Craig Howie
Craig Howie, Correspondent
Craig Howie's auto writing is published at AOL.com, CNN.com and LATimes.com, and has been featured at ChicagoTribune.com, MiamiHerald.com…, and Newsday.com. Previously, he was vehicles editor at LAsplash.com and production editor of the autos section of the national newspaper of his home country, The Scotsman. A long-time lover of American marques -- and value-packed motoring -- he drives a Jeep Patriot around Long Beach, Calif., but loves kicking up dust in his wife's Chevy Cobalt SS when she's not looking.
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Craig Howie
(34 Articles)
Published Nov, 15 2009
California resident Chris Berry knows a thing or two about having his car totaled: It's happened to him three times. Particularly scary was the time his car was hit at speed, bending its frame and leaving it a total loss, by a driver who ran a red light then refused to admit he had done so. About five million vehicles are totaled in the US every year (sometimes called a "total loss" or "write off"...
Published Nov, 12 2009
You might think there are enough weapons, drugs and dollar bills in the United States, but you'd be surprised by what drivers attempt to take back and forth between the US and its neighboring countries, according to border officials in the US, Canada and Mexico. And though border crossings are likely more mundane for the average motorist, what can we learn from the border patrol that would help us...
Published Oct, 31 2009
Is your car a tracking device? Do you think that somebody -- "the man," perhaps? -- is keeping an eye on your driving habits and tapping into your daily routine? Well, you'd be surprised how many motorists do. And as automakers and motorists wary of crashes and insurance claims increasingly turn to communication devices that log drivers' behaviors, many suggest that these systems can result in bre...
Published Oct, 08 2009
How does a $200,000 speeding ticket grab you? For driving a mere 25 mph over the limit? Well, we're not talking about the U.S. -- this world-record speeding fine was levied in Finland -- but did you know that the maximum fine for speeding in some areas of Canada could reach $25,000? American drivers may or may not consider themselves lucky that speeding fines top out here at about $2500 for the wo...
Published Sep, 11 2009
License and registration? You may have heard that phrase more than once in your life, and chances are you simply reached into the glove box and produced the necessary documents for a highway patrol or police officer standing next to your car. But what happens if you can't give proof of license or registration at the scene of the citation? Do you have to attend traffic school or pay a big fine? Wha...
Published Aug, 26 2009
Each year, 13,000 people are killed by drunk drivers with a blood alcohol level above .08. Advocates of a new standard for in-car breathalyzers say that most, if not all, of those accidents could have been avoided if the drunk driver hadn't been able to turn his or her car on. If Congress and Mothers Against Drunk Driving get their way, could your next new car could come with a breathalyzer pre-in...