Archive for the ‘Department of Transportation’ Category

One week ago today, owners of eight Toyota and Lexus models got an urgent plea from the U.S. Department of Transportation, delivered via the media: Remove your driver's side floor mat immediately, and don't replace it until you've taken your car to the dealer.

With much of the coverage calling it a recall of 3.8 million vehicles,  Toyota issued a cautious statement the next day saying that it wasn't yet a recall but a "safety advisory."

Well, it's a recall now.

The company will send letters to customers before the end of the month--and it left open the possibility that the list vehicles being recalled might expand beyond those already...

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, new fuel efficiency and emissions regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation could have a serious impact on gas-guzzling luxury vehicles. If approved as they stand in draft form, the regulations provide very little room for deviation, which could result in some very uncomfortable mergers and partnerships among brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche.

Current regulations allow manufacturers to pay fines on vehicles that fail to meet U.S. efficiency and emissions standards. Those fines are fairly small, and they're passed on to luxury consumers, who...

At a meeting on auto safety organized by the U.S. Transportation Department, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood this morning reported on the dangers of distracted driving. His figures were grim: last year, almost 6,000 traffic fatalities and 515,000 injuries were linked to driver distraction.

The goal of the two-day "distracted driving summit" is for the assembled experts to draw up a list of recommendations that can be presented to Congress. Ultimately, LaHood hopes to see those recommendations implemented in legislation to restrict drivers' ability to talk on cell phones or text-message behind the wheel. LaHood has compared the meeting...