Car insurance market condemned by MPs

CAR INSURANCE is a "highly dysfunctional market" in which firms' pursuit of profit has led to higher prices for consumers, a report by MPs has said. In some cases, business practices have not been in the consumer interest and have "inadvertently encouraged criminal activity", the report from the House of Commons Transport Committee said. There was no clearer example of this than "insurance firms' willingness to pay compensation for whiplash claims which they suspect are fraudulent without requiring the claimant to undergo a medical examination".

NHTSA unveils new safety ratings; BMW and Hyundai first to get five stars

The 2011 BMW 5-series and the Hyundai Sonata were the first two cars to achieve five-star ratings under NHTSA's revised safety ratings announced on Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will rate a total of 24 cars, 20 SUVs, nine pickups and two vans for the 2011 model year. The federal agency has significantly modified its rating process and will now grade side-pole testing and crash-prevention technologies such as lane-departure warning and electronic stability control.

Hennessey Performance CTS-V wagon breaks its own record at the Texas Mile

Everything's bigger in Texas, and it appears everything's faster, too. John Hennessey and his company, Hennessey Performance, brought its tuned-up, 707-hp Cadillac CTS-V wagon--a.k.a., the Hammer Wagon--to the Texas Mile and posted a one-mile speed of 189.7 mph, a new record for the car. And that wasn't even terminal velocity, according to Hennessey.