Category Archives: public health

Polaris – Stop-Ride/Stop-Sale for Fires on Off-Road Vehicles

Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) is issuing a stop-ride/stop-sale advisory, pending a formal recall for 2016 RZR Turbo off-road vehicles. Continue reading

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Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Debuts in US After 3 Year Lag

The Outlander PHEV move follows the introduction of the Outlander last year in the U.S. after it was on sale for almost three years elsewhere. Even though SUV sales account for 40% of the U.S. market, poor Mitsubishi U.S. sales and the Great Recession that started in 2008 roughing up all automakers precluded plugging it in here. Continue reading

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Ten Carmakers to fit AEB – Auto Emergency Braking – on New Vehicles as Standard Equipment

FCA, aka, Chrysler, which has more than its share of problems with DOT over safety matters, is notably for its absence. FCA as well as other automakers will face increasing pressure to add AEB as more systems are added at competitors. Continue reading

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Automakers Protest European Laws Targeting Diesel Use

The automakers reason, not without some basis in fact – that the most effective way to improve air quality is getting older cars and trucks off the road. New vehicles less than one year old are roughly 5% of the road population in the EU. As more of the older diesels are replaced, it looks like fewer of them will be diesels, no matter how clean the newest ones are. Continue reading

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Thanksgiving for Our Tattered Democracy

The most American of holidays, Thanksgiving, has its roots in early 17th century pilgrims – illegal aliens in a sense, as immigrant celebrations of survival because of bountiful – and importantly – shared harvests. Continue reading

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EPA Proposes to Replace Harmful HFC Greenhouse Gases

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency – EPA- is proposing to ban the use of certain hydro-fluorocarbon chemicals that it claims significantly contribute to climate change. This is the agency’s second action aimed at reducing emissions of HFCs, a class of potent greenhouse gases. Continue reading

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Automaker Defense of Hands-Free Devices Hooey AAA Says

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is taking on the oft-used automaker defense their profitable selling of hands-free electronic devices that are expanding exponentially in new cars. The latest data show that dangerous mental distractions exist even when drivers “keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.” Continue reading

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Milestones – Nissan Begins Assembly of 2013 LEAF EV in Tennessee

Nissan is starting U.S. assembly of the 2013 LEAF electric car at its manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, where it will be made along with the far more popular Altima and Maxima models. Since 2010 Leaf has been imported from Oppama, Japan. Continue reading

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DOT Launches ‘Choose the Right Seat’ for Children in Cars

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages one through 12 years old. From 2006 to 2010, 4,028 children aged 12 and younger were killed in crashes involving passenger vehicles. Another estimated 660,000 children were injured in crashes – a figure greater than the entire population of Boston, Massachusetts. Continue reading

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EPA Ordered to Check State Plans Cutting Haze Pollutants

EPA initially issued a rule in 1999 requiring states to submit regional haze plans. These plans were due in December 2007. National Parks Conservation Association and other environmental groups sued the agency in August 2011 to take action on these plans. Today’s consent decree resolves the litigation. Continue reading

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Fuel Economy Regulations Risk Huge Job Losses, While Increasing Environmental Damage, CAR Study Predicts

This comes as the U.S. national unemployment rate hovers at an official 9.8%, which is an understated number since it doesn’t include under-employed, forced retirees or beaten down job seekers who are the victims of Republican ‘socialism and tax cuts for the rich’ policies.  Continue reading

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Help Teens Cope with Dangerous Winter Roads

Now that winter is arriving in our northern latitudes, drivers will need to deal with the ice, snow, and other hazards that turn roads treacherous and contribute to the more than 1.5 million weather-related car crashes that occur each year, according to the National Research Council.  And if my experience is representative, more people than teens need to think about navigating a two-ton car or sport ute through the slop. Continue reading

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