Just days after Ford bit the bullet and recalled nearly 400,000 vehicles under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a door latch issue, the automaker is at it again, issuing four recalls covering nearly 600,000 vehicles with an array of potential problems. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Regulators Gearing Up To Take Action On Slow-Moving Takata, Jeep Recall Fixes
By 4.29.15
After months of expressing concern over the slow-moving pace automobile and parts manufacturers have taken to remedy defects associated with nearly 1.5 million Jeeps that can explode following low-speed rear-end collisions and more than 25 million vehicles equipped with defective, shrapnel-shooting airbags, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is poised to take aggressive action to better ensure the safety of owners of those vehicles. [More]
Recalled Jeni’s Ice Cream Will Become Fertilizer, Provide Electricity
By 4.28.15
Food that’s recalled because it can be potentially dangerous to the public doesn’t have to go to waste. Jeni’s has to dispose of 535,000 pounds of ice cream, but they aren’t just tossing it all in a landfill. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the potentially listeria-contaminated desserts will instead go into an anaerobic digester, which provides electricity while it digests and produces fertilizer. [Columbus Dispatch] [More]
Upcoming Online Airfare Comparison Changes Raise Privacy, Discrimination Concerns
By 4.28.15
A group of senators raised concerns Tuesday that a new airfare comparison shopping system currently being developed could lead to unfair discrimination practices based on information the airlines receive from customers. [More]
Uber Expands Food Delivery Service UberEATS To Chicago, New York City
By 4.28.15
Since opening for business, ride-sharing company Uber hasn’t been content with simply giving customers rides from point A to point B. After dabbling in all kinds of pilot programs including on-demand drop-offs of everyday essentials and courier services, the company seems to have found a second niche: food delivery. And so, Uber plans to expand UberEATS to Chicago and New York this week.
GM Ignition Death Toll Rises Again, Now At 90
By 4.27.15
For more than a decade, General Motors staffers and federal regulators ignored signs of defective ignition switches in various GM vehicles. Meanwhile, hundreds of people were being hurt or killed because the car company failed to acknowledge its error. [More]
Ford Recalls 400,000 Vehicles Under Investigation By NHTSA For Door Latch Issues
By 4.27.15
Nearly seven months after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first opened an investigation into thousands of Ford vehicles that may contain malfunctioning door latches, the car manufacturer has issued a recall of nearly 400,000 sedans. [More]
Tesla Testing Soon-To-Be-Launched Batteries At Several Walmart Stores
By 4.23.15
With Tesla’s “major new product line” announcement scheduled to take place next week, new reports have surfaced that support the idea the company’s much-hyped unveiling is for a new line of batteries to power homes and businesses. One in particular points out the company’s new energy source is already at work powering several Walmart stores. [More]
Trek Recalls 998,000 Bikes Over Brake Issue That Left One Rider Paralyzed
By 4.22.15
Trek is recalling almost one million bikes in the United States and Canada after an issue with a quick-release lever on the bike’s front wheel hub left one rider permanently paralyzed. [More]
59,203 Pounds Of Trader Joe’s And Al Fresco Chicken Sausage May Be Seasoned With Plastic Shards
By 4.21.15
A good chicken sausage is a nice mix of meat, seasonings, and the occasional vegetable in a casing. What is not supposed to be part of that blend of ingredients are shards of plastic, which are harmful to your teeth and don’t taste very good. Sausage sold under the Trader Joe’s house brand and the Al Fresco brand been recalled because it may have that problem. [More]
Judge: Uber Must Face Lawsuit Claiming Discrimination Against Blind Passengers With Service Dogs
By 4.21.15
Months after the National Federation of the Blind claimed in a federal civil rights lawsuit that some of Uber’s drivers have discriminated against blind passengers by refusing to pick them up when they had guide dogs — and in one case, allegedly putting a service dog in a car’s trunk — a judge has ruled that the ride-hailing company must defend itself against the suit. [More]
Blue Bell Creameries Recalls All Products After More Ice Cream Samples Test Positive For Listeria
By 4.21.15
It has not been a great couple of weeks for Blue Bell Creameries, and it’s just gotten worse: A month after the company issued a recall of certain ice cream treats believed to be linked to an outbreak of listeriosis — a recall that kept expanding — the company is now pulling all products off the shelves after two more ice cream samples tested positive for listeria. [More]
Dutch Prosecutors Open Criminal Investigation Into Uber Following Violations Of Banned Service
By 4.17.15
Uber’s latest hurdle to provide service in Europe, where many cities and countries have banned the ride-sharing service, comes in the form of a criminal investigation by Dutch prosecutors. [More]
Nissan Expands Recall Of Vehicles With Takata Airbags, Includes Some Sentra Models
By 4.17.15
After several months without additional recalls of vehicles with potentially defective Takata-produced airbags, Nissan has opened the gates again, adding some 45,000 sedans to the list of cars equipped with airbags found to spew pieces of shrapnel at passengers and drivers upon deployment. [More]
Uber Won’t Allow Drivers To Discriminate Against Gay Passengers Even If A State Law Allows It
By 4.16.15
Even as lawmakers in Oklahoma sign off on a ridesharing service bill that removes protections for gay and transgender passengers, Uber has made it clear that changes to state laws will not alter its anti-discrimination policy. [More]
Volkswagen Recalls 20,000 Chrysler-Built Minivans With Ignition Switch Issue
By 4.16.15
Nearly a month after Fiat Chrysler recalled 702,000 minivans and SUVs because of an ignition switch issue that can lead to disabled safety features, Volkswagen announced it would recall more than 20,000 Routan minivans that were produced by Chrysler at the same facility. [More]
GM Won’t Face Ignition Defect Lawsuits, Thanks To 2009 Bankruptcy
By 4.15.15
The same process that allowed a bankrupt General Motors to work its way back (with the help of several billion dollars from taxpayers) to being a viable business is, six years later, helping to shield the company from potentially billions of dollars in damages from class action fraud lawsuits involving the long-ignored ignition defect that claimed the lives of at least 84 people. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Subaru Impreza Airbag System
By 4.14.15
Airbags are meant protect a driver or passenger in the event of a collision, but the only way for those safety devices to actually cushion a person from the impact of a crash is if the device activates. Apparently that hasn’t been happening in some Subaru sedans, leading the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to initiate a probe into the problem. [More]
