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Running red lights and speeding are predicted to increase

By Mark Huffman Consumer News: Driving is less safe over Thanksgiving holiday, data company warns of ConsumerAffairs
November 13, 2024

Photo

Millions of Americans will travel by car over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Not only does that create more traffic, Verra Mobility Corporation, a company providing smart mobility technology solutions, warns that it will likely create dangerous driving conditions.

The company has unveiled new proprietary data from its U.S. traffic safety systems, highlighting concerning trends in traffic violations during the Thanksgiving holiday period.

An analysis spanning five years 2019-2023 reveals that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving consistently records the highest number of red-light violations over the holiday weekend, while Thanksgiving Day itself sees the most speeding violations, particularly in the last two years.

The data, gathered from traffic patterns across hundreds of communities in 21 states, including California, Florida, and New York, paints a stark picture of holiday driving behavior. In 2023 alone, more than 57,000 red-light violations were documented during the Thanksgiving weekend, from Wednesday through Sunday.

Notably, these violations have been on an upward trajectory since 2020, with most incidents occurring between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Over 150,000 speeding violations

Speeding violations also present a significant concern. The 2023 holiday weekend saw over 150,000 speeding violations, with Thanksgiving Day averaging the most offenses.

The peak times for these violations were between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Interestingly, while the average number of speeding violations per site has shown a gradual decline since 2021, the numbers remain alarmingly high.

As millions of Americans prepare to travel for Thanksgiving, with AAA estimating around 49.1 million drivers on the road, the National Safety Council (NSC) warns of the potential for 507 fatalities during the holiday period. Car travel continues to have the highest fatality rate among major forms of motorized transportation, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance.

Extra layer of distraction

"The holidays bring an extra layer of distraction, which can contribute to more dangerous driving. This seems to spike around the Thanksgiving weekend, so drivers need to be more alert when behind the wheel," said Jon Baldwin, executive vice president of Government Solutions at Verra Mobility. He emphasized the critical role of adhering to traffic rules, noting that speeding contributes to one-third of all traffic deaths.

Verra Mobility said it is releasing the data to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted and reckless driving and it urges drivers to prioritize safety. The company's advanced red-light and speed safety camera solutions are designed to detect and capture traffic violations, thereby promoting safer driving behaviors and enhancing road safety.



Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images


Posted: 2024-11-13 00:30:05

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Consumer News: California moves to ban lead in prenatal vitamins in groundbreaking bill

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 22:07:07 +0000

If passed, the law would make California the first state to protect pregnant consumers from toxic lead in daily supplements

By Kristen Dalli of ConsumerAffairs
July 16, 2025

  • A California Assembly committee just advanced a first-of-its-kind bill to ban lead in prenatal vitamins sold in the state.

  • A recent study found 90% of tested prenatal vitamins contained lead, which can harm a babys development.

  • The proposed law would require manufacturers to meet the strictest lead limits starting in 2027.


California is one step closer to becoming the first state in the U.S. to ban prenatal vitamins that contain leada toxic metal known to harm developing babies.

A bill recently advanced by the California Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee would prohibit the sale of prenatal supplements containing more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per daily serving.

That threshold aligns with the strictest public health recommendations and is aimed at protecting pregnant people and their babies from unnecessary exposure to a dangerous contaminant.

Any exposure to lead during pregnancy is dangerous there is no safe level, Susan Little, the Environmental Working Groups (EWGs) California legislative director said in a news release.

Even trace amounts can interfere with a babys brain development, raising the risk of lifelong health and learning problems. Its unacceptable that pregnant people are unknowingly exposed to toxic metals in the very supplements they take to protect their health.

Lead in vitamins? It's more common than you think

While lead in vitamins might sound surprising, a recent study by the EWG and Unleaded Kids found that more than 9 out of 10 prenatal vitamins tested contained detectable levels of lead. Some even exceeded Californias maximum allowable dose level, which is set to warn consumers of reproductive harm under Proposition 65.

Prenatal vitamins are typically taken daily for months or even years. Even low levels of lead exposure over time can be dangerous, especially during pregnancy.

Lead has been linked to a range of developmental issues in children, including learning difficulties, lower IQ, and behavioral problems. And because lead can cross the placenta, babies are exposed in the womblong before their first breath.

What's in the billand why it matters

If passed, the new California law would require all prenatal vitamins sold in the state to meet the 0.5 microgram-per-day lead limit by January 1, 2027. This includes products sold both online and in stores. Manufacturers would be prohibited from selling non-compliant products or even advertising them to California consumers.

Unlike prescription drugs, dietary supplements in the U.S. are not tightly regulated by the FDA before they hit the market. That leaves consumers largely in the dark about whats actually in the vitamins they rely on.

Pregnant people have a right to know exactly what theyre putting in their bodies, Bernadette Del Chiaro, EWGs senior vice president for California, said in the news release.

SB 646 brings long-overdue transparency to the supplement industry and puts California once again at the forefront of protecting maternal and infant health.

Whats next

The bill still needs to be approved by other legislative committees and both chambers of Californias legislature before it can be signed into law. If successful, it could set a national precedentand spark broader efforts to clean up the supplement industry.

In the meantime, experts advise consumers to research brands carefully and look for independent testing results when choosing prenatal vitamins.


Read More ...


Consumer News: Consumers face uphill battle canceling subscriptions after court action

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:07:06 +0000

The FTC's 'click to cancel' rule was thrown out, and consumers are mad

By James R. Hood of ConsumerAffairs
July 16, 2025

  • A federal appeals court strikes down FTC rule that would have forced companies to offer easy online cancellations.

  • Consumers share horror stories of hidden fees, endless phone calls, and opaque processes to quit subscriptions.

  • Lawmakers may face pressure to act as subscription traps remain a widespreadand profitabletactic.


For countless consumers, trying to cancel a subscription remains a frustrating, time-consuming ordeal and now it may stay that way for the foreseeable future. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has vacated the Federal Trade Commissions click-to-cancel rule, dashing hopes for a streamlined, one-click way to escape recurring charges.

The court, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that the FTC overstepped its authority, finding the rule represented a significant expansion of the Commissions rulemaking powers without explicit congressional authorization. The FTCs rule, finalized in March 2024, would have forced businesses to allow consumers to cancel subscriptions through the same easy online channels they used to sign up, without hurdles like retention calls or buried web pages.

Instead, consumers remain stuck in digital mazes, as highlighted by numerous personal stories shared with The Guardian newspaper. From streaming services to gym memberships, the tales paint a grim picture of companies exploiting complicated systems to keep charging people who want out.

A behemoth worthy of a takedown

Chris Cooper, of Pennsylvania, found himself locked in a dispute with Verizon over canceling home internet. After being stonewalled, he was offered $500 but only if he signed a confidentiality agreement. Verizon is a behemoth, whose intentionally complex and restrictive practices are worthy of a takedown, he said. He refused the hush money, determined to keep pushing for change.

Other consumers discovered theyd accidentally signed up for subscriptions buried in fine print. Kaja in New York booked a flight through Kayak, only to be enrolled in a subscription service from eDreams without realizing it. Even after supposedly canceling, she saw fees deducted from her account a year later.

Ella in San Diego, California, has been struggling to cancel her daughters Roblox subscription. The only way to get out of these things is to change cards, she vented. Very infuriating!

Jacob, a government worker in Washington state, described quitting services like Netflix, Amazon, and Tinder as a tangled process of hidden links, extra steps, and ongoing billing cycles. My life is better now, he said after finally cutting ties.

Aggressive retention tactics

Subscription traps extend beyond the digital world. Rob, a software engineer in Virginia, tried to end his pest control contract. Even after sending a formal letter, the company insisted he call the service center and sent field employees to his home unannounced.

Pamela, a retiree in Los Angeles, fought the Burbank YMCA after it doubled her membership fees without notice. The YMCA debited her bank account for months until she physically camped out in their office and refused to leave without a refund.

Some stories highlight emotional tolls as well. Kathleen, 68, from Washington, DC, said her attempts to cancel Hulu involved hours on the phone and condescending staff. I presume I can finally cancel when Im dead, she said.

What next?

For now, the collapse of the FTCs rule means companies are free to keep complicated cancellation processes in place, although consumers do have a few options.

One technique that a ConsumerAffairs reporter has used for years focuses on the payment method, usually a credit card. His very simple email reads:

You are billing me $xx.xxon a monthly basis. If this is a purported subscription for a product, it is hereby canceled and your authorization to charge my credit cardis hereby revoked. Further charges will be denied and chargebacks will be initiated. Thank you.

While this is by no means foolproof and may simply be ignored by many companies, our colleague says that he has found it "remarkably successful, assuming you can somehow get someone to read it."

With many companies excusing themselves from being responsive by simply stating that their mailbox is "not monitored," a dedicated consumer can usually find an email address. The CEO is ideal and can usually be found in the "About Us" section of most companies' websites.

If you're sufficiently steamed, you can also write to the attorney general in your state and claim that you were deceived into thinking that the subscription could be canceled at will. The AG may take it up with the company, although it's by no means certain these days, since many of them have joinedthe ideology wars and forgotten about the consumers who elected them.


Read More ...


Consumer News: State Farm hits Illinois homeowners with double-digit rate hikes

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:07:06 +0000

Severe weather and rising costs blamed for the increase

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs
July 16, 2025

  • Illinois homeowners face an average 27% premium spike as State Farm cites severe weather and rising costs.

  • Governor Pritzker blasts the hike as unfair, alleging out-of-state losses are being shifted onto Illinois policyholders.

  • State Farm insists Illinois premiums reflect only in-state risk, as extreme storms increasingly hammer the Midwest.


You might think that storm-ravaged states like Texas, Florida and California would be hit with the biggest insurance rate hikes. But State Farm is rolling out steep insurance premium hikes for Illinois homeowners, igniting a political and consumer backlash over rising costs and accusations of unfair pricing practices.

The Illinois-based insurer said it will raise homeowners insurance rates in the state by an average of 27%, citing a surge in severe weather events and escalating costs to rebuild homes.

The rate increase will take effect July 15 for new customers and August 15 for renewals. Alongside higher premiums, State Farm will now require homeowners to carry at least a 1% wind and hail deductible. Customers who dont select this option will automatically be billed at that level.

Hail damage second only to Texas

State Farm said in filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) that Illinois ranks second only to Texas in hail damage, driving substantial catastrophe losses.

Over the past 15 years, the insurer said Illinois catastrophe losses exceeded its annual catastrophe provision in 13 years, signaling persistent underwriting pressure. In 2024, State Farm said it paid out $1.26 in claims for every $1 it collected in premiums from Illinois homeowners, blaming rising costs of labor and building materials for worsening results.

The cost of covering Illinois homeowners losses is exceeding the premiums were earning an indication we need to adjust prices, the company said in a statement.

The rate hike has provoked fierce criticism from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who labeled State Farms increases unfair and arbitrary. Pritzker claimed the insurers catastrophe loss calculations are inconsistent with the IDOIs own analysis and accused State Farm of passing along out-of-state losses to Illinois consumers.

Hard-working Illinoisans should not be paying more to protect beach houses in Florida, Pritzker said, calling on state lawmakers to pursue legislation during the upcoming veto session to curb what he termed severe and unnecessary rate hikes.

State Farm pushed back, maintaining that its Illinois premiums reflect only Illinois-specific risk, not losses from wildfires, hurricanes, or earthquakes elsewhere. The insurer reported $1.9 billion in direct premium earned and $1.77 billion in direct losses in Illinois last year, producing a 93.3% direct loss ratio well above its closest competitors. State Farm insures roughly one-third of Illinois homeowners.

IDOI, meanwhile, expressed concern over State Farms rate filing, saying it has repeatedly requested more details to verify whether the companys proposed hikes are based purely on Illinois experience. They have repeatedly refused to provide the requested information, the agency said.

Central U.S. is being hard-hit

State Farms move reflects a broader trend of severe convective storms battering the central U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage even if such events dont generate national headlines like hurricanes. Meteorologists warn that warming weather patterns are contributing to more intense storms outside traditional tornado seasons.

The Illinois hike is not an isolated move for State Farm. Earlier this year, the insurer secured approval for a 17% homeowners rate increase in California following devastating Los Angeles wildfires and later sought to raise that request to 30%. Nationally, State Farm reported a $3.5 billion underwriting loss in its homeowners and commercial multiple perils business for 2024.


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Consumer News: Nextdoor wants to be your local news outlet

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:07:06 +0000

The neighborhood gossip site is hoping to fill the news holes around the country

By James R. Hood of ConsumerAffairs
July 16, 2025

  • More than 3,200 U.S. newspapers have folded in 20 years, creating news deserts and fueling misinformation.

  • Big Tech platforms disrupted ad revenue and control how news is seen online, leaving local outlets vulnerable.

  • Nextdoor partners with over 3,500 local publishers, hoping to drive traffic and engagement through local headlines.


Local news in America is in crisis. Over the past two decades, more than 3,200 print newspapers have shuttered, leaving millions of Americans living in so-called news deserts without reliable local coverage.

One in six U.S. residents now has limited or no access to local journalism, a void that researchers say leads to lower voter turnout, heightened polarization, increased government spending, and the spread of health misinformation.

The situation could get worse if the Trump administration succeeds in cutting off funding to National Public Radio (NPR), whose local stations are among the few or only remaining local news outlets in many smaller cities.

The collapse of local journalism has been hastened by technology giants like Google and Meta, whose dominance of the digital advertising market has siphoned away the revenue that once sustained newsrooms. Readers, meanwhile, have increasingly turned to "aggregators" like Google News or Apple News instead of subscribing directly to news outlets. They don't originate news coverage and usually don't have anything to contribute locally.

Social platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have also made it harder for publishers to reach audiences by deprioritizing news content in user feeds.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may soon make matters worse if it can vacuum up enough local information from other sources to repackage for consumers wondering what's going on in their town.

A different path

Amid the turmoil, Nextdoor Holdings Inc. the neighborhood-focused social network is pursuing a different path. Unlike other tech platforms that prioritize keeping users within their walled gardens, Nextdoor announced on Tuesday a partnership with more than 3,500 local publishers.

Nextdoor aims to distribute local news headlines directly within its app, which boasts 46 million weekly users. A carousel of local stories now greets users as soon as they open Nextdoor.

Were sending traffic out versus keeping everything inside the walled garden, Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia said. While acknowledging that this approach might not always deliver the smoothest user experience particularly when readers encounter paywalls Tolia maintained that supporting local publishers is part of Nextdoors broader mission.

Though publishers arent paid to share content on the platform, some are seeing benefits. One local publisher said he was seeing traffic bumps of up to 12 percent thanks to Nextdoors referrals.

For local news outlets already on the brink, any new distribution channel is a welcome lifeline. But as publishers know all too well, tech platforms can change course overnight, leaving traffic and livelihoods hanging in the balance.


Read More ...


Consumer News: Inflation disappeared at the wholesale level in June

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 16:07:07 +0000

The surprising report offers a hopeful outlook for future consumer prices

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs
July 16, 2025
  • The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand was flat in June, following a 0.3% rise in May and a 0.3% drop in April.

  • A 0.3% increase in goods prices offset a 0.1% decrease in services prices for the month.

  • The core PPI (excluding food, energy, and trade services) remained unchanged in June but rose 2.5% year-over-year.


Tuesdays release of the Consumer Price Index showed a one-month 0.3% increase in the prices consumers paid in June. But Wednesdays release of the Producer Price Index was something of a surprise, showing inflation largely disappeared at the wholesale level last month.

Thats significant for consumers because it suggests there is little pressure to push consumer prices up in the near future, despite concerns about tariffs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that wholesale inflation, as measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, was unchanged in June on a seasonally adjusted basis. The reading follows a 0.3% increase in May and a 0.3% decline in April, pointing to a cooling yet uneven inflationary trend in the producer market.

Over the past 12 months, the PPI rose 2.3%, a moderate increase that may offer the Federal Reserve some reassurance as it gauges future interest rate policy.

Goods offset weakness in services

The flat monthly PPI reading in June masks underlying movement in its two primary components: goods and services. Prices for final demand goods climbed 0.3% in June, the sharpest gain since February, led by a 0.3% rise in core goods, excluding food and energy. Energy and food prices also ticked upward by 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

Some price increases included:

  • Communication and related equipment: up 0.8%

  • Gasoline and electric power: higher

  • Poultry and meat products: slightly higher

However, some categories saw steep declines. The price of eggs plunged by 21.8%, and materials such as natural gas liquids and thermoplastic resins also dropped.

On the services side, the index declined by 0.1%, a reversal from Mays 0.4% gain. The decline was primarily due to:

  • A 4.1% decrease in traveler accommodation services

  • Lower prices in automobile retailing, deposit services, airfare, and food and alcohol wholesaling

Economic outlook

The PPI report adds to a growing body of evidence that inflationary pressures at the wholesale level are stabilizing. With services pricing showing some signs of softness and goods prices rebounding modestly, analysts say the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain a cautious stance in its policy decisions.

While data in the PPI are encouraging, its retail prices that will affect consumers. Economists will now turn their attention to the CPI and other macroeconomic data for further clues on the direction of inflation and interest rates in the second half of the year.


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