National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator, Mark Rosekind, has indicated that the nation’s top automotive regulator may take a more aggressive stance toward Fiat-Chrysler following a massive $150 million judgment against the company over the burning death of 4 year-old Remi Walden due to an exploding gas tank on his Aunt’s 1999 Jeep Grand
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted unanimously on Thursday, April 9th to issue the largest fine for a utility company in state history, and the largest fine in U.S. history for a natural gas utility. The $1.6 billion fine against PG&E was issued in response to a 2010 pipeline explosion in the San Francisco
In the wake of the global auto industry facing an enormous amount of recalls and legal actions, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has endured a sizeable amount of scrutiny in recent years. Some, including myself, have raised questions regarding lax testing standards, and allegations of cronyism between the agency and automakers. Given the
While the General Motors ignition switch recall has dominated recent automotive headlines, it has been far from the only major automaker to face recent massive legal challenges. Over 60 million vehicles were recalled in 2014, and the 80,000 complaints received was more than twice the previous record set in 2004. Each of the top 8
A Supreme Court hearing that began Monday regarding personalized Texas license plates will likely reignite the debate over protected speech and could potentially redefine the ways that governments collect revenue. Like many states, Texas offers drivers the opportunity to purchase specialty plates advertising causes or non-profit groups. Many groups pay the state to produce the
The Federal Highway Administration recently gave passing grades to the ET-Plus guardrail in four recent crash tests; however, both the agency and embattled manufacturer, Trinity Industries, are now facing an even higher degree of scrutiny. The ET-Plus passed despite the final test causing a sizeable gash in the driver’s side door, causing extensive damage to
A bill introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), coinciding with a massive national awareness campaign by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund may soon put asbestos exposure near the forefront of American consciousness. The goal of the Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database (READ) Act is to modernize the 1988 Asbestos Information Act, signed by
Today, the Chicago Tribune reported that two additional deaths have been attributed to faulty General Motors ignition switches. So far, the total lies at 35 dead and many more injuries have been legally tied to the defective ignition switch problem that sparked a recall of millions of GM cars and trucks this year. Sadly, it
This week, the United States National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) widened the scope of a dangerous airbag system recall, now including 7.8 million BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, GM, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, and Toyota cars and trucks, model years 2000 to 2008. Manufactured by the Japanese multinational Takata Corporation, these airbags use a defective
Since the late 1800’s, medical professionals and commercial manufacturers have known that asbestos is dangerous, linked to a variety of pulmonary ailments. Since the middle of the 20th century, these groups have known that exposure to asbestos is linked to mesothelioma, a cancer of organ lining that is almost always fatal. Most often, mesothelioma results