Consumers Union

The chairman of the Assembly Finance and Insurance Committee and leaders of the Consumers Union announced Friday that they will jointly push early next year for adoption by the Legislature of a no-fault auto insurance system modeled on the one in force in New York state.

This year's VCR boom, various experts predict, will end with a bang, with between 2 million and 2.5 million VCRs sold during the last six weeks of the year. According to the Electronic Industries Assn.'s Consumer Electronics Group, VCR sales are up 55% over the first 10 months of 1984--8.6 million versus 5.5 million. A little more than 1 million VCRs were sold last month, compared to 720,000 in October, 1984.

Stung by falling sales in the wake of criticism that its 1995-'96 Trooper utility vehicle may tip over in sharp turns, Isuzu executives rolled out engineering studies, videotapes and reports on Thursday in defense of their product. "Consumers Union's charges are not scientific or credible," Terry Maloney, an Isuzu vice president, told a National Press Club news conference laced with frame-by-frame video footage and scientific talk of lateral acceleration.

A consumers group has blasted former Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) for using a copy of his old state stationery--complete with the California seal--to solicit support for a political candidate. Campbell's letter was sent out earlier this month, inviting 400 lobbyists to attend a breakfast fund-raiser Tuesday for State Board of Equalization candidate Jeff Wallack at a restaurant across the street from the Capitol.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, asked state regulators on Monday to reverse a decision of last November that resulted in retail milk price increases of up to 30 cents a gallon. Consumers Union, in a petition filed with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said there was no justification for the department-ordered increase in what dairy farmers are paid for milk.

The publishers of Consumer Reports, the nonprofit magazine that rates products, urged the Supreme Court on Monday to shield it from costly lawsuits by corporate critics. The magazine is seeking to squelch a lawsuit by Suzuki Motor Corp., which alleges that the publication deliberately "rigged" a test to show that the Suzuki Samurai "rolls over too easily." In May, by a 12-11 vote, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the suit to go to trial before a jury in Santa Ana.

A consumer group Wednesday demanded that federal regulators require AT&T Corp. to cut its weekday calling rates, saying the long-distance giant broke a promise to lower prices for many of its 80 million customers. Consumers Union also accused the Federal Communications Commission of going too far in deregulating telephone rates in the $80-billion long-distance market.

Opposition to the Bush Administration's proposed hikes in "user fees" for many borrowers who use the popular FHA loan program has gathered more steam. Consumers Union, which has successfully lobbied in the past for regulatory changes that have benefited borrowers, has joined realty trade groups in backing a proposal that they say would be "kinder and gentler" to thousands of the nation's would-be home buyers. The consumer advocacy group has joined the powerful National Assn.

Single servings of some popular fruits and vegetables--including peaches, apples and green beans--contain pesticide residues that are higher than the government deems safe for young children, Consumers Union reported Thursday. But the prominent consumer group, publisher of Consumer Reports, cautioned that parents should not immediately empty their fruit and vegetable bins and all those important nutrients onto the trash heap.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday narrowly reaffirmed a decision that Suzuki Motor Corp. is entitled to a jury trial on its claim that Consumer Reports magazine rigged a test to show that the Suzuki Samurai sport utility vehicle "rolls over too easily." Consumers Union, the parent organization of Consumer Reports, failed by a 12-11 vote on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in its bid to get a rehearing. Judge A.