Eight months after Oliver Schmidt — a former executive with Volkswagen’s regulatory compliance office — was arrested for his part in the company’s “Dieselgate” scandal, he has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
New Drivers In Texas Have To Take Online Class About Distracted Driving
By 8.4.17
An average of nine people die every day from crashes caused by distracted drivers, a statistic that’s especially tragic when those deaths could be preventable. That’s why Texas is expanding its requirement for new drivers to learn more about what they shouldn’t be doing behind the wheel. [More]
4 Things To Know About Uber’s Singapore Leasing Program & Recall Issues
By 8.4.17
For nearly two years, Uber has offered a car leasing program that aims to remedy one of the biggest obstacles for those who wanted to sign up as a driver, but didn’t haven anything to, you know, actually drive. While some Uber drivers have expressed their frustrations with the Xchange Leasing program, a new report suggests that those taking part in similar programs outside of the U.S. are facing more than high monthly payments; they’re dealing with allegedly defective and dangerous vehicles. [More]
Sewage Leak Splashes Hundreds Of Checked Bags At Nashville Airport
By 8.4.17
Yesterday morning, water from a restroom directly above the baggage handling area at Nashville’s airport leaked through the floor and onto hundreds of bags below. While the water came from a plugged toilet, officials treated it as sewage, and removed 380 bags from Southwest flights that were on the carousel to check for, um, dampness. [More]
American Airlines Strands Reporter At Airport For 24 Hours, Forcing Her To Subsist On Soft Pretzels & Licorice
By 8.3.17
In what sounds like a terrible idea for a Chopped spinoff, a reporter says she’s had to subsist on a diet consisting solely of snack food after various American Airlines delays trapped her at the airport for more than 24 hours. [More]
Elon Musk Compares Model 3 To Hamburgers
By 8.3.17
Listen, Elon Musk is not worried that around 63,000 people have decided against buying the Model 3 so far. Why? Because that’s nothing in the grand scheme of things and besides, the car is just like a hamburger. Wait, what? [More]
Qatar Airways Giving Up On Plan To Buy Large Chunk Of American Airlines
By 8.2.17
A few weeks after Qatar Airways let it be known that it was interested in purchasing about a 10% share in American Airlines, the carrier has decided to give up its pursuit. [More]
Airlines Have To Track Damaged Bags, But Not Damaged Wheelchairs — And A Veterans Group Is Suing Over It
By 8.2.17
You can track how an airline handles missing or damaged luggage, so shouldn’t you be able to find the data about how carriers deal with wheelchairs? A new rule that would mandate airlines to report information on wheelchairs and scooters in the same way they track other luggage has now been delayed, prompting a group of veterans to sue the Department of Transportation. [More]
Teen Allegedly Groped By Fellow United Airlines Traveler
By 8.2.17
When sending a child on a cross-country trip unaccompanied, parents will likely be worried until they receive a call that their child has arrived safely. But a Washington family never imagined that call would include news that their teen daughter had allegedly been groped by a fellow passenger. [More]
Teen Jumps From Emergency Exit Of Plane After Landing In San Francisco
By 8.2.17
That’s one illegal and dangerous way to exit a plane: A teenager flying from Panama City to San Francisco International Airport on Copa Airlines ditched the traditional deplaning method of waiting for others to exit through the front door and instead opened an over-wing emergency door, slid down the wing of the plane, and jumped to the tarmac. [More]
With 30 Hot Car Deaths So Far This Year, Lawmakers Once Again Push For Alert Systems
By 8.1.17
More than 30 children have died in hot cars so far in 2017, and two of those deaths occurred just last weekend. In an attempt to prevent these tragedies from happening, a group of lawmakers have once again introduced legislation that would require cars to be equipped with technology — that already exists — to alert drivers that a passenger remains in the back seat when a vehicle is turned off. [More]
Ford Adds Mute Button To New Mustang So You Don’t Drive Your Neighbors Crazy
By 8.1.17
To many car enthusiasts, the familiar vrooming rumble of the engine is half the appeal of a car. Your neighbors, however, may not feel particularly enamored of your showy V8 waking them up of a morning. And so in its latest line of Mustangs, Ford has included a surprising new feature: quiet mode. [More]
Report: Takata Airbag Repairs Are Going Slowly, Might Not Meet First Deadline
By 8.1.17
So far, more than 46 million shrapnel-shooting Takata airbag inflators have been recalled by more than a dozen automakers. With more airbags being added to the recall list, it might come as no surprise that carmakers are having a difficult time keeping pace with repairs. But a new report suggests that the replacement of the most dangerous airbags is taking too long, and millions are still likely to be waiting for a fix as a year-end deadline comes and goes. [More]
You Can Have Cheap Airfare Or Arrive On Time, But Not Both
By 8.1.17
While sometimes it seems like discount airlines are about to impose a fee for not being punched in the face, it’s true that ultra low-cost carriers do have to cut corners somewhere. It turns out that it’s really expensive to get planes full of people anywhere on time. [More]
Court Says FAA Must Explain Why It Won’t Do Anything To Stop “Incredibly Shrinking Airline Seat”
By 7.31.17
A federal appeals court has ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider a petition filed by consumer advocates seeking to halt the ever-decreasing size of airline seating arrangements. [More]
Report: 25,000 Wells Fargo Customers Lost Vehicles After Bank Charged For Unwanted Insurance
By 7.28.17
Nearly 25,000 Wells Fargo customers, including many servicemembers, lost their vehicles after failing to pay for unneeded, unwanted insurance the bank charged them for, according to a new report suggests. [More]
Honda Investigating Another Death Possibly Tied To Takata Airbag
By 7.28.17
Federal safety regulators and Honda have opened investigations into what could be the 13th U.S.-based death linked to recalled shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags. [More]
American Airlines To Notify Customers If Bags Are Delayed
By 7.27.17
For the better part of a year, airlines have experimented with different programs aimed at easing travelers’ frustrations when it comes to their checked luggage; from Alaska’s electronic baggage tags to Delta’s checked bag map. Now, its American Airlines turn, as the carrier launched an app update allowing passengers to receive notification when their bags are delayed. [More]
