Three GOP Senators Want to Protect Motorists’ Right to Drive Drunk
-Kea Wilson, StreetblogUSA
A new bill from three Senate Republicans would repeal a hard-fought law aimed to eliminate all drunk driving — and advocates are pushing for the existing legislation to be implemented quickly.
Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and John Cornyn (R-Tex.) drew the ire of Vision Zero leaders Thursday when they quietly introduced a new bill to overturn a key provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that requires automakers to install passive drunk-driving detection mechanisms on all new cars by 2024.
The senators, none of whom responded to a request for comment from Streetsblog, did not publicly explain why they introduced the bill, which would roll back what some have called the most significant wins for street safety in decades. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has estimated that passive alcohol detection systems could prevent as much as 94 percent of alcohol-related crash fatalities.
AFLA Announces New Board Leaders
The Automotive Fleet & Leasing Association (AFLA) recently elected new board members and officers to serve on the 2022-2023 Board of Directors.
Karyna Zarate was elected to serve as Secretary; SuYvonne Bell, was re-elected to the position of Director, Fleet; Jennifer Costabile was re-elected to serve a second term as Director, Manufacturers; Brenda Davis will hold the office of Director, Fleet Management Companies; Lori Olson was re-elected to serve a second term as Director-at-Large; and Peter Young was elected to the position of Director, Strategy.
AFLA’s new leaders will officially begin their terms at the close of the AFLA 2022 Corporate Fleet Conference, Forward Together, which will be held October 10-13, 2022 in Tucson, AZ.
Tesla Vehicles are Increasing Hertz’s Customer Satisfaction, Still Adding More EVs to the Fleet
August 1, 2022 - Last year, Hertz announced an important effort to electrify its fleet of rental cars, led by a massive purchase of 100,000 Tesla Model 3 vehicles. More recently, the company added Model Y vehicles to the order.
Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr confirmed that it has rented Tesla vehicles for 160,000 days already, and customers renting Tesla vehicles from Hertz are rating them much higher than if they rent other vehicles from them. Scherr said that we should expect them to announce more large purchases of electric vehicles in the near future.
In April, Hertz announced that it is also adding up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar to its fleet over the next five years. The rental car company said that it expects to have all 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 – though Tesla didn’t seem to be completely on board with that timeline.
Hyundai, Kia Models at Higher Risk of Theft, and Of Course It’s on TikTok
August 2, 2022 - Law enforcement officials are asking owners of some Hyundai and Kia models to take extra precautions when parking due to a rise in thefts attributed to a recent trend on social media called "Kia Boyz."
It's stunningly easy to steal some late-model Hyundai and Kia cars that are not equipped with a push-button ignition. The thieves break into the car, remove the trim under the steering column to access the ignition, and use pliers or a USB charging cord to start the engine.
The affected models are not equipped with an immobilizer, a device which prevents the engine from being started unless the right key is recognized. Kia said that it started installing an immobilizer in all of its cars regardless of trim level during the 2022 model year.
Holman, Electrada, Ferguson Launch Groundbreaking Electric Vehicle Program
Through a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Ferguson, a leading North American distributor of plumbing and HVAC supplies, Holman, a global automotive services organization, and Electrada, an electric fuel solutions company, announce a fleet electrification pilot.
This groundbreaking effort delivers a turnkey fleet management and electrification solution enabling Ferguson to deploy medium- and heavy-duty all-electric vehicles throughout California while streamlining the development of the necessary charging and energy management infrastructure.
