Transportation
Unfit for flight: Lies and coverups mask roots of small-plane carnage
A USA TODAY investigation shows repeated instances in which small aircraft crashes, deaths and injuries were caused by defective parts and dangerous designs, casting doubt on the government’s official rulings and revealing the inner workings of an industry hit so hard by legal claims that it sought and won liability protection from Congress. Wide-ranging defects…
Read MoreBus companies’ lapses mount, but federal scrutiny lags
One in four of the more than 3,700 commercial motorcoach and passenger van companies regulated by the federal government has never received a full safety evaluation, according to an investigation by The Boston Globe. Nearly half have not been reviewed in more than two years. Buses carry nearly as many people as airlines, but receive…
Read MoreTrack flaw went unrepaired
Metro-North Engineer Steven Bauer’s testimony is just one part of a wide-ranging and ongoing NTSB investigation of the Bridgeport derailment and subsequent collision with an oncoming train, records reviewed by Hearst Connecticut Media show. Investigators have also produced an animated reconstruction video that offers concise details about the accident. The video concludes the crash was…
Read MoreBMV leaders knew of overcharges, top deputy says
Top officials at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles were told the agency was improperly overcharging Hoosiers millions of dollars, but they secretly kept doing it for at least two years to avoid budget troubles, a former deputy director alleges. The explosive accusation comes in an 88-page deposition taken last week as part of a…
Read MoreRepeat drunk drivers still able to get plea deals
Eleven years of data analyzed by the Columbus Dispatch showed that those charged multiple times with operating a vehicle while impaired were able to get their charges reduced through a plea deal almost as often as those who had no recent drunk driving charges. Some say repeat offenders know how to beat the system. Drivers can…
Read MoreNarrows Marina boat launch: Dark, deadly and unregulated
“A News Tribune investigation found that at least eight cars have plunged into the water at the Narrows Marina boat launch over the past 17 years. Four of 11 occupants were killed. Another was left permanently disabled,” the News Tribune reported. The accidents involved different types of people, from thieves outrunning the cops to an…
Read MoreDenver parking revenue, tickets on the rise, analysis finds
Denver is raking in significantly more money from parking tickets than it did just five years ago — largely because of added meters, overnight downtown parking hours, technology that speeds up ticketing and hiked street-sweeping fines. A Denver Post analysis of parking-citation data found that collections from tickets and penalties reached $30.5 million last year.…
Read MoreMean Streets: Tracking traffic deaths in New York City
More than half of the 27 pedestrians killed by cars in New York City this year died on major roadways. That’s just one of the findings of a new WNYC analysis of traffic deaths, Mean Streets. WNYC worked with the NYPD to compile an accurate list of traffic deaths after finding discrepancies between its statistics…
Read MoreCabbies in Nevada taking the long way, preying on locals and tourists
The Nevada Taxicab Authority, the state agency that regulates the taxicab industry, has a lax record of enforcing the law, with its citations to drivers dropping significantly in 2013, an investigation by the Las Vegas Review-Journal found. The authority, a law enforcement agency with 26 officers, issued just two tickets in December 2013 to cabbies…
Read MoreData shows car accidents spike when sun aligns with Toronto street grid
Global News obtained 11 years of collision data and found that “Torontohenge,” when the setting sun aligns with Toronto’s east-west street grid and forces drivers to squint through salt-crusted windshields, coincides with the third-worst day of the year for car accidents. Get the full story and graphic.
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