Issues
A bill – known as S. 2210 – introduced in the Rhode Island State Senate would make it harder to hold insurance companies liable for unfair insurance practices. Under the state’s current law, failure to have a licensed appraiser conduct an appraisal on a vehicle estimated to have suffered at least $2,500 in damage constitutes…
A bill introduced in the state of Washington’s legislature would create a new comprehensive regulatory framework that allows autonomous vehicles (AV) to operate on roads in the state without a human driver. Currently, AVs may only operate in the state under limited testing purposes. The bill – known as Senate Bill (SB) 5594 – will…
A bill was introduced in the Rhode Island Legislature that would restrict insurance companies’ ability to refuse to cover OEM repair parts in certain situations. Under the current law in Rhode Island, insurers are not allowed to require the use of non-OEM parts on vehicles that are less than 48 months beyond their manufactured date,…
The Automotive Service Association (ASA), the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Alliance), and the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) have sent a joint letter to Congress offering to assist constituents who are encountering difficulties locating vehicle diagnostic and repair data. The letter acknowledges that the rapid pace of automotive innovation can lead to confusion with…
A bill introduced in Hawaii’s legislature on January 19, 2024 would lower the working hours thresholds for an employee to be legally entitled to overtime compensation. If passed, Senate Bill (SB) 2610 – which was introduced by State Senator Henry Aquino (D) – would mandate: At least 1.5x pay for work exceeding 40 hours in…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent its high profile tailpipe rules proposal to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review. The proposal’s intended impact is for 67 percent of light-vehicles sold in the United States by 2032 to electric vehicles (EVs). OMB is responsible for overseeing and implementing…
The Biden Administration has announced that it has awarded grants worth a combined $623 million to help expand EV charging infrastructure in the United States. Administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the grants are funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which allocated $2.5 billion towards a Charging and Fueling Infrastructure…
The United States House of Representatives plans to vote this week on a resolution that would nullify a rule – finalized by the Federal Highway Administration – that would temporarily waive certain domestic content requirements for electric vehicle (EV) chargers funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA). The IIJA provides $7.5…
The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has formally launched an effort to require that drunk or impaired driving prevention technologies come standard in new vehicles. In its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, the agency requests the public’s input on the information needed to develop a rulemaking proposal “that require…
United States Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have sent a letter to Elon Musk following a report from Reuters on Tesla vehicles’ safety flaws. In their letter, the Senators note that, “[t]he report details complaints about suspension connection points, including fore and aft links, and sudden losses of power steering – often…