Reminder: If you didn’t call that cab or order that Uber ride, it’s not always safe to just hop in the car and hope to get to your destination. Police in Texas have identified a suspect in connection to an odd incident early last Sunday morning, where two female college students reported that a man pretending to be an Uber driver offered them a ride, saying his fare didn’t show up. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Fiat Chrysler Recalls Nearly 1.2M Ram Trucks Over Airbag Deployment Issues
By 9.10.15
It seems as if we’ve had a nice break from the incessant recalls of vehicles equipped with airbags that may not deploy properly, putting drivers and passengers in harm’s way. Unfortunately, they say all good things must come to an end, and so, Fiat Chrysler announced this week that it will call back nearly 1.2 million trucks in two campaigns for issues related to side-impact safety devices that can inflate in the wrong position and driver’s airbags that may deploy without a crash. [More]
GM Recalls 121K Cadillac Sedans Because Defogging Shouldn’t Start A Fire
By 9.10.15
When activating the defogger control in your vehicle you expect it to defog your windows, not start a fire. Alas, that’s apparently the case for nearly 121,000 Cadillac sedans that are part of General Motor’s latest recall. [More]
Regulators Holding Yet Another Takata Airbag Meeting, Could Finally Coordinate The Messy Recall
By 9.9.15
Back in June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was considering options to speed up replacement of defective shrapnel-shooting Takata-produced airbags linked to eight deaths and hundreds of injuries. Today, the agency announced it will hold yet another public meeting next month, a move that signals the agency’s latest step in taking control of the massive recall effort. [More]
IKEA Recalls SPELEVINK Crib Mattresses For A Second Time: Now It’s Flammability
By 9.8.15
If you happen to own IKEA’s VYSSA SPELEVINK crib mattress, that means you’ve already missed two recalls of your kid’s mattress. Those were for potential entrapment: it was possible for the mattress to shift so that a child could become trapped between the mattress and crib frame. Now the Consumer Products Safety Commission reports another risk of this product: flammability. [More]
Salmonella Outbreak Potentially Linked To Andrew & Williamson Cucumbers
By 9.8.15
Eating more fresh vegetables is supposed to be good for your health, but that turned out to be bad advice for the hundreds of people who have become sick from eating contaminated cucumbers distributed to numerous grocery stores and restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. So far, 53 victims have been hospitalized, and one person has died. [More]
Proposed Keyless Ignition Alert Rule May Have Prevented Carbon Monoxide Deaths
By 9.8.15
A recently filed lawsuit alleges that 10 automakers concealed the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than five million vehicles with keyless ignitions, resulting in 13 deaths. Meanwhile, a federal regulator’s four-year-old proposal for an alert that could have saved some lives continues to go unimplemented. [More]
New Policy Means AutoNation Won’t Sell Vehicles With Open Safety Recalls
By 9.8.15
Although there is no specific federal law prohibiting used car dealers to sell recalled vehicles, nearly a year ago AutoNation – one of the nation’s largest pre-owned vehicle dealers – suspended the sale of cars with potentially deadly Takata airbag defects. Now, the company plans to take things a bit further, announcing it will no longer sell any vehicle that has an open safety recall. [More]
Uber Reportedly Wants To Deliver Same-Day E-Commerce Orders
By 9.4.15
Uber wants to become more than a ride-hailing service: the company wants to use its army of drivers, who are definitely not employees, to deliver food, stuff, and people. While its experiments so far with food delivery and luxury merchandise delivery haven’t been very impressive, the company plans to keep trying. Next up: same-day delivery from large and small retailers in New York City and in San Francisco. [More]
Toyota Investing $50M Into “Life-Saving Intelligent” Vehicles
By 9.4.15
There’s a lot of talk these days about the inevitable arrival of self-driving cars and the implications they will have on safety, insurance, traffic, and fuel costs, but Toyota has announced an investment in new research to develop “life-saving intelligent” vehicles that aren’t necessarily self-driving, but which could ideally combine the best of the autonomous car with one driven by a real human. [More]
Kraft Adds 335K More Cases Of Cheese Singles To Recall Over Packaging Choking Hazard
By 9.4.15
After recalling 36,000 cases of Kraft Singles out of concern that consumers could choke on parts of the film covering individual slices, Kraft Heinz has expanded the recall to include 335,000 more cases of cheese for the same packaging reason. [More]
Elon Musk: Tesla Will Be Taking Orders For The Cheaper Model 3 By March
By 9.3.15
Have a hankering for a Tesla electric car but don’t have anywhere in the neighborhood of $127,000? If you don’t need insanity mode or the other high-priced options included in the Model S P85D or even the regular Model S at around $69,000, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he’s got a deal for you — well, in March, that is, when the company starts taking preorders for its cheaper Model 3 car. [More]
Philadelphia Sues, Fines Uber $300K Over Allegations Of Operating Illegally
By 9.2.15
After 10 months of driving the streets in Philadelphia, Uber now faces a lawsuit and $300,000 fine for providing ride-hailing services in violation of city regulations. [More]
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]
The Uber Misclassified Employee Lawsuit Is Now A California Class Action
By 9.2.15
While class action lawsuits can be an effective consumer remedy, they are not a quick one. Former drivers for ride-hailing service Uber first filed a class action on behalf of all California drivers in 2013, and it has just now been certified as a class action. The original lawsuit alleges that drivers for Uber are misclassified employees, who should have their vehicle expenses covered by their “employer,” Uber. [More]
Sen. Calls For More Precise Data On “On-Demand” Economy & Workforce
By 9.1.15
Independent contractors are nothing new — taxi drivers paying to use a medallion, barbers renting out chairs to cut hair, local artisans selling jewelry and apparel on consignment — but the boom in online platforms that give everyone immediate access to these services and products has resulted in an “on-demand” economy and workforce whose true size and scope is unknown. In an effort to get a more accurate picture on this issue, one U.S. senator is calling on federal officials to provide more relevant data. [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]
Hilton’s Partnership With Uber Allows Guests To Grab A Ride Through Hotel’s App
By 9.1.15
Once upon a time, the hotel front desk was the go-to spot for guests who wanted something, whether it’s more towels or advice on the best spots in town to visit (and a cab to get there). You’ll still have to call for more towels at Hilton Hotels, but in a new partnership with Uber, hotel guests will now be able to schedule alerts through the HHonors app to remind them when they need to arrange a ride to check out the sights they’ve planned to see during their stay. [More]
