Archive for the “Safety” Category

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Federal safety regulators said Wednesday they have received 10 complaints from drivers alleging sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles that have already been repaired under the automaker’s recent recall.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has reached out to the consumers in question to gather more information about the complaints, which were not immediately verifiable.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at msnbc.com

WASHINGTON – A House lawmaker said Friday that internal Toyota documents show the automaker deliberately withheld key vehicle design and testing evidence in lawsuits filed by Toyota drivers injured in crashes.

In a letter to Toyota’s top North American executive, House oversight committee Chairman Edolphus Towns accused Toyota of shielding its testing data on potential problems with Toyota vehicles.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at news.yahoo.com

SEATTLE – Boeing Co.’s giant 747-8 freighter should make its first flight Monday after performing well on taxi tests and reaching a top speed of about 103.5 mph, the company said.

At 250 feet long, the plane is the largest Boeing has ever built and about 18 feet longer than the existing 747-400 jumbo jet. The company conducted taxi tests on the freighter Saturday at Paine Field in Everett, north of Seattle.

“Based on early indications, the airplane is ready to fly,” said Mo Yahyavi, the 747 program’s vice president and general manager.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at msnbc.com

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp. plans to start sending parts to dealers in the coming days to fix a sticky gas pedal problem that has tarnished its image and led to the recall of 4.2 million cars and trucks on three continents, according to people briefed on the matter.

Toyota plans to reveal details of the fix on Monday morning, according to two dealers who asked not to be identified because the plan had not been announced

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — State laws that ban drivers from talking on hand-held cell phones seem to have no effect on crash rates, according to a study released Friday.

The Highway Loss Data Institute compared collisions of 100 insured vehicles per year in four different jurisdictions before and after bans on handheld cell phone use took effect. The study was done in New York, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and California.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at msnbc.com

When disaster strikes, many people’s first instinct is to reach for the phone.

When the earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, Trilogy International Partners’ first instinct was to make sure the phones would start working again.

The Bellevue, Wash., company owns Voila, the second-largest cell phone operator in Haiti. The company, which has about 1 million subscribers in Haiti, dispatched planes as soon as possible to the island nation and was one of the first to land at the airport.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at mcall.com

As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear this week, it’s a good a time to ask: Are the toys we’re buying safer than the ones a couple years ago, when millions of playthings were recalled because of high lead levels and other hazards?

The world’s largest toy manufacturer, Mattel Inc., says yes, as do federal regulators.

But after spending a few hours roaming the Toy District in downtown Los Angeles, I’m not so sure.

In one shop, I found a package of brightly colored rattles and pacifiers manufactured in China. The package depicts babies in cribs playing with the contents, which include small pieces that could break or be bitten off.

It says in large print that the rattles and pacifiers are for ages 6 months and up.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Federal regulators announced Tuesday the recall of 110,000 Toyota pickup trucks in 20 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that road salts can cause “excessive corrosion” of the Toyota Tundra’s frame, which holds a spare tire mounted underneath the vehicle. NHTSA said dislodged spare tires can cause hazards for other vehicles on the road.

The corrosion can also damage the rear brake lines and lead to brake system failures, the NHTSA said.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The federal agency in charge of product safety announced the recall of 2.1 million cribs Monday, citing defective hardware that can cause toddlers and infants to suffocate.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said parents should immediately stop using Stork Craft drop-side cribs, which are made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., of British Columbia, Canada.

About 1.2 million of the cribs have been distributed in the United States and 968,000 units distributed in Canada.

The recall includes about 147,000 Stork Craft drop-side cribs with the Fisher-Price logo, the CPSC said.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — As the H1N1 swine flu virus starts its second major sweep through the U.S., business owners are bracing for the impact of a worse-than-usual flu season on their workforces. That’s reviving debate on a contentious issue: What kind of sick leave should companies offer employees — and should it be mandated by law?

“On the one hand, you have all of our top officials saying, ‘Do the responsible thing. If you’re sick, stay home,’” says Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that is pushing for paid sick leave laws. “You have advice from the Centers for Disease Control on exactly how many days you should stay home, and how many days we need to keep kids at home. And at the same time, we have a country where almost half the workforce doesn’t have a single paid sick day.”

Comments No Comments »

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A final proposal for new fuel economy standards was unveiled Tuesday in a joint announcement by the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The regulation requires all passenger cars and light trucks sold in the United States to get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon by model year 2016. By that year, cars will be expected to average about 39 mpg and 30 mpg for trucks.

Current fuel economy standards for new cars are 27.5 mpg for cars and 23.1 mpg for trucks.

The new standards were originally announced in May by the Obama administration, before some details were finalized.

Comments No Comments »

Full Story At  CNNMoney.com

Chrysler LLC is in the midst of intense negotiations – discussions that now seem troubled – to form a partnership with Italy’s Fiat.

Chrysler has been scrambling to meet the U.S. government’s mandate that, in part, requires it to sell more low emission vehicles. To do this quickly Chrysler needs a partner.

Fiat seems like a good fit for Chrysler for several reasons. The first, and probably biggest, reason is simply that Fiat is willing to enter into this relationship.

Comments No Comments »