Ray LaHood

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Feds Fine Toyota $16.4M

 Feds Fine Toyota $16.4M 
Apr 5, 2010 4:18 PM CDT

Feds Fine Toyota $16.4M

Automaker has the right to appeal penalty

(Newser) - Toyota is still paying for its decision to wait 4 months before announcing a recall and notifying federal regulators of the "sticky pedal" defect—and the automaker will pay even more: a $16.4 million fine imposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this afternoon. Toyota has 2...

US May Require Brake Override Systems

Obama administration 'looking at it,' LaHood says

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering ordering automakers to install brake override systems in their new cars, Ray LaHood told the Senate Commerce Committee today. “We’re looking at it,” the transportation secretary said, in a hearing on the runaway Toyota problem. “We think it is a good...

Woman's 6-Mile Terror Ride to Open Toyota Hearings

Pressure mounts on Toyota as House investigation kicks off

(Newser) - A House panel probing acceleration problems with Toyota vehicles will begin hearing testimony today from safety experts, Toyota's American president, and a Tennessee woman who says her Lexus suddenly zoomed to 100 miles per hour while she was driving on an interstate, the AP reports. Rhonda Smith says the emergency...

LaHood Backtracks on 'Stop Driving' Toyotas Advice

Calls it a 'misstatement' after company's shares sink

(Newser) - Transportation chief Ray LaHood says he went too far when he advised Toyota drivers to "stop driving" their cars at a House hearing this morning. "What I said in there was obviously a misstatement," he said later. His staff and other administration officials quickly sought to tamp...

Transport Chief: Stop Driving Recalled Toyotas

Ray LaHood also vows probe into electrical throttle control problems

(Newser) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today advised owners of recalled Toyota vehicles to stop driving them immediately and seek a repair for the sticking accelerator problems that have forced the record-breaking recall. Earlier, LaHood said he plans to speak with Toyota President Akio Toyoda about the automaker's spate of recalls in...

Feds Ban Texting by Truck, Bus Drivers

Under rules, effective immediately, fines run as high as $2,750

(Newser) - Drivers of trucks and buses who text behind the wheel will be subject to thousands of dollars in fines, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. The federal prohibition, which takes effect immediately, applies only to commercial vehicles. But distracted driving is one of LaHood's top issues, CNN reports. "This...

Web-Worthy Computers Coming to Your Dashboard
 Web-Worthy Computers 
 Coming to Your Dashboard  
DISTRACTED DRIVING dept.
Jan 7, 2010 10:51 AM CST

Web-Worthy Computers Coming to Your Dashboard

Some block web surfing in motion, but some don't

(Newser) - Advances in computer chip technology have finally made web-connected dashboard computers possible in cars, to the delight of automakers and the horror of safety advocates. Chips used to draw too much power to make state-of-the-art car setups viable, but that’s changed, and this year’s CES has seen a...

Webster's Word of the Year: Distracted Driving

Transportation secretary LaHood is pleased

(Newser) - Webster’s New World Dictionary has named “distracted driving” its Word of the Year, much to the delight of Ray LaHood. The transportation secretary’s crusade to ban distracted driving, which generally refers to talking on the phone or texting while behind the wheel, is part of what brought...

White House Sets 3-Hour Limit on Tarmac Waits

Passengers must be allowed to deplane under new regulation

(Newser) - The Transportation Department is ordering airlines to let passengers stuck in stranded airplanes to deplane after three hours. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the new three-hour limit today, along with other new passenger protections long sought by consumer advocates. From January to June this year, 613 planes were delayed on...

Only Fines Will Get Drivers Off the Phone: Experts

Conference tells Transportation Department to get tough

(Newser) - If the Department of Transportation wants to curb distracted driving, it’ll have to do more than ask nicely, concluded experts at last week’s conference on the issue. Previous efforts to curb drunk driving and promote seat belt safety have proven that drivers don’t respond without the threat...

Federal Workers Banned From Texting While Driving

Executive order is part of larger push against distracted driving

(Newser) - Federal employees are now forbidden from sending text messages while driving on government business or operating government vehicles. The new executive order, signed by President Obama last night, also encourages executive agencies to adopt texting bans for contractors, reports ABC. "To put it plainly, distracted driving is a menace...

Obama to Pitch Chicago's Olympic Bid in Denmark

First visit by a president to lobby for Olympics

(Newser) - Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen on Thursday to back Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said today. The president will be joined by Michelle Obama and his education and transportation secretaries. Chicago is bidding against Tokyo, Rio de Janiero, and Madrid, but none of...

'Clunkers' Ends Monday
 'Clunkers' Ends Monday 
Aug 20, 2009 4:38 PM CDT

'Clunkers' Ends Monday

(Newser) - The Obama administration will end the $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program at 8pm Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives. Dealers have complained about sluggish reimbursements, but Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the program has been "a lifeline to the...

DUI Arrests of Women Up 30% in Decade

(Newser) - The number of women charged with driving under the influence has increased nearly 30% during the past decade, Transportation Department officials said today, while the number of men fell 7.5% in the same period. The department says the number of impaired women involved in a fatal crash increased in...

White House Probes Minn. Plane Stranding

Incident 'troubling': transportation sec.

(Newser) - The Obama administration is investigating last weekend’s 9-hour stranding of 47 passengers on a Minnesota airport tarmac, the AP reports. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood says his department's general counsel is determining whether laws were broken in the case. “While we don't yet have all the facts, this incident...

'Clunkers' on Ice Unless Senate Ponies Up $2B: LaHood

(Newser) - The Obama administration will suspend the "cash for clunkers" program unless the Senate provides $2 billion more for the popular car incentive plan, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today. He said he expects the current $1 billion pool to be exhausted by the end of this weekend. The House...

Obama: We Need High-Speed Rail, Fast

System would fight congestion, save energy, clean air: Prez

(Newser) - President Obama is calling for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air, and save on energy. "This is not some fanciful, pie-in-the-sky vision of the future. It's happening now," he said today in...

Obama Gets Rail Rolling With $8B Stimulus

Prez plots $8b high-speed train network

(Newser) - America's railways are about to get a huge handout: At today's signing of the stimulus package, $8 billion will be allocated to high-speed rail. Though the money will be divvied up according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's master plan, the expansion is truly President Obama's pet project, reports Politico. "...

Transport Sec to Fellow GOPers: C'mon, Ride the Stimulus Train

But McCain wonders where bipartisanship is

(Newser) - Talk of the economic stimulus package dominated the morning shows today, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican, promising on State of the Union that the stimulus bill won't come with any earmarks or "boondoggles," the Chicago Tribune reports. LaHood said that he had tried to get his...

It's Official: Solis, Kirk, LaHood Join Cabinet

(Newser) - Barack Obama announced his final Cabinet choices today, making official what insiders have hinted at for a week, the Washington Post reports. Hilda Solis will be the nominee for labor secretary, Ron Kirk for trade representative, and Republican Ray LaHood for transportation. Solis appears to be the lightning rod, as...

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