Posts by Madi Hawkins

Department of Transportation Announces EV Charging Station Program The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) posted a request for comments today in the Federal Register related to the new electric vehicle (EV) charging station program. This program, which was authorized by H.R. 3684, the bipartisan infrastructure plan, will distribute money through discretionary grants for electric vehicle…

Supreme Court Rejects Volkswagen Appeals on Potential Emissions Cheating Liability This week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from automaker Volkswagen related to their potential emissions cheating scandal. This means that the case will go back to lower courts to determine whether or not Volkswagen is liable, and to what extent they will…

Federal Court Blocks President Biden’s Vaccination Mandate A Louisiana federal appeals court has blocked the mandate issued by President Joe Biden that would require companies with 100 or more employees to either verify that their employees are vaccinated or require them to wear face masks and submit to weekly COVID-19 tests. The panel of judges…

Massachusetts Bill Would Place Time Limit on Insurance Claims Investigations A committee of the Massachusetts legislature held a hearing this week on H. 1151, a bill that would limit the amount of time insurance companies have to investigate the cause of a loss, and would require the insurer to make payments for the vehicle while…

IIHS Study Shows Better Headlights Lead to Less Crashes According to a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), vehicles with headlights that earn a “good” rating have a 19% lower nighttime crash rate than those with worse ratings. In the study, researchers point out that federal headlight regulations, which have not…

FTC Warns For-Profit Colleges Against Making False Claims: Includes those that teach collision repair. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued notices to 70 for-profit higher education institutions this week, warning them that false claims regarding students’ potential earnings post-graduation would be met with severe financial penalties. False claims would include misrepresenting the opportunities available for…

U.S. Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing on Apprenticeships On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled “Getting America Ready to Work– Successful on the job, apprenticeship training programs to help workers and businesses get ready to work”. The hearing included witness testimony from Noel Ginsburg, founder and…

ASA Signs Autonomous Vehicle Letter to Secretary Buttigieg The Automotive Service Association signed a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg along with other industry stakeholders such as the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). The letter is a request to the U.S. Department of Transportation to continue their…