Now that app-based ride-hailing services make the barrier of entry to the taxi business as low as “yep, I own a car, I try not to hit things with it, and I am not a criminal,” traditional ideas about who is an “employee” may have to change. This week, a decision by the California Labor Commission declared a former driver for Uber, which could be very expensive for similar companies if the decision holds up on appeal and applies to the rest of their fleet. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Uber Still Working Out Logistics Of Delivering Food And Merchandise
By 6.16.15
New business ventures sometimes have unexpected problems. As ride-hailing service Uber tries to expand its business into hauling lunch orders and same-day online orders around, the company has hit some unanticipated problems. For example, some people order lunch when they think they’re ordering a ride, since both are part of the same mobile app. Some high-end retailers couldn’t use Uber driver since their insurance only covers merchandise up to $1,000. [More]
Toyota Adds Another 1.37M Vehicles To The Massive Takata Airbag Recall
By 6.16.15
Auto manufacturers continue to whittling down the number of unidentified vehicles equipped with potential shrapnel-shooting airbags a month after Japanese parts maker Takata deemed the safety devices defective. The latest round of expanded recalls goes to Toyota, which added another 1.37 million to its recall list. [More]
Honda Adds Another 1.39M Civics, Accords To Takata Recall List
By 6.16.15
Days after Honda confirmed the seventh death linked to defective Takata airbags that occurred in one of its vehicles, the automaker plans once again to expand the scope of its recall for cars equipped with the potentially shrapnel-shooting safety devices. Another 1.39 million popular cars are now on the list. [More]
Tesla Predicts One Million Vehicles By 2020, Including Model 3 ‘Family’ Of Cars
By 6.15.15
While it’s currently uncommon to spot a Tesla in the wild, the electric car company said today that it believes there could be significantly more Teslas – of varying model types – dotting roadways around the world by 2020, indicating its upcoming Model 3 will be targeted for mass market consumption.
[More]
Uber’s Petition Website Hacked To Redirect To Lyft Homepage
By 6.15.15
It’s no secret that ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft have enjoyed a spirited rivalry in recent years. Over the weekend, a security researcher inserted himself into the crosshairs of the two ride-hailing services by exploiting a vulnerability in Uber’s petition website that allowed him to showcase and redirect visitors to Lyft’s homepage, while also changing the content of some petitions. Now he’s warning the company – and others like it – to take precautions when using petition and contest websites, as they might prove to be a welcome mat for malevolent hackers. [More]
Honda Confirms Seventh Takata Airbag-Related Death Involved A Civic
By 6.15.15
After a lawsuit filed last week claimed a seventh death was linked to the ongoing recall of defective Takata airbags in millions of vehicles from nearly a dozen manufactures, Honda confirmed over the weekend that the latest fatality did indeed occur in one of its automobiles. [More]
Acuras Recalled Because They Auto-Brake For Imaginary Obstacles
By 6.11.15
Automatic braking is a feature available that car manufacturers offer on their higher-end models as part of feature and safety packages. The idea is simple: if your car recognizes that there’s something in front of it, it stops. Except for some model year 2014 and 2015 Acura SUVs and sedans: there have been documented cases where they stop when there is no obstacle in front of the cars. [More]
Tesla Not Giving Up On Bringing Direct Car Sales To Connecticut
By 6.11.15
After a bill to bring direct car sales to Connecticut died, Tesla Motors says it’s not going to give up on a the idea of opening retail stores in the state. [More]
The Guy Who Started Tesla Wants To Shoot The Internet To You From Space
By 6.11.15
Elon Musk is kind of becoming 2015’s mad billionaire genius. Not only does he run a very successful electric luxury car company that has jumped into the electricity business, but also he has a space company, SpaceX. For the last decade, SpaceX has been working with NASA to send things (and eventually people) to the International Space Station. Now, it appears that SpaceX has a plan in mind to become a global broadband provider. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges 7th Death Tied To Defective Takata Airbags
By 6.10.15
The ongoing recall of defective Takata airbags in vehicles from 11 different car makers has already been tied to more than 100 injuries and six fatalities. A recently filed lawsuit alleges that the faulty parts are responsible for at least one additional death. [More]
Nobody Really Knows What To Do About Regulating The Sharing Economy
By 6.10.15
The car in front of you has four wheels and goes “beep.” For a certain fee, its driver will pick you up from where you are now and will shortly thereafter drop you off at the place you want to go. Twenty years ago, that car was an ordinary taxicab that you called on a landline. Now, it’s an Uber you summoned with an app on your smartphone. What’s the difference? In the world of regulation, everything. [More]
Why Can’t I Reach A Live Human Being At Uber When I Need To?
By 6.9.15
Although there are many things that used to require a phone to do that we can now accomplish with an e-mail, a swipe, a tap or a Tweet, there are customer service situations — compromised accounts, dangerous situations and other scenarios — where we still want to be able to reach out and actually talk to a live human being. But unlike many other consumer-facing companies, Uber doesn’t offer a contact phone number or a more immediate way to get in touch with the company besides a support e-mail address. [More]
GM May Face Federal Wire Fraud Charges Over Ignition Defect
By 6.9.15
We recently told you that prosecutors were considering bringing criminal charges against General Motors over the long-delayed ignition switch recall that resulted in more than 100 deaths, and now the picture is becoming clearer as to what charges the car maker might face. [More]
How Recalls Work (And Don’t) And Why They’re All So Different
By 6.8.15
Manufacturers — of all kinds — usually try hard to get it right on the first try. From banana muffins to bicycle helmets, it’s in a company’s best interests to make their products perfect. Not only is it better for their reputation and their business, but it’s less expensive, in the long run, and causes less trouble. Sometimes, though, something just goes wrong. [More]
Tesla Will Pay You Up To $1000 To Break Their Website — But Don’t Try It On The Cars
By 6.5.15
If there is one truism we can count on in the digital era, it is that everything has bugs. No matter how carefully designed or nominally secure something is, someone, somewhere, can find a vulnerability in it. [More]
Reports Show NHTSA Failed At First To Properly Investigate GM’s Ignition Switch Defect
By 6.5.15
Recently released internal reports from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that for nearly a decade the agency did little to adequately address concerns regarding the deadly General Motors ignition switch defect. [More]
Mazda Adds 540,000 Vehicles To Takata Airbag Recall List
By 6.5.15
The roster of vehicles recalled for Takata-produced airbags found to spew pieces of shrapnel with enough force to injure or kill occupants continues to grow. This time, the list increased by nearly 540,000 Mazda automobiles. [More]
