Driving in America This Week – June 26, 2022

Pacific Coast Highway Photo credit: Nilanjan Sasmal CC BY-SA 4.0    Happy Summer 2022!

1.   National Focus

2.   Top Regional and Local Headlines

3.   Motorist Corner

4.   Best from Auto Press

5.   Opinion

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National Focus

Of course, most of us are concerned about gas prices but this past week, car of the future and traffic safety took center stage in Driving News Headlines.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Association released its first report on autonomous vehicle crashes. US News and World Report had this headline on the results: Nearly 400 Crashes Tied to Self-Driving, Driver-Assist Technologies since Last Summer. Here are some other headlines that might be of interest:

• NHTSA Releases New Data about Autonomous Vehicle Crashes (GovTech)      
• NHTSA Report Connects Hundreds of Crashes with Driver-Assistance Tech (Car and Driver) 
• First-ever self-driving vehicle crash report released. Nearly all involved Teslas in Washington State (The Seattle Times)   
• Tesla Autopilot Accounts For Nearly 70 Percent Of Semi-Autonomous Crashes (Jalopnik) 
• Most driver-assist crashes involved Teslas, new data show. But questions abound (Los Angeles Times)
• No One Knows How Safe New Driver-Assistance Systems Really Are (Wired)
• Federal AV Crash Report Underscores How Little We Know About Robocar Safety (Streetsblog USA)   
• We are being sold a fantasy about autonomous vehicles? (Irish Times)   

In other auto safety news this week, an industry group has formed to advance impaired-driving prevention tech in new vehicles. This means primarily making sure breathalyzers and in-car surveillance cams are put into future models of vehicles.

Futurism reported that Tesla cars have been accused of shutting off autopilot moments before impact.

Researchers in Texas have determined that traffic safety ads that are usually placed on top of highway gantries make road safety worse.

This week marks the first week of summer. AAA reminds parents and pet owners of extreme heat dangers and also predicts that Americans will set road trip records for the July 4^th holiday weekend despite gas prices. If you are going out west, Yellowstone might be difficult to tour due to record flooding. Equipment World posted a video of the damage.

CATO opined Border Patrol Checkpoints and the Drug War: The Insanity Continues and Wired.com reported that police will be able to soon scan your fingerprints with a smartphone. MotorTrend discussed the rise of Big Brother in software-defined vehicles and the UK Daily Mail did a deep dive into cars and gadgets that track our every movement.
Gas and diesel prices continue to remain high with a great deal of headlines concerning all different aspects.
President Biden wrote a letter this week to oil refiners and asked them to produce more gas, fewer profits according to the Associated Press. He told them that their record profits were not acceptable. The Hill writes that the White House is scrambling to solve the gas price surge and NPR reported that is why he pressuring oil companies.
Reuters reported that US oil lobby pushes Biden to roll back fossil fuel curbs and The Hill posted that Exxon Mobil, Chevron push back on Biden blaming industry for oil prices.
Road and Track discussed the record profits that oil companies are making in the current gas crisis.
Other gas price headlines with a governmental focus:

• White House takes new look at federal gas tax holiday (The Hill)
• Treasury Secretary: US Gas Tax Holiday Is ‘Certainly Worth Considering’ (National Review)  
• Gas tax holiday? Biden says a decision could come by the end of the week (NPR)
• House transportation committee chairman Rep. Earl Bluemenauer to Biden: Don’t suspend gas tax (The Hill)
• White House exploration of gas rebate cards complicated by chip shortages (Washington Post)
• Oil refineries are making a windfall but keep closing (The Spokesman-Review)
• US to sell up to 45 Million Barrels of oil from reserve as part of historic release (Reuters)  
• The US is depleting its strategic petroleum reserve faster than it looks (South Africa Times Live)
• White House Weighs Fuel Export Limits as Pump Prices Surge (Transport Topics)
• House passes bill to end restrictions on higher-ethanol fuels amid spiraling gas prices (The Hill)   
• IRS boosting mileage deduction as gas prices soar (The Hill)          

Gas price headlines that affect motorists and consumers directly:

• Record high diesel prices threaten domino effect to other goods (Bellevue Herald-Leader)  
• The loss of US refining capacity is helping drive record diesel prices — and it probably won’t improve anytime soon (Freight Waves)
• High gasoline prices crimping drivers’ spending at the pump (AP News)
• Drivers shrug off soaring fuel prices, for now (Autoblog)       
• What Drives Gasoline Prices? (Zero Hedge)    
• Here’s what’s driving high gas prices — and why they’re not going away (NY Post)
• Editorial: Misery at the gas station, but let’s keep everything in perspective (Chicago Tribune)  
• States Where Gas Prices Are Over $5 Per Gallon (Route-Fifty)        
• Top 10 Most Expensive Places to Fill Your Gas Tank (Jalopnik)      

Buying a vehicle and auto loans were also in the headlines this week:

• Car payments hit a new high of $712 a month (The Hill)
• Consumers Are Getting Car Loans Online Before Going to the Dealership, a New Poll Shows (MotorBiscuit)
• Why You Might Buy Your Next Car Online (World News Era)
• EV Shoppers Are Reserving More Models Than They Plan to Buy  (Jalopnik)
• Rare car colors retain more value, study says (Auto Recent)

Here are some Auto Tech Watch headlines that might be of interest:

• Feds Outline Standards for National EV Charging Network (GovTech)
• Electric automakers make a last-ditch plea for more tax credits before US election (Reuters)
• Is Your Car Autonomous? The 6 Levels of Self-Driving Explained (PC Magazine)
• AI-enabled cameras and LIDAR can improve traffic today and support the AVs of tomorrow (Smart Cities Dive)
• Is it Ethical to Purchase a Lithium Battery Powered EV?  (New Geography)
• The world has a car obesity problem, and the answer is to electrify fleets (Business-Standard)
• Western States Try To Work Their Way Out Of Rural EV Charging (CleanTechnica)

Several geography headlines reached the NMA this week:

• Why People Are Moving Away From Big Urban Counties (Route-Fifty)
• Big Ideas for Small-Town Revival (Governing)
• Streetsblog Talking Headways Podcast: Megaregions and Our Future (Streetsblog USA)

Infrastructure Watch headlines are always important on every level:

• Inflation taking a bite out of new infrastructure projects (Los Angeles Times)
• Opinion: Biden’s infrastructure bill is hardly ‘monumental’ (MarketWatch)
• Biden’s infrastructure law increases funding for safety grants to states (Bus and Motorcoach News)
• 4 Strategies to Create Good Jobs, Boost Equity With Federal Infrastructure Funds (Route-Fifty)
• A new playbook is emerging for managing local travel demand (State Smart Transportation Initiative)
• Highway widenings are losing steam in some states (State Smart Transportation Initiative)

Many motorist-related studies seem to be growing:

• No surprise: Report finds logistics costs spiked in 2021 (Freight Waves)
• Racial disparities in traffic fatalities wider than previously estimated: Study (ABC News)
• Statistical Analysis: The Cost of Flying, Driving, Which One to Choose, and How We Got Here (Florida Panhandle)
• Research: Why It’s So Hard to Convince the Public on Transportation Projects (Route-Fifty)
• How many times a day do cars crash into buildings? (Slate)
• Consumers Want Greener Delivery Options — But Retailers Have to Explain Them (Supply Chain Brain)
• Study: We Can’t End Car Dependency Without Disincentivizing Driving (Streetsblog USA)

Trucking continues to be in the news:

• How much did Biden administration give states to reduce truck crashes? (Freight Waves)
• How Autonomous Trucking Will Transform Logistics (Trucks.com)
• How the Pandemic Accelerated Change for Motor Carriers (Transport Topics)
• Used-Truck Auction-Prices Plunge As Freight Market Cools (Zero Hedge)
• Truck Stops Are in Decline, and Truckers Are Suffering (The Drive)

Here are some other national Driving News Headlines:

• It’s a Bad Year for Criminal Justice Reform at the Supreme Court (Reason)
• Why a bipartisan data privacy proposal faces an uphill battle (The Hill)
• US Chamber Warns It Will Oppose Any Privacy Legislation That Creates a Blanket Private Right of Action (US Chamber of Commerce)
• What Are Digital License Plates and How Do They Work? (Newsweek)
• Lyft agrees to $25 million settlement with shareholders over safety-related allegations (CNN)
• Porsche agrees to pay $80 million to resolve fuel economy claims on 500,000 US vehicles (Auto News)
• Our View: Danger zone on Route 1 (The Sun Chronicle)
• Smart Highways or Smart Cars? (Circleid)
• We Need to Stop Traffic Deaths. But Is Policing Really the Answer? (The Next City)

International Driving News continues to intrigue:

• How much for gas? Around the world, pain is felt at the pump (AP News)
• Audi files trademark lawsuit against Chinese EV maker Nio (Autoblog)
• India: Audi Is Recycling E-Tron Batteries to Make the Slickest Rickshaws out There (Jalopnik)
• E-scooters were supposed to fix travel in Rome. Then they became a major problem (CNN)
• At $10 a gallon, Norway’s drivers feel the global gas price pinch (Autoblog)
• The 2,000-foot Norwegian bridge was constructed without a single drawing (Fast Company)
• Putin demands his government support Russian car industry (Autoblog)
• Chipmakers brace for more trouble as Russia limits exports of rare gases (CTV News)
• Sri Lankan economy grinds to a halt as fuel supplies run dry (MoneyControl)
• UK ends subsidies for electric cars on surging demand (Auto News Europe)

For a daily dose of motorist rights news, check out the NMA Driving News Feed today! 

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 Top Regional and Local Headlines

Motorist-Related Legislative News

• California lawmakers to investigate steep gas prices, accuse oil companies of ‘ripping off’ motorists (Los Angeles Times)
• Illinois to install more license plate reader cameras on highways (HB4481) (Fox Illinois)
• New IL law allows limited design-build project delivery for infrastructure projects (The Center Square)
• New Louisiana law double fines, authorizes camera use on Atchafalaya Bridge (SB435) (Landline)
• Massachusetts Senate approves transportation funding bill (The Center Square)
• Massachusetts immigrant driver’s license law may end up in the hands of voters (Fall River Reporter)
• Michigan work zone speed cameras bill HB5750 advances (Landline)
• North Carolina Civilian crash investigators unlikely to start writing tickets any time soon (Carolina Journal)
• New Jersey bill SB460 would shield drivers from ticket camera enforcement (Landline)
• NJ to drop Social Security number proof requirement for driver’s license, Real ID in NJ (WFMZ)
• Pennsylvania House panel moves forward autonomous vehicle bill HB2390 (Landline)
• Pennsylvania Senate committee advances V-toll notification bill HB2139 (Landline)
• Bill to install noise sensors on Philadelphia streets advances (Metro Philadelphia)
• Virginia lawmakers reject Governor Glenn Youngkin’s gas tax holiday again (WRIC)

Regional and Local Driving News                                          

• Vision Zero Watch AZ: Phoenix developing road safety plan as traffic fatalities surge (Axios)
• Arizona DOT plans to widen Highway 93, laying the groundwork for the I-11 project (NBC Phoenix)
• CT municipalities using federal ARPA funds to expand police surveillance tools (CT Public Media)
• Boca Raton, FL Police to Join Facial Recognition Program (GovTech)
• St. Joseph County, Indiana: ABC57 Investigates: Running Reds (Future Ticket Cam Alert) (ABC57)
• Kansas DOT Inspector Resigns After I-70 Viaduct Barrier Breaks Off (Equipment World)
• KY Supreme Court: Warrant Needed for Police to Ping, Track Phones (Officer.com)
• Ohio, Kentucky Apply for Federal Grant for New Interstate Bridge (Transport Topics)
• How Many Bridges Does the Chesapeake Bay Need? (Bloomberg CityLab)
• Traffic Disruption Update: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey vetoes Hennepin Ave redesign, 24-hour bus lanes (Fox Minneapolis)
• Minnesota man who had $10K seized in Wisconsin traffic stop says police had no right to that money (WPR)
• Mississippi DOT Seeking Public Comments For Electric Vehicle Plan (The Greenwood Commonwealth)
• Intersection improvement projects planned in 10 western Mississippi Counties (Mississippi DOT)
• Fayetteville, NC Council Approves Lowering Speed Limits on Two Streets (WKML)
• Greenville red-light camera complaint rejected by NC Supreme Court (Carolina Journal)
• Kearney, NE police pilot program to use license plate readers in auto-related crimes (The Kearney Hub)
• Vision Zero Watch: Hoboken, NJ Hasn’t Had a Traffic Death in Four Years. What’s It Doing Right? (Curbed NYC)
• Oklahoma’s HE Bailey Turnpike transitioning to cashless tolling (KOCO)
• PennDOT Asks For Public Input On Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (Patch PA)
• Rhode Island: Attorneys Spar in Closing Statements of RhodeWorks Tolling Trial (Transport Topics)
• Virginia DOT unveils new electronic speed limit signs along I-95 to control major congestion (WJLA)
• Winchester, VA City Council lowers speed limit on several city streets in attempt to slow traffic (Winchester Star)
• Help guide the future of transportation in West Virginia at virtual public meeting June 30th (My Buchhannon)
• Wyoming opens public comment period for state’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure plan (Transportation Today News)

California           

• California plans to Build a National Network of 500,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the Rural Areas of the State (Sierra Sun-Times)
• California asks feds for $1.2 billion for high-speed rail. Here’s how it would be spent (Sacramento Bee)
• Autonomous Tractors Could Soon Be Commonplace in California (Governing)
• Uber Eats Unveils Robotic Delivery in Southern California (NBC Los Angeles)
• Bay Area drivers will soon need to pay back $184 million in bridge toll debt (San Francisco Gate)
• Editorial: Bay Area voters want both justice reform and public safety            (Mercury News)
• Will the 2028 Olympics Fuel a New Transit Movement for Los Angeles? (GovTech)
• Supervisors Take Second Step to Reduce Speed Limits on Unincorporated Los Angeles County Streets (Streetsblog Los Angeles)
• City reduces speed limit around Oakland schools to 15 mph (Oaklandside)
• Traffic Disruption CA: Construction on Pasadena’s Two-Way Protected Union Street Bikeway To Begin (Pasadena Now)
• $8.5 billion transit tax is likely headed to Sacramento voters. Political support is lining up (Sacramento Bee)
• San Francisco Area: Ballot measure filed to bring cars back to JFK, Great Highway (San Francisco Examiner)
• Chevrolet Bolt will be used as an autonomous taxi in San Francisco (SIV Telegram)

Georgia        

• Georgia Wants to Be US Hub for EVs—Batteries Included (Autoweek)
• Athens, GA ACC Commission Approves Complete Streets Policy to Improve Safety (Flagpole)
• Atlanta Regional Commission to use $45M in federal funds for transit projects (The Center Square)

Illinois           

• Former Cook County, IL official changes his plea to guilty in red-light camera case (WBBM 780)
• More helicopters eyed as a tool for Chicago police, Cook County sheriff to fight carjackings (Chicago Sun-Times)
• US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot Discuss Proposals to Make Transportation More Equitable in Chicago (NBC Chicago)
• Chicago aldermen expected to vote on increasing the minimum speed that triggers automated cameras and tickets (ABC Chicago)
• Chicago Mayor Lightfoot spared almost certain defeat on the vote to raise speed camera ticket threshold (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Chicago: Vote To Expand Car Booting Citywide Delayed By Committee (Block Club Chicago)
• Traffic Disruption Chicago: Protected Bike Lanes, Curb Extensions, and More Upgrades Coming To Avondale’s Belmont Avenue (Block Club Chicago)
• Traffic Disruption Chicago: Concrete-protected lanes are coming to Clark St. from Irving to Montrose, maybe further (Streetsblog Chicago)
• Evanston Alders retreat on pickup parking fees (Evanston Now)
• Trustees want ‘tightened’ policy before license-plate readers come to Winnetka, IL (The Record North Shore)

Massachusetts        

• Ridesharing Watch: Massachusetts Supreme Court Blocks Gig-Worker Ballot Question (Governing)
• Federal Transit Administration orders Boston’s MBTA to ‘take immediate action’ on safety issues (WCVB)
• Traffic Disruption: Boston Plans Wider Sidewalks, Protected Bikeway for State Street Downtown (Streetsblog MA)
• Police Drone Must Get Public Approval in Worcester, MA (GovTech)

New York         

• Congestion Pricing Would Make New Yorkers Drive Less, Ride Transit More, Survey Says (Planetizen)
• Traffic Disruption NYC: DOT to Undertake Tiny Canal Street Improvements (Streetsblog NYC)
• Traffic Disruption NYC: City DOT Will Rein in Speeding Staten Islanders with Hylan Boulevard ‘Road Diet’ (Streetsblog NYC)
• Hylan Boulevard bike lanes another slap in the face from anti-car NYC (opinion) (Staten Island Live)
• Take the NYC DOT Survey on the Hylan Boulevard Improvements Community  (NYDOT)
• NYC DOT: Two-Way Protected Bike Lane Coming to Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn (Streetsblog NYC)
• NYC Eyesores and Confusion as City Restaurateurs Wait for Concrete Outdoor Dining Plan (The City)
• Niagara Falls, NY Spends ARP Funds on Body Cams (GovTech)

Ohio         

• Ohio Needs More EV Chargers to Match Growing Demand (Governing)
• Ohio issues most speeding tickets in the US (WOWK)
• Warren County is among Ohio’s worst for driving 20 mph over the limit (Daytona Daily News)
• Norton rejects surveillance cameras a week after Akron’s approval of Flock Safety system (Akron Beacon-Journal)

Tennessee

• State investigating issues with new Tennessee license plates (NBC Memphis)   
• Knoxville speed limits are about to change (WVLT)
• Work gets underway on the I-55 interchange in Memphis  (NW Arkansas Online)

Texas        

• Texas communities combat motor vehicle crime with ALPRs (Stephenville Empire-Tribune)
• Texas plans to place charging stations for electric cars every 50 miles on most interstates (Temple Daily Telegram)
• New ‘Driving With Disability’ program aims to help Texans with communication challenges (KXAN)
• Autonomous truck maker and Texas DPS working on a procedure for pulling over a driverless semi (CDLife)
• How free-wheeling Texas became the self-driving trucking industry’s promised land (Reuters)
• Austin to slash speed limits along nearly 50 busy streets (KUT)
• Traffic Disruption: Project Connect plan calls for eliminating cars on the Drag near UT’s Austin campus (Austin American-Statesman)
• Traffic Disruption Houston: Mayor Sylvester Turner signs off on a plan to add bike lanes on 11th Street in the Heights (Houston Public Media)
• San Antonio Consolidates Multimodal Transit Payments in One App          (GovTech)

Washington State          

• State Audit finds King County Sheriff traffic stops lack strategy to improve safety, need more data collection (Westside Seattle)
• Some Tacoma neighborhoods could see lower speed limits  (KING)
• Vision Zero Watch: Traffic fatalities are up in Tacoma. Would lowering the speed limit help reduce them? (The News Tribune)

Check out the NMA State Pages today! 

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Motorist Corner

On the Driving in America blog, we revisited a recent newsletter on Should 18-year-olds Drive a Big Rig? NMA Blogger Eric Peters discusses The Off-Grid Car.

In his Saturday review, Peters gives his take on the 2022 Subaru Outback Wilderness Review.

The Car Coach, Lauren Fix explores in her vlog Who’s To Blame for High Gas Prices?

NMA in the News this Week:
Peters Township, PA police chief supports bill for radar to catch speeding drivers (NMA Mention) (CBS Pittsburgh)         
PA Advocate Op-Ed: Drivers: the Legislature wants your money (Patch PA)
PA Advocate Op-Ed: #1 on Harrisburg’s Wish List (Patch PA)          
PA Advocate Letter-to-the-Editor (2nd Letter): End Boulevard speed cameras (NorthEast Times)

If you have written and had posted a motorist rights advocacy letter-to-the-editor or find a news story where the NMA is mentioned, please send us the link via email nma@motorists.org. Here are some links of interest: the NMA website, NMA Issues Pages, and the NMA Blog. Check them out today! 

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Best from Auto Press

• The 10 Cars Catalytic Converter Thieves Target Most (Road and Track)
• What is a sedan? (Autoblog)
• Gran Turismo’ movie plot details emerge, gets release date (Autoblog)
• How Wheels Can Help Drop Unsprung Weight (The Drive)
• 10 Weird GM Muscle Cars You’ve Never Heard Of (MotorTrend)
• The damage done by “renewable” fuel to classics (Written by NMA Member) (Hagerty)
• The Best Places to Wrench on Your Car if You Don’t Have a Garage (The Drive)
• Scenes from Citroën Rendezvous, North America’s Biggest Citroën Show (Car and Driver)
• He’s the first buyer of the electric F-150. Why he’s the future of the car industry (NPR)
• Ford website shares 5,000 car photos, brochures from its history (Autoblog)
• Total Car Score Podcast: The 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 in Bentonville, AR (The Car Coach)

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Opinion

The Off-Grid Car

The interest in tiny homes and off-grid living reflects a growing weariness with being carried along, unwillingly, by the rip-tide of “technology” as it makes life superficially easier but also alienating.

Cars are a good example. You can start the engine without a key, but when the engine won’t start, what do you do? Most people tap their phone to call a tow truck. . .

(click on title for full op-ed)