Articles written by Joan Lowy
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Rail industry says key safety technology not due until 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — The railroad industry is playing down expectations that a safety technology that could have prevented recent deadly train crashes will be in operation across the United States by the end of the year. Indeed, freight and commuter r...
Potholes ahead for Trump's upcoming public works proposal
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will soon release its long-anticipated public works plan, trying to fulfill a campaign pledge but set to fall short of some ambitious goals. As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to generate at least $1 tril...
Trump's infrastructure plan comes with a huge hole
WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump unveils his plan to beef up the nation's infrastructure plan next month, it will include a crater-sized hole. The trust fund that pays for most federal highway and transit aid is forecast to go broke in a...
Science panel backs lower drunken driving threshold
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most women would need to draw the line at two drinks, and men at two or three if states follow a blueprint by a prestigious scientific panel for eliminating the "entirely preventable" 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving deaths in the U...
Drone operator faulted in NY collision with helicopter
WASHINGTON (AP) — A recreational drone operator was at fault in the first confirmed midair collision in the U.S. between a drone and a manned aircraft, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday The operator was unaware the Federal A...
AP FACT CHECK: Trump's iffy numbers on regulation
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his administration are ignoring one side of the ledger when they claim big savings from the federal regulations they've been able to roll back over most of this year. Here's a look at some of Trump's s...
APNewsBreak: Gov't won't pursue talking car mandate
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has quietly set aside plans to require new cars to be able to wirelessly talk to each other, auto industry officials said, jeopardizing one of the most promising technologies for preventing traffic d...
Trump OKs test program to expand domestic drone flights
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Americans could see a lot more drones flying around their communities as the result of a Trump administration test program to increase government and commercial use of the unmanned aircraft. President Donald Trump gave the g...
US: Laptops in checked bags pose fire, explosion risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is urging the world airline community to ban large, personal electronic devices like laptops from checked luggage because of the potential for a catastrophic fire. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a p...
Report: Key changes needed to prevent fiery rail crashes
WASHINGTON (AP) — A prestigious scientific organization on Wednesday called for more frequent and better inspections of freight railroad tracks to prevent potentially catastrophic oil and ethanol train crashes. A report by the National Academies o...
Technology crammed into cars worsens driver distraction
WASHINGTON (AP) — The infotainment technology that automakers are cramming into the dashboard of new vehicles is making drivers take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for dangerously long periods of time, an AAA study says. The study r...
Senate bill to clear obstacles to self-driving cars advances
WASHINGTON (AP) — Legislation that could help usher in a new era of self-driving cars advanced in Congress on Wednesday after the bill's sponsors agreed to compromises to address some concerns of safety advocates. The Senate Commerce, Science and T...
Prospects for air traffic control privatization appear slim
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has made airlines' longtime goal of privatizing air traffic control a key part of his agenda to boost America's infrastructure. But his prospects for closing the deal with Congress appear slim. A House bill t...
Investigators cite Tesla Autopilot limits in fatal crash
WASHINGTON (AP) — Design limitations of the Tesla Model S's Autopilot played a major role in the first known fatal crash of a highway vehicle operating under automated control systems, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday. The b...
House passes bill to speed deployment of self-driving cars
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to speed the introduction of self-driving cars by giving the federal government authority to exempt automakers from safety standards not applicable to the technology, and to permit deployment of up to 100,0...
Trump order undermines rebuilding better for future floods
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two weeks before Harvey's flood waters engulfed much of Houston, President Donald Trump quietly rolled back an order by his predecessor that would have made it easier for storm-ravaged communities to use federal emergency aid to r...
Studies: Automated safety systems are preventing car crashes
WASHINGTON (AP) — Safety systems to prevent cars from drifting into another lane or that warn drivers of vehicles in their blind spots are beginning to live up to their potential to reduce crashes significantly, according to two studies released W...
The pros and cons of privatizing air traffic control
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. air traffic control system, the world's largest and most complex, is in the midst of an era of unsurpassed safety. There has not been a fatal crash of a domestic airliner in the U.S. in eight years. Now President Donald T...
Manufacturer: Drones should transmit identifier for security
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's largest manufacturer of civilian drones is proposing that the craft continually transmit identification information to help government security agencies and law enforcement figure out which might belong to rogue o...
2016 traffic deaths jump to highest level in nearly a decade
WASHINGTON (AP) — A jump in traffic fatalities last year pushed deaths on U.S. roads to their highest level in nearly a decade, erasing improvements made during the Great Recession and economic recovery, a leading safety organization said W...
Senators try to speed up deployment of self-driving cars
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the first major congressional attempt to address the advent of self-driving cars, two senators said Monday they're launching a bipartisan effort to help to speed up the deployment of the vehicles on the nation's roads. R...
A commuter's dream: Entrepreneurs race to develop flying car
WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before George Jetson entranced kids with his cartoon flying car, people dreamed of soaring above traffic congestion. Inventors and entrepreneurs have long tried and failed to make the dream a reality, but that may be c...
Government to require cars be able to talk to each other
WASHINGTON (AP) — All new cars and light trucks would be able to talk wirelessly with each other, with traffic lights and with other roadway infrastructure under a rule the Transportation Department proposed Tuesday. Officials say the technology hold...
That pilot in the cockpit may someday be a robot
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — From the outside, the single-engine Cessna Caravan that took off from a small airport here on Monday looked unremarkable. But inside the cockpit, in the right seat, a robot with spindly metal tubes and rods for arms and legs a...
US traffic deaths jump by 10.4 percent in first half of 2016
WASHINGTON (AP, Oct. 5, 2016) — U.S. traffic fatalities rose by an estimated 10.4 percent in the first half of this year, federal officials said Wednesday, and continued an upward trend that started in late 2014 as the economic recovery a...
