The hazards of distracted driving are well known, but inability to put down one’s mobile phone poses a danger to other forms of transportation, too. Just ask the 67-year-old woman in New Jersey who was walking while looking at her phone, and tumbled into a building’s basement when she didn’t see access doors that were open on the sidewalk. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Woman Looking At Phone Trips Over Door On Sidewalk, Falls Into Utility Room
By 6.9.17 — Updated: 6.11.17
At Least 17 Lithium-Ion Batteries Have Exploded On Planes This Year
By 6.9.17
Many air travelers fly with multiple devices that use lithium-ion batteries: phones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, smartwatches, fitness band, and more. As these batteries have become so widely used, the number of incidents involving exploding lithium-ion batteries on planes also appears to be on the rise. [More]
The 5 Most Ridiculous Moments From Uber CEO’s Memo On Rules For Partying & Sex
By 6.9.17
Most of us don’t want our boss’s personal thoughts on the best ways to party and possibly engage in sexual intercourse with co-workers. Even if we did want this insight from our supervisor, it’s probably best to leave some lines uncrossed. Yet, Uber’s CEO (and embodiment of overcompensation) Travis Kalanick apparently felt compelled to share this sort of wisdom with hundreds of employees. [More]
Walmart Employees Break Car Windows, Save Infant Left In Hot Vehicle
By 6.9.17
When employees of a Walmart in South Carolina learned that there was a baby in a hot car in the store’s parking lot, they took action, breaking the closed windows and rescuing the shaking, sweating 6-month-old inside. Local police are now investigating the situation. [More]
Have Loyalty Programs Made Airlines Complacent About Customer Service?
By 6.9.17
If you show your loyalty to an airline by continually flying that carrier (and maybe using their co-branded credit card), you might expect that this would result in better customer service. However, one top airline executive thinks the industry’s reliance on loyalty rewards programs are actually making customer service more impersonal. [More]
Hyundai Recalls 600K Vehicles Over Parking Brake Issues, Hoods That Could Fly Up While Driving
By 6.8.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Owners of Hyundai vehicles should listen up, as the carmaker issued not one but two recalls today related to hoods that could fly up while driving and parking brake issues. [More]
From Obtaining Rape Victim’s Medical Documents To Misused Lactation Rooms: 4 Reasons Uber Looks Awful This Week
By 6.8.17
The first half of 2017 hasn’t exactly been kind to Uber and its CEO Travis Kalanick, from a video showing the executive arguing with a driver, the #deleteuber social media campaign tied to a proposed government travel ban, and a top-secret algorithm to avoid the law. Uber’s awful year kicked into overdrive this week amid multiple reports of bad behavior and renewed calls for Kalanick’s ouster. [More]
800 Kids Have Died In Hot Cars: Why Aren’t Alert Systems Standard?
By 6.7.17 — Updated: 6.8.17
Since 1990, more than 800 children have died from heatstroke in hot cars, including nine children so far just this year. But despite the severity of this problem, technology that’s already available that can remind parents when their child is still in the back seat is not yet standard for all cars. Lawmakers, safety advocates, and parents who have experienced tragic losses want this to change. [More]
Musician Claims United Airlines Wouldn’t Let Her Board With Centuries-Old Violin
By 6.7.17
A musician who was on her way to join the Missouri Symphony Orchestra on Sunday to play for the summer season said she wasn’t allowed to board her United Airlines flight with her centuries-old violin. And after an ensuing scuffle with airline staff, her attorney says a lawsuit is likely. [More]
Lyft To Start Self-Driving Car Program In Boston
By 6.6.17
Ride-hailing service Uber may be the one that got to splashy headlines about self-driving cars first, but Lyft hasn’t exactly been sitting around, either. The company has finally announced where it will first take autonomous vehicles to the street: the notoriously tricky roads of Boston. [More]
Will United Refund Tickets On Soon To Be Suspended Flights To Venezuela?
By 6.5.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Scoring a direct flight from the U.S. to Caracas, Venezuela just got a bit more difficult for travelers, especially those who prefer to fly with United Airlines, as the company announced it would suspend flights to the country this summer. [More]
Your Car Could Be The Next Ransomware Target
By 6.5.17 — Updated: 6.6.17
The recent “WannaCry” ransomware attack that crippled computer systems around the globe has highlighted the digital vulnerabilities in our daily lives. [More]
Regulators Investigating 105K Jeep Liberty SUVs Over Airbag Failures
By 6.5.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
An airbag can save your life if you’re ever in a crash, but that’s only possible if the safety device deploys as intended. For more than 105,000 Jeep vehicles, that might not happen, leading federal regulators to open an investigation into the matter. [More]
Uber To Repay Customers Who Experienced Surge Pricing After London Attacks
By 6.5.17
Nearly three years ago, Uber received significant backlash after it charged surge prices during a hostage situation in Sydney, Australia, leading the company to refund riders for those trips. A similar situation is playing out in London after the ride-hailing service charged customers caught up in a recent terror attack more for rides to safety. [More]
Kawasaki To Pay $5.2M To Resolve Allegations It Didn’t Properly Report Defects, Injuries Related To Recall
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Under federal law, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are required to immediately report information regarding possible safety defects to the Consumer Product Safety Commission within 24 hours of obtaining reasonable supporting evidence. Kawasaki allegedly failed to do this with regard to defects in thousands of eventually recalled recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs) and now the company has agreed to pay a $5.2 million penalty. [More]
Toyota Recalling 32,000 Tacoma Trucks That Could Unexpectedly Stall
By 6.2.17 — Updated: 6.9.17
Usually it’s a good thing when a piece of metal that could corrode over time comes covered with anti-corrosion coating. But the maker of some Toyota Tacoma parts was a bit too liberal in its application of the coating, resulting in trucks that could stall, prompting the recall of 32,000 Tacoma vehicles. [More]
Spirit Flight Canceled After Woman Refuses To Leave Bathroom
By 6.1.17 — Updated: 6.2.17
Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight from Florida to Cartagena, Colombia will arrive at their destination an entire day later than planned after their original flight was canceled when the plane’s pilots exceeded their maximum flying time, a result of delays caused by an unruly passenger who refused to leave the aircraft’s bathroom. [More]
United Facing $435K Fine For Allegedly Flying A Plane That Wasn’t In Airworthy Condition
By 6.1.17
United Airlines may have to fork over $435,000 to the Federal Aviation Administration after the agency accused it of flying an aircraft that wasn’t in airworthy condition almost two dozen times. [More]
