Monthly Archives: <span>October 2017</span>

Autonomous Cars Would Ease Traffic, Increase Sprawl

A new study inspired by Boston’s early experiments with self-driving cars finds that the technology could ease congestion, but might also lead to more cars on the road and further encourage urban sprawl. The report, released Tuesday by the Boston …

Smartphones Are Killing Americans, But Nobody’s Counting

Jennifer Smith doesn’t like the term “accident.” It implies too much chance and too little culpability. A “crash” killed her mother in 2008, she insists, when her car was broadsided by another vehicle while on her way to pick up …

DFS Finalizes Regulation to Strengthen New York No-Fault Insurance Law

A new regulation issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) aims to curb costs and abuses of New York’s no-fault insurance law while leveling the playing field for New York insurers, according to a DFS press …

NTSB: Pilot in 2016 Balloon Crash Was as Impaired as a Drunk Driver

The pilot in the deadliest hot air balloon crash in U.S. history was likely impaired by opioids and sedatives when he ignored weather warnings and flew the ride into a power line, investigators said Tuesday. Besides Valium and oxycodone, there …

Entangled Dock Line Blamed for Rhode Island Tall Ship Crash

The owner of a tall ship that crashed into four other boats after a seafood festival is blaming the crash on a dock line that became entangled on its two propellers. The SSV Oliver Hazard Perry crashed Sunday in Newport …

Toyota’s Use of AI Highlights Reading of Driver Emotions

Driving sleepy? Hungry? Toyota will be highlighting an array of experimental technologies aimed at improving safety and anticipating drivers’ desires at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month. Toyota Motor Corp. manager Makoto Okabe told reporters Monday that the use …

$4M Payout for Lost Ring Not Enough, Ex-Tulsa Mayor Sues Insurer, Agent

The former mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is suing an insurance company and broker because she says the $4 million she received for a lost blue diamond ring isn’t enough. The Tulsa World reports that Kathy Taylor’s federal lawsuit filed in …

Latest Gulf Coast Oil Spill May Be Largest Since 2010 BP Disaster

An oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last week may be the largest in the U.S. since the 2010 blowout at BP Plc’s Macondo well that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig and killed 11 people. LLOG Exploration Co. reported …

Intel Proposes System to Make Self-Driving Cars Blameless

Intel Corp. has developed a system it says ensures that self-driving vehicles can’t cause accidents where they are at fault, an effort to reassure a skeptical public and help speed adoption of driverless cars on the road. The world’s largest …

Cause of Fatal Honolulu High-Rise Fire Remains Unknown

Honolulu investigators can’t determine the cause of a deadly high-rise apartment building fire that resulted in more than $107 million in damage, fire officials said. “The HFD fire investigators have completed an extensive and scientifically based investigation in full collaboration …