Articles by andrewtraub/page/23

Toyota has for years blocked access to data stored in devices similar to airline “black boxes” that could explain crashes blamed on sudden unintended acceleration, according to an Associated Press review of lawsuits nationwide and interviews with auto crash experts. The AP investigation found that Toyota has been inconsistent — and sometimes contradictory — in…

The Texas Department of Public Safety is hoping proposed new rules will make it easier for low-income drivers to pay fines related to state law surcharges for certain violations. Since 2003, drivers who commit certain Class C misdemeanors must pay penalties or have their licenses revoked.  Last year, lawmakers amended the law, called the Driver…

A 64-year-old woman was killed Thursday night when she was hit by a vehicle while crossing a street in Northeast Austin. The woman was crossing Cameron Road mid-block near St. Johns Avenue on Friday at 7:36 p.m. when she was struck by a 1999 GM pickup in the southbound right lane.  She was pronounced dead…

A 6-year-old girl who had been in critical condition at Dell Children’s Medical Center after a wreck in Bastrop County last weekend died Friday morning. Angie Gonzalez of Houston was riding in a van with four other children and two adults last Sunday afternoon when the driver failed to yield to a pickup while turning…

Three people were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge on Thursday with serious injuries after a collision on Interstate 35 South near Texas 130 toll Road. Two people who weren’t wearing seat belts were thrown from the vehicle and flown to Brackenridge in critical condition. A third person was taken to Brackenridge by ground transportation…

Federal safety regulators recalled a line of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” charm bracelets, because of cadmium content. The bracelets were sold at dollar-type stores from 2006 to March 2009. The agency said parents should immediately take the bracelets from kids.

The number of people dying on the highways is the lowest since the 1950s despite runaway Toyotas and teen drivers texting. The U.S. Transportation Department said Thursday that its estimates show total traffic deaths declined nearly 9 percent in 2009 — to 33,963. That’s the lowest toll since 1954. In 2008, an estimated 37,261 people…

A woman was killed and a man was injured Friday in a head-on collision op RM 620 in Northwest Austin, police said. According to police, a woman was driving a Toyota Celica north on RM 620 near Concordia University Drive about 2:45 p.m. when she crossed the center line for unknown reasons and hit a…

A 19-year-old Marble Falls man who was hospitalized Thursday after a wreck involving a school bus in Burnet County died Friday, a hospital official said. Mark Fluty was severely injured Thursday when the 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier he was riding in left the eastbound lanes of FM 1431 and crossed into oncoming traffic, colliding with a…

Different deadlines for lawsuits over surgical sponges The Texas Supreme Court said Friday that a San Antonio woman could not sue her doctor over a surgical sponge left inside her body because she waited too long to file suit — even though, she could not have discovered the problem any sooner. The court ruled 9-0…