring that all newly built homes be wired for EV charging stations. [More]
![(FDA)](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/9630257347_9c872546a4_z.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
September Food And Supplement Recall Roundup – 40 Garlic Cloves, 2 Undeclared Allergens
Our monthly Recall Roundups have grown so expansive that we’ve had to separate them into two separate roundups: one for consumer goods, and one for consumables. [More]
![September Recall Roundup: The Training Wheels Are Off](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/cover-red-green-blue-large.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
September Recall Roundup: The Training Wheels Are Off
In this month’s Recall Roundup, board books attack children, toy spiders grow in human stomachs, and motorcycle training wheels fall off mid-ride. [More]
![Newer adaptors with 4 holes are OK. The ones with ten holes are not.](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/baby-jogger-adaptors-large-04.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
Baby Jogger Recalls 30,000 Stroller To Car Seat Adaptors
It’s very convenient to take your child’s car seat and mount it directly on a stroller…unless the adaptor that lets you do so is faulty. There have been 47 reports that adaptors for Baby Jogger strollers have failed: specifically, the part that connects the bars that support the car seat to the stroller frame comes loose, and the car seat hits the floor. [More]