2008 November Archive

Buying a used car is almost as much fun as going to the dentist.

Everyone has dealt with used car salesmen at some point in their life and we are not out to attack the used car industry; however, a warning about avoiding the pitfalls when it comes to purchasing a used car.

The used car industry can be very tricky. Vehicles that have been totaled, flooded, fire-damaged, sold and re-sold several times over, and even stolen have been salvaged, repaired and sold to innocent buyers across the nation. Unfortunately, there is little to no regulation or protection in place from fraudulent resale of potentially dangerous used vehicles.

In 1992, Congress tried to remedy this by passing a law calling for a nationwide database that would give people shopping for cars and trucks information about used vehicles.

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is a good idea. In September, a call went out to consumers concerning the Proposed Rules. And we all have until November 21, 2008 to submit written comments. Please do so. This is a case where your government has let you down.

Unfortunately, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice have failed to implement the database, putting consumers in danger of compromised unsafe vehicles and safety features such as airbags that don’t work.

The database would allow consumers to instantly check the validity of a vehicle’s title, mileage, and history of theft or damage. The data would have to be reported by insurance companies and junk and salvage yards. Failing to do so, Public Citizen the consumer group, has gone to court to find the federal government in violation of the 1992 law.

It would help consumers who have purchased cars that were under water during Hurricane Katrina, or split in two after hitting a tree, or burned up in a fire, then passed on by unscrupulous people. Read the rest »

You know the Vytorin commercials – comparing eating fettucini alfredo with your Uncle Alfredo – both are sources of high cholesterol, the ads said. Food and family are both to blame.

Now the lawsuits against the drug are piling up higher and Merck & Co and partner, Schering-Plough Corp have to answer questions to the Justice Department about whether the promotion of Vytorin made false claims. Read the rest »

We blog all too frequently about children who are hurt or killed in off-highway vehicles or ATVs.

Now the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is looking into the design of a handful of brands associated with more than 30 fatalities. The Yamaha Motor Company’s Rhino is one of those brands.

The Wall Street Journal named Yamaha as one the focus of the deaths, though the company would not confirm that. Yamaha does not agree with the WSJ’s fatality tally.

An off-road vehicle is different from an ATV in that they are larger and have two side-by-side seats and a protective roll cage, which is not required of ATVs.

Besides the Rhino, there is the Polaris’s Razor, Honda Big Red, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Mule and Arctic Cat’s Prowler. Read the rest »

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is releasing new data that shows that keeping the drinking age laws at 21 prevented an estimated 4,441 drunk driving deaths over the last five years.

NHTSA was responding to a national movement among colleges to turn back the drinking age to 18. After all, the argument goes, we sent 18-year-olds to die in Iraq, why not allow them to drink and take away the stigma of doing something “illegal”?

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) headed a symposium on the issue. MADD says that “Turning our back on these laws would be a deadly mistake. Minimum drinking age laws are among the most effective measures ever used to reduce drunken driving deaths among America’s young people.”

NHTSA’s data reports that motorcycle helmet use has risen in recent years and that using those helmets is saving lives – from 1,173 in 2003 to 1,784 in 2007. Remember though that there has been a dramatic increase in motorcycle use over those years. Still more than 7,000 lives are estimated to have been spared because of the use of helmets on motorcycles.

Adding more safety features on the roads has also saved lives.

In 2007, front air bags saved 2,788 passengers ages 13 and older. Child safety seats saved 358 lives of children age 4 and under. Seat belts saved more than 15,000 lives, but unfortunately not everyone wears seat belts.

Nationally, even more lives could have been saved – an estimated 5,000 – if everyone had been belted up. #

Passengers traveling on one cruise line have a refund coming thanks to Florida’s Attorney General.

Bill McCollum filed a lawsuit this week against Imperial Majesty Cruise Line. The company is alleged to have added a fuel surcharge of $20 to $30 secretly onto customers’ bills. Most people thought these were government fees.

Many customers complained to the AG office alerting him to the practice. Customers said they had no idea they would be asked to fork over extra money until their arrived for their cruise.

The extra charge amounted to about $4 million over the past two years. McCollum announced the lawsuit at a news conference Wednesday. He is asking for a refund of about $4 million and for the advertising practices hiding the charges to be reversed. Read the rest »

Florida is known for its sunshine, oranges and hanging chads. And it’s that time of year again.

So far election officials in Jacksonville have rejected more than 500 ballots, mostly because they lacked signatures. In some cases, the signatures don’t match the voter’s signature on file.

500 rejected represents almost one-third of those pulled aside as being questionable.

Channel 4 tells the story of Lisa Rigg who suspected her vote might not have counted. When she contacted the Supervisor of Elections, her fear was confirmed. The reason- her signature didn’t match which she says is absurd. Read the rest »