Current Events

Even though they haven't been at fault, self-driving test cars are involved in crashes at five times the rate of conventional cars, a new study finds.

Even when the figures are adjusted to take into account that many accidents involving conventional cars go unreported, the study from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute found that the rate is still twice as high.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — All five Gulf of Mexico states have reached a settlement with the owner of the offshore drilling rig involved in the 2010 BP oil spill.

A filing from Transocean and attorneys for Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas says all of the states have entered a settlement agreement. The filing was dated Tuesday. Alabama's governor announced that state's settlement with Transocean last week.

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WASHINGTON—The tire registration and recall process is broken, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, and the agency has 11 sweeping recommendations to fix it.

Mandatory point-of-sale tire registration, electronic means of capturing registration information, full tire identification numbers on both sidewalls and easy-to-use safety recall lookup sites are among the major recommendations made by the NTSB in the special investigation report on passenger vehicle tire safety it approved 4-0 at a public meeting Oct. 27.

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After an investigation by federal regulators, Honda said on Thursday that it would recall more than 300,000 2008-9 Accords because the side airbags could deploy without the vehicle being in a crash. Honda said it was aware of 19 minor injuries.

The automaker said if the ignition was on and the door was “forcefully slammed” the side airbags could deploy. Honda blamed the problem on a sensor being improperly calibrated, and said it could be corrected with a software update. The action also includes about 20,000 vehicles in Canada and about 10,600 in Mexico.

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Volkswagen executives on Wednesday signaled that the cost of the automaker's emissions scandal will mushroom but indicated that the company can absorb the blow.

New Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller, speaking to American reporters in a conference call, pledged to overhaul the company's operations, expose wrongdoers and chart a new global strategy.

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Washington — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said Tuesday it is recalling 180,000 SUVs and trucks in two recalls for potentially faulty rear axles and fire risks from air conditioning lines.

The Italian American automaker is recalling nearly 94,000 2015 Jeep Cherokee SUVs to inspect and if needed replace vehicle air-conditioning lines.

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General Motors is recalling about 1.4 million vehicles, including about 1.3 million in the United States, because oil dripping on hot engine components has continued to cause fires despite three earlier recalls, the automaker said on Tuesday.

The company is aware of 1,345 fires in vehicles repaired in earlier recalls, Alan Adler, a G.M. spokesman, said in an email. There were 19 injuries described as minor and some structures, such as garages, were damaged, but the number was not immediately available, he said.

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At least eight people who received treatment at a hospital in York, Pa., have developed an infection from a medical device used during open-heart surgery, hospital and health officials said. Four of those who were infected have died, though officials said it was not clear whether the infection was the primary cause.

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Eating hot dogs, ham and other processed meat can cause colorectal cancer, and eating red meat "probably" can cause cancer, the World Health Organization's cancer agency reported Monday.

Kurt Straif of the International Agency for Cancer Research said the risk of developing colorectal cancer from eating processed meat remains small but rises with the amount consumed. Consuming red meat was linked to colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancer, but the link was not as strong, the IARC report said.

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With twin boys ready for school, Jason and Jessica Pollard braced for paperwork, parent-teacher meetings and shopping trips for supplies. But they were not prepared for the reception their son, Owen, then 5, received from school administrators.

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Whole Foods is recalling over 230 pounds of curry chicken salad products due to concern over possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. The grocery store chain is also recalling packages of its classic deli pasta salad, according to a statement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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