Are shifters getting too complicated?
The death of 27-year-old Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin has again thrust an auto recall story into the national spotlight.
It has also brought scrutiny to a once-simple function that has grown more complicated in recent years: shifting a vehicle with an automatic transmission into drive or reverse and back to park or neutral.
In letter to Franken, FDA defends handling of Medtronic’s Infuse study
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is defending a decision to accept more than 1,000 patient injury reports from Medtronic in summary form, years after they were supposed to be submitted.
The FDA responded earlier this month to questions from U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota by saying it took no action against Medtronic for...
Risks Higher for Front-Seat Passengers in Some S.U.V. Crashes, Tests Show
Front-seat passengers in some small sport utility vehicles may not be as well protected as drivers in certain types of crashes, according to recent tests of seven vehicles by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The tests, known as small overlap frontal tests, were similar to the kind that the institute conducts by directing...
Fiat Chrysler Moves Up Gearshift Repairs After Death of Anton Yelchin
DETROIT — In an era of unprecedented scrutiny of automotive safety, Fiat Chrysler is learning that one celebrity’s death can turn a seemingly routine recall into a corporate crisis.
The death on Sunday of the actor Anton Yelchin, crushed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward down his driveway, has lent a new sense of...
Could New Technology Help Prevent Hot Car Deaths?
A Texas father has been arrested after leaving his 6-month-old daughter in an overheated car where she may have succumbed to heatstroke. But the young child's death was far from a rare occurrence.
So far this year, at least 16 children have reportedly died from heatstroke after being left in hot cars...
Fiat Chrysler to stop using defective Takata air bags next week
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said today it will no longer be using any Takata air bag inflators that use ammonium nitrate without a protective powder as the propellant in any of its vehicles in North America by the end of next week.
Ruptures of those Takata inflators have been tied to ten deaths and more than 100 injuries...
Anton Yelchin’s Death Highlights a Known Issue With Jeeps
The death of the actor Anton Yelchin, killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled backward down a driveway and crushed him against a mailbox pillar last weekend, has cast a public spotlight on a problem with some models of Jeeps and other Fiat Chrysler vehicles.
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Jeep That Crushed Anton Yelchin Had Been Recalled
The 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that rolled backward down a driveway and killed the actor Anton Yelchin early Sunday was a model that Fiat Chrysler has recalled for a gearshift issue that has confused drivers, leading them to accidentally leave the car in neutral when they...
Supreme Court rules Mass. family can continue suit over daughter’s death
The US Supreme Court Thursday handed a partial victory to a Massachusetts family who sued the country’s largest owner of psychiatric hospitals over the death of their daughter. But the justices sent the case back to a lower court for further review.
Both sides seemed to find something to like in the complex decision written...
Why back-up cameras haven’t stopped drivers from backing into stuff
With or without eyes in the back of their heads, drivers keep hitting things.
Despite the growing prevalence of back-up cameras, federal data shows that this technology hasn't significantly cut down on cars backing into people and causing them harm. That research on so-called "back-over incidents" comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration moves to make back-up cameras...
