VW may seek damages from ex-CEO Winterkorn over dieselgate

Volkswagen is reviewing whether to seek damages from former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, who was at the helm when it emerged the carmaker had cheated on emissions tests, supervisory board member Stephan Weil told a newspaper.

“Damages against former management board members are under serious consideration, I’m not just saying that,” he told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview when asked whether Volkswagen (VW) would seek damages from Winterkorn.

“Once we know the outcome of investigations, we will make a decision,” said Weil, who represents the German state of Lower Saxony, a VW shareholder, on the company’s board.

VW has for years said only lower-level managers knew of the emissions cheating, but U.S. authorities filed criminal charges against Winterkorn earlier this year. read more »

Backup driver in fatal self-driving Uber crash was streaming Hulu

The backup driver in an autonomous Uber that struck and killed a pedestrian in March looked down inside the vehicle more than 200 times and her smartphone was streaming NBC’s “The Voice” in the run-up to the deadly collision, according to Tempe, Ariz., police investigators.

Rafaela Vasquez “appears to react and show a smirk or laugh at various points during the time she is looking down,” according to a police report released late Thursday. Her eyes were repeatedly trained on the “lower center console near her right knee,” police said. Video recordings don’t show what she’s doing with her hands.

Uber’s self-driving system initially misidentified the 49-year-old victim, Elaine Herzberg, as a vehicle when she was pushing a bike across a dark thoroughfare, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The ride-hailing company’s specially outfitted Volvo was deliberately being tested on public roads without its emergency braking system turned on, the agency said. read more »

Audi stops sales, recalls A6, A7 for seat sensor glitch in U.S.

Audi ordered a nationwide stop sale and recall for new and used 2012-18 A6 and A7 sedans equipped with certain seats after determining that a sensor designed to detect whether the passenger seat is occupied can malfunction.

The defect could cause airbags to fail to deploy in a crash. read more »