The U.S. Congress passed legislation designed to protect children from injuries or deaths in non-traffic vehicle incidents. President Bush is expected to sign the bill (HR 1216) into law. The measure directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require new vehicles be...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ruled that 12,000 acres of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area in California must be closed to the public so as to protect the Peirson’s milk-vetch plant. The agency excluded 10,000 acres of dunes where most off-road activities take place. The plant was...

CLOSING IN: As of Wednesday morning, officials of the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series were closing in on an agreement, that would bring the two factions of open-wheel racing together for the first time in 13 years. When agreed to, remaining Champ Car teams and some of the series’s...

NEWS NUGGETS

Tire Group International (TGI) opened a new office in Qingdao, China. Heading it will be Jing Dong Ling, formerly a quality and mixing engineer with Yellow Sea Tire. Ling brings more than 10 years of experience and knowledge from the quality control side of the tire building process and will oversee...

The SEMA National Education Conference, scheduled April 10–11 in Nashville, is a concentrated, two-day leadership program developed exclusively for automotive specialty-equipment executives. With the knowledge shared at this conference, you'll discover how to lead your company to new levels of...

Filler for eNews

Dates and locations for several upcoming SEMA-sponsored shows and activities have been announced. Details are:

In January, the SEMA Performance Parts and Accessories Demand Index (PADI) dropped by 23 points, or 30%, going from 77 in December to its current reading of 54. Currently, 15% of adult American drivers (or approximately more than 15 million households) have indicated plans to purchase specialty...