Current Events

The Justice Department filed a civil complaint Monday against Volkswagen alleging nearly 600,000 cars with diesel engines in the U.S. violate emissions laws and that many were imported in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The lawsuit was filed in Detroit on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which worked with the California Air Resources Board in exposing the violations last year. VW has admitted to rigging cars with 2-liter diesel engines, and the EPA found violations in vehicles with 3-liter diesels as well.

The complaint alleges that the nearly 600,000 diesel engine vehicles built since 2009 were equipped with illegal "defeat devices" installed to impair emission control systems. That resulted in higher emissions than allowed by law. The lawsuit asks for penalties of up to $37,500 per car.

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The first case against General Motors Co. over its faulty ignition switches can proceed to trial after a federal judge rejected the auto maker’s bid to dismiss the allegations in the case outright.

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From Ferrari to Subaru, the auto industry is ending 2015 with a flurry of safety-related recalls, more than 1 million in the last week alone.

Final figures for 2015 haven’t been released yet, but they’re expected to come in as a close second to the record 64 million vehicles recalled in the U.S. in 2014. And they cover a wide variety of issues and an even wider range of vehicles from faulty transmissions to fire hazards and exploding airbags.

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A Georgia law firm accused by a federal regulator of operating an illegal debt-collection lawsuit mill has settled the charges. The firm agreed to pay a $3.1 million penalty without admitting any wrongdoing.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Marietta, Ga.-based Frederick J. Hanna & Associates PC last year, accusing it of violating federal consumer-protection laws.

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles says it is going to recall 570,000 SUVs for fire risks.

Specifically, the recall is associated with troubles with the vehicles' mirror wiring along with the low-pressure hose.

The automaker is recalling 477,000 2011 through 2012 models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs.

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From 2010 to 2012, Honda Motor Co. said it made multiple attempts to notify the owner of a 2001 Accord that the car’s air bag was faulty and needed replacing.

Last July, with the car sold to another person and repairs still uncompleted, the vehicle crashed in Pennsylvania and the Takata Corp. air bag shattered, fatally injuring the driver, a minor whose name was not released, according to a U.S. auto-safety agency. The day before the accident, Honda had mailed the new owner yet another recall notice.

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Five members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, including Reps. Niki Tsongas and Seth Moulton, are asking federal authorities to reconsider their decision to approve the pain medication OxyContin for use by children as young as 11 years old.

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Federal safety regulators continue to crack down on automakers that fail to report problems quickly as BMW agreed to a possible $40 million fine for issues related to its Mini brand.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration levied the punishment after the automaker failed tell owners about a recall of the Mini Cooper that failed a side-impact airbag crash test.

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Earlier this year, Olympus came under fire after its duodenoscope devices were implicated in superbug outbreaks at medical centers in the U.S. But the company's questionable practices regarding the products date further back, as Olympus played down an early report of a superbug outbreak linked to its device overseas.

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Raechel and Jacqueline Houck had a five-hour drive from their mother’s Ojai home north to Santa Cruz. They wanted to see some friends along the way and Raechel had to work that evening, so the sisters hugged their family and, with Raechel behind the wheel, drove off in their rented PT Cruiser.

Raechel, 24, had just returned from two years in Italy and had come south to be fitted for a bridesmaid's dress for a friend’s wedding. Jacqueline, 20, was about to travel to Central America for a few months and promised her mother they’d see each other soon.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., still reeling from recent outbreaks of E. coli and norovirus at its restaurants, is now being investigated for its link to a new spate of illnesses in three additional states.

Five people in Kansas, North Dakota and Oklahoma have fallen ill from an E. coli strain with a rare DNA fingerprint, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday in a statement. All five, who became sick on dates ranging from Nov. 18 to Nov. 26, reported eating at a Chipotle in the week before their illnesses started.

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