By Art Liggio, President, Driving Dynamics

In one year it was reported that more than 5,000 people were killed and nearly a half million people were injured in crashes involving some form of distracted driving.

To help you and your drivers address this issue ahead on, provided is a PASS ALONG communication to share with your fleet in our mutual fight against distracted driving. It includes information about the different types of distracted driving, links to two highly effective Driving Dynamics’ safety tip videos and a copy of our “Be Dynamic Behind The Wheel, Not Distracted” pledge sheet.

READ MORE

The company’s president and CEO will introduce his new book, “Seven eLements of Leadership for a New Breed of Leader,” at the upcoming NAFA I&E.

LeasePlan USA President and CEO, Michael A. Pitcher, will be at LeasePlan’s coffee lounge during next week’s NAFA Institute and Expo to discuss and sign copies of his new book, “Seven eLements of Leadership for a New Breed of Leader.”

Under Pitcher’s leadership, LeasePlan USA has been recognized as a top workplace for its Atlanta and Chicago locations every year since 2010. According to his book, the seven elements — Laugh, Learn, Listen, Language, Lagniappe, Legacy and Love — are essential for leaders to succeed.

READ MORE

The Hollywood Reporter

The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously this week to adopt a resolution to develop driverless vehicles that will provide public transportation throughout the city.

The program is part of Beverly Hills mayor John Mirisch’s plan for a municipally owned fleet of autonomous vehicles that would function as an on-demand car shuttle service to and from any address in the city.

Because it comprises only 5.7 square miles, “Beverly Hills is the perfect community to take the lead and make this technology a reality,” Mirisch said in a statement announcing the program. “It is now both feasible and safe for autonomous cars to be on the road.”

READ MORE

Green Car Reports

Electric cars are often touted for their financial and environmental benefits, but there’s another major perk they offer to consumers.

They’re very nice to drive.

Many drivers have been won over by electric cars’ near-silent operation and instant torque delivery.

Now, there’s at least a glimmer of hope that carmakers may finally begin promoting those qualities as they seek to sell more electric cars.

READ MORE

Zipcar has announced the launch of a new fleet management service called Local Motion by Zipcar, a comprehensive vehicle hardware and software platform that allows operators of large fleets to share vehicles effortlessly, increase utilization and streamline operations.

This technology solution is now available to support corporate, government and university fleet management customers.

The launch of Local Motion by Zipcar enhances Zipcar’s portfolio of simple and effective mobility solutions. Designed for customer-owned and-operated fleets, Local Motion by Zipcar makes it easy for employee-drivers to access shared vehicles through a variety of enhanced features.

READ MORE

The New York Times

When the car industry collapsed in the recession, automakers pulled back sharply on aggressive leasing deals and other financial incentives that had artificially increased their sales for years.

But now, with carmakers under pressure to maintain last year’s record numbers, they are once again turning to the same tactics that got them into trouble a decade ago.

Automakers are offering increasing discounts on economy cars and luxury models alike, relying more on sales to fleets like rental-car companies and bloating dealers’ inventories. More and more auto loans are being stretched out over longer periods of time.

READ MORE

Phoenix Business Journal

Arizona Public Service Co. is going all-electric, a bit at a time.

The power company is swapping out its more than 2,100 cars, SUVs and trucks with electric vehicles over its replacement cycle. A specific completion date has not be specified.

“Just as we’ve worked to modernize our grid and provide cleaner energy, we are now modernizing our fleet to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Donna Easterly, vice president and chief procurement officer with APS.

“The fleet will be more efficient and last longer, and our bucket trucks will operate more quietly which makes inspecting and repairing power lines safer for our linemen and less disruptive for our customers.”

READ MORE

The Car Connection

The name Cellebrite might not ring any bells, but you’ve probably heard about the company.

It’s the Israeli firm that’s rumored to have helped the FBI hack into the iPhone 5c involved in the shootings that took place last December in San Bernardino, California.

Whether or not those rumors are true, it’s clear that Cellebrite does have another project in the works — one that could help law enforcement examine the activity on mobile phones involved in traffic accidents.

READ MORE

By Michael Sheldrick, Executive Editor

In just over 50 years, China has transformed itself to a highly industrialized urbanized powerhouse. Along with that, it has afflicted itself with what is arguably the world’s worst urban congestion and pollution, not to mention the world’s leading greenhouse gas emitter.

But these problems may provide the incentive to aggressively tackle them. That, along with a rising spirit of entrepreneurialism in China — and a more powerful command-and-control government than in the democratic industrialized countries — could, in the view of some observers, propel China to leadership in developing autonomous cars.

Xavier Mosquet of the Boston Consulting Group told The New York Times that China could be the largest market for autonomous vehicles, and sees taxis as leading the trend. “It’s not that people are more willing to use the cars in Beijing or Shanghai, it’s that the economic value is much higher in China than in the U.S.,” he told the Times, adding that air pollution could be as much a catalyst as bad traffic.

READ MORE

Detroit Bureau

Oil exporting nations, including non-OPEC Russia, gathered in Doha to ratify a deal to stabilize output at January levels until October.

The collapse of the talks, which were aimed at slowing down oil production around the globe, renewed the downward pressure on the price of crude oil, which eased the upward pressure on the price of gasoline across the U.S. despite rising demand.

However, despite the fact that the outline of the deal had been approved by negotiators in advance, it still fell apart.

READ MORE