U.S. agency probes 1.7 million GM SUVs for windshield wiper failures

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it is investigating whether General Motors Co (GM.N), the largest U.S. automaker, should recall an additional 1.7 million sport utility vehicles due to windshield wiper failures.

GM recalled 367,000 2013 GMC Terrain and Chevrolet Equinox SUVs in the United States in August 2016 to address the problem, but the agency said it is probing whether the recall should be expanded to include an additional 1.7 million vehicles from the 2010-2016 model years after receiving 249 complaints about similar problems. read more »

The social costs of ride-hailing may be larger than previously thought

Study says congestion from Uber and Lyft drivers is leading to more deaths on the road

A new working paper by John Barrios of the University of Chicago and Yael Hochberg and Hanyi Yi of Rice University spells out one deadly consequence of this increase in traffic. Using data from the federal transport department, they find that the introduction of ride-sharing to a city is associated with an increase in vehicle-miles travelled, petrol consumption and car registrations—and a 3.5% jump in fatal car accidents. At a national level, this translates into 987 extra deaths a year. read more »