Automobiles

Your morning transportation speed-read:

A California state lawmaker was caught with a gun at a Canada airport.

The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its Pre-Check program.

Sales of Japanese automobiles increased 24 percent last year.

Northeastern states are getting federal money to repair roads damaged during Hurricane Irene last year.

General Motors announced Thursday a series of modifications to its Chevrolet Volt aimed at preventing potential fires in the plug-in electric vehicle’s battery.

The company said it will modify existing Volts under a new "Customer Satisfaction Program," while new Volts will be manufactured with the updates.

The changes come after the Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found in tests that the Volt’s battery could catch fire several days after a high-impact crash.

GM executives insisted Thursday that the Volt is safe, arguing the modifications are a precautionary measure.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) introduced legislation to end the $7,500 tax credit for people who purchase plug-in electric cars.

Fisker Automotive is recalling vehicles that contain a faulty battery component that could cause a fire.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Massachusetts is considering a law to force auto manufacturers to share information with repair shops.

A new report questions the potential for job creation by a proposed high-speed rail in California.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be offering free rides for Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Police have been deployed in an airport security strike in Paris.

AAA said this week that it projects 800,000 motorists will be stranded during their travel over the holiday season.

The organization said 83.6 million people are projected to drive for their holiday trips between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. Nearly 200,000 of them, the agency said, will have dead batteries, while another 95,000 will blow a tire.

AAA said it also expects 104,000 reports of keys being locked inside of cars and 38,000 “vehicle extractions” from obstacles such as snow. And the agency said it expects to bring fuel to 11,000 cars that run out of gas.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that he agreed with the National Transportation Safety Board that cell phone should not be used manually while driving, but he steered away from a debate about whether hands-free devices should be allowed behind the wheel.

LaHood, who has pushed states to adopt distracted driving laws since he was appointed by President Obama in 2009, said Wednesday "Nobody has used to the bully pulpit on distracted driving more than Ray LaHood."

But when he was asked during a news conference Wednesday in Washington whether hands-free devices sufficiently reduced the distraction to drivers caused by cell phones, LaHood demurred.

"That is not the big problem in America," LaHood said of handsfree devices, saying drivers had a responsibility to put their phones away when they got behind the wheel.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Swedish automaker Saab has officially filed for bankruptcy.

Japanese automaker Honda is scrambling to redesign one of its long-running models.

Rail prices in the United Kingdom are on the rise.

Washington's MetroRail experienced a shutdown on two of its rail lines.

The NTSB chairwoman on Monday defended the proposal, saying the agency wouldn't be influenced by political or public pressure.

The upstart electric car company Tesla Motors has hired its first in-house Washington lobbyist. 

Daniel Witt, a former staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), will be the sole legislative and policy associate for Tesla Motors in Washington, according to a registration form.

The company will lobby on “energy and transportation appropriations, tax reform, vehicle fuel economy and safety standards, domestic manufacturing regulations and incentive,” the company said in Senate records filed Friday.