A Year After Sandy, Collectors Consider the Lessons

Quick action helped prevent the car’s total loss. Within a day, Mr. Nadler, who drives a tractor-trailer for a living, flushed the engine fluids, preventing the internal havoc that saltwater might cause. His insurance company paid about $10,000 for mechanical repairs and thousands more for a new interior, a thorough cleanup and some repainting.

The work was done by White Glove Custom Collision in Baldwin, N.Y., and Mr. Nadler was pleased to again be driving his Chevy, an icon of the muscle car era, before the storm’s one-year anniversary.

“That car is a part of me,” he said.

Fortunately for Mr. Nadler, the Chevelle was covered by a collector-car insurance policy. Had it been deemed a total loss, as often happens with cars flooded with saltwater, Mr. Nadler’s policy would have paid a guaranteed sum that he and Hagerty, which specializes in collector vehicles, had agreed to when the policy was purchased.

Several companies offer such policies, which also include liability and other types of coverage, and can be later updated to reflect changes in the car’s potential resale value. Collector-car policies typically place some restrictions on the car’s usage, including annual mileage limits, for example.

The importance of buying specialized insurance was probably the most valuable lesson that stuck with classic-car owners in Sandy’s aftermath. A standard auto policy pays what companies define as the actual cash value, which may be many thousands of dollars below the car’s true market value, according to Rick Drewry, senior claims specialist for collector cars and motorcycles at American Modern Insurance. He said the company’s collector-car policies included an agreed-value provision.

“It’s peace of mind that if it’s totaled, it’s a contract price,” Mr. Drewry said. “You know exactly what you’ll get.”

The wording is important. Another type of policy, called stated value by insurance companies, is not the same thing. Although the car owner can set a value for the car, an insurance claim payout could potentially reduce that to account for depreciation since the policy was purchased.

Unlike homeowners’ insurance, collector-car policies typically do not exclude flood damage, said McKeel Hagerty, president and chief executive of Hagerty. It was flooding, rather than wind, that did the most damage to cars in this storm, he pointed out.

That distinction has been a sore point for many homeowners, whose policies covered wind damage but not the destruction caused by water from Sandy’s storm surge.

Mr. Nadler’s Chevelle was one of 1,213 Sandy-related claims that the company addressed. Mr. Hagerty said that more than 70 percent of those were total losses, though many more cars than that were ruined — some 250,000 in all, according to estimates from the Insurance Information Institute.

“We estimate that there were probably 10,000 collector cars at or near total loss,” he said. “It takes three feet or less of water to destroy a car. If it was submerged up to the windshield in saltwater, that’s pretty much a total.”

Valley Stream, a few miles inland from Mr. Nadler’s house, suffered far less, but Kevin Mackay dealt with the effects of saltwater damage to his customers’ Corvettes. His shop, Corvette Repair, assessed 15 newer and classic models. One client lost seven cars.

But for some who asked Mr. Mackay to store their cars before the storm struck, there was good news.

“We picked up about a dozen cars,” he said. “One customer who stored two Corvettes was glad he did; his garage was destroyed.”

Insurance companies judged most of the cars that Mr. Mackay inspected to be total losses. He was able to save a couple, including a 1967 Sting Ray. Water had covered its seats and console but stopped below the fuse box and main wiring harness. A Corvette’s fiberglass body will not rust, but the rest of the car is vulnerable.

After Delays, U.S. Takes a Step Forward on Rearview Cameras in Vehicles

DETROIT — To help prevent the deaths of children hit by cars that are backing up, the Transportation Department said Tuesday that it would add rearview cameras to its list of recommended safety measures.

The recommendation, though, fell short of a law passed by Congress in 2008 requiring that the department set standards for rear visibility. And it comes as a lawsuit by a consortium of safety advocates, to be filed Wednesday, claims that the department has taken more than twice as long to issue rules than the law intended.

The department has delayed its final ruling four times since the law took effect in 2008. It was to set visibility standards that could help prevent accidents while in reverse, including the installation of devices like cameras, mirrors or sensors.

The Transportation Department, which made the announcement through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, declined Tuesday evening to comment on the lawsuit.

The department recommends that the cameras cover a 20-foot by 10-foot area directly behind the vehicle, displaying the image within two seconds after the car is put in reverse and that it be large enough to help the driver see what is behind the car.

“As we’ve seen with other features in the past, adding rearview video systems to our list of recommended safety features will encourage both automakers and consumers to consider more vehicles that offer this important technology,” Anthony R. Foxx, the Transportation secretary, said in a statement. “While adding this technology to our list of safety features is important, I remain committed to implementing the rear visibility rule as well.”

But Greg Gulbransen, who accidentally killed his 2-year-old son in 2002 when backing the family’s sport utility vehicle into their driveway, said the agency’s delay in issuing a mandate was costing more lives each year.

“Children are dying,” Mr. Gulbransen said. “Children are being seriously injured.”

Mr. Gulbranson is one of the plaintiffs in the suit, along with Susan Auriemma, who injured her 3-year-old daughter in 2005 when backing in her driveway in Manhasset, N.Y. Three consumer advocacy groups — Kids and Cars Inc., Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and Consumers Union — are also plaintiffs. Public Citizen, which is representing the plaintiffs, declined to comment on the Transportation Department’s announcement.

The lawsuit, to be filed with the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, asks the court to order the transportation agency to issue a final ruling within 90 days.

On average, backover accidents kill 292 people and injure 18,000 annually, according to the Transportation Department. Children under 5 years old account for 44 percent of these deaths.

In more than 70 percent of these deaths, a parent or close relative is driving when the accidentally occurs, the agency said.

The 2008 law, called the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, stems from the death of Mr. Gulbransen’s son in Syosset, N.Y. The law required the transportation agency to revise the safety standard to expand the area that drivers must be able to see behind their vehicles and to set a three-year deadline.

But the 2011 deadline for a final ruling has been delayed four times, according to the lawsuit. A draft of the final rule sent to the White House in November 2011 was delayed and finally withdrawn from review in June, when the transportation agency said it needed more time.

The department then set a deadline for Jan. 2, 2015, which the lawsuit says would more than double the three-year timetable the law outlines. The agency said it needed more time to collect information.

“This is the fourth delay, and the longest one they’ve offered up,” Ms. Auriemma said. “It’s made me lose faith in the process of what’s supposed to happen.”

Many automakers already install rearview cameras as standard features in their vehicles. Almost 80 percent of 2013 models include a rearview camera as either an optional or standard safety feature, compared with 1 percent in 2003, according to Edmunds.com, an industry researcher.

Even more 2014 models will have the option of a rearview camera as redesigned cars come with full navigation screens.

Automakers say that it is important that rearview cameras remain optional so that consumers can choose whether to pay extra for the feature. Automakers also say they must balance safety features with competitive prices.

Other options, automakers say, include installing backup sensors that beep when a person or object is directly behind the car.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington-based trade association that represents 12 automakers, said the decision to buy a rearview camera should be left to consumers.

“Consumers today are very safety savvy, and they have much information online to help them choose how best to spend their safety dollars,” said a spokesman, Wade Newton.

Automakers opposing the mandate to install rearview cameras in all new vehicles say installation could cost $2.7 billion annually and that, at $160 to $200 per vehicle, the cost will get passed on to consumers.

After 3 Fires, Safety Agency Opens Inquiry Into Tesla Model S

For the first time, regulators are examining whether the design of the high-end vehicle and its advanced lithium-ion battery pack are defective and the cause of two battery fires.

After garnering high praise for its styling, performance and eco-friendly electric power, the Model S will be the subject of scrutiny by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, said the company welcomed the inquiry.

At issue is whether the size, shape and chemical makeup of the car’s battery makes it prone to fires when its lithium-ion cells are punctured in a collision.

Mr. Musk has repeatedly defended the design of the Model S, which won early accolades for its safety from regulators and independent publications like Consumer Reports. But the car has caught fire on three occasions in less than two months — twice in the United States and once in Mexico.

By comparison, the Nissan Leaf — the best-selling all-electric car on the market — has not had any reported fires.

A federal defect investigation can take months to complete, and could include crash tests of the vehicle well beyond the ordinary government testing done on cars before introduction.

Tesla said it would increase the ground clearance of the Model S, and it also pledged to extend its current vehicle warranty to cover fire damage.

But those changes are not expected to divert the focus of the investigation, or minimize the potential for the safety agency to order structural changes and a vehicle recall.

“Adjustments or modifications of the vehicle will not affect the inquiry,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with the auto research firm Kelley Blue Book. “That is out of Tesla’s hands now, and the range of potential outcomes is very wide.”

As a start-up company in the keenly competitive global auto industry, Tesla has, until now, enjoyed remarkable early success with its Model S luxury sedan.

Mr. Musk’s track record as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur gave the company credibility that helped it secure a $465 million loan from the Department of Energy in 2010.

Glowing reviews of the Model S, which is priced at $70,000 and higher, fueled investor interest in a public stock offering that allowed Tesla to pay back its government loans early.

The company has since become a darling of Wall Street because of steadily growing sales of the Model S and Tesla’s promise to bring less expensive models to market in the future. Tesla stock, which has slid about 35 percent from its high, closed at $126.09 on Tuesday.

But the safety agency inquiry has raised questions about what was perceived to be one of Tesla’s greatest strengths — its technological superiority.

Mr. Musk has not retreated from his position that the Model S is safer from fires than vehicles with gasoline engines.

And in a blog posting on the company website on Monday, Mr. Musk went so far as to assert that Tesla asked federal regulators to conduct the safety investigation to allay any fears about electric cars. “There is a larger issue at stake,” Mr. Musk wrote. “If a false perception about the safety of electric cars is allowed to linger, it will delay the advent of sustainable transport and increase the risk of global climate change, with potentially disastrous consequences worldwide.”

The agency flatly denied on Tuesday that the inquiry was opened because of a Tesla request.

The swift rebuttal of Mr. Musk underscores how Tesla’s relentless promotional campaign is wearing thin on regulators charged with making the nation’s vehicles and roadways safe.

The agency, in fact, had originally cleared the Model S of possible defects after the first vehicle fire, which occurred Oct. 1, when the car struck a metal object on a highway in Kent, Wash., outside of Seattle.

A high-speed crash in Mexico on Oct. 18 also resulted in a fire, but that incident was beyond the scope of American regulators. A third fire occurred on Nov. 6 on a highway in Smyrna, Tenn., near Nashville, after a Model S ran over a tow hitch in the roadway.

That accident prompted regulators to revisit their earlier pronouncement of the car’s safety.

“The agency has opened a formal investigation to determine if a safety defect exists in certain Model S vehicles,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Wheels: N.H.T.S.A. Servers Restored After They Were Hacked

City Room: 25 Gas Stations Fined for Price-Gouging After Hurricane

Barton Silverman/The New York Times Drivers waited for gas on Long Island after Hurricane Sandy. (The station shown is not one of those found to have gouged prices.)

Twenty-five gas stations in New York State agreed to pay a total of $167,850 in fines for price-gouging in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Thursday.

The stations included a Lukoil on Pelham Parkway in the Bronx that raised its price by $1.10 per gallon after the storm, from $4.29 to $5.39, even as the wholesale price the station paid fell by one cent, the attorney general’s office said.

Another station that paid a fine, a Mobil on Crescent Street in Long Island City, Queens, raised its price by $1.03 per gallon after the storm, from $3.86 to $4.89, while the wholesale price fell by two cents.

“As New Yorkers were sitting in lines waiting for hours to buy critical supplies of gasoline, some shady business owners were trying to make a fast buck at their expense,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement. “Today, we are sending a powerful message that ripping off New Yorkers during a time of crisis is against the law and we will do everything in our power to hold them accountable.”

The attorney general’s office received hundreds of complaints of price-gouging after the storm. Mr. Schneiderman said that investigations were still pending against dozens of other stations.

After a more thorough review...

A little new and greatly improved, 2013 Honda Civic sedan.

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