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The U.S. government on Thursday released a new crash test dummy design that advocates believe will help make cars safer for women. The Department of Transportation will consider using the dummy in the government’s vehicle crash test five star-ratings once a final rule is adopted, the agency said in a news release. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in a head-on crash, and they are 17% more likely to be killed in a car crash, than men. The standard crash test dummy used in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration five-star vehicle testing was developed in 1978 and was modeled after a 5-foot-9 (175-centimeter), 171-pound (78-kilogram) man. The female dummy is smaller and has a rubber jacket to represent breasts. Its routinely tested in the passenger or back seat but seldom in the drivers seat, even though the majority of licensed drivers are women. The new female dummy endorsed by the department more accurately reflects differences between men and women, including the shape of the neck, collarbone, pelvis, and legs. It’s outfitted with more than 150 sensors, the department said. Some American automakers have been skeptical, arguing the new model may exaggerate injury risks and undercut the value of some safety features such as seat belts and airbags. Lawmakers and transportation secretaries from the past two presidential administrations have expressed support for new crash test rules and safety requirements but developments have been slow. U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer, a Republican from Nebraska, and Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, both released statements welcoming the female crash test dummy announcement. Any progress here is good because theres simply no good reason why women are more likely to be injured or die in car crashes, Duckworth said. Fischer introduced legislation, the She Drives Act, that would require the most advanced testing devices available, including a female crash test dummy. Duckworth is a co-sponsor. Its far past time to make these testing standards permanent, which will help save thousands of lives and make Americas roads safer for all drivers, Fischer said. The department said the new specifications will be available for manufacturers to build models and for the automotive industry to begin testing them in vehicles. Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
The following sentence might cause anxiety. As Thanksgiving looms near, its time to begin holiday shopping. The current level of inflation makes that even more stressful. How can you show your love without breaking the bank? It turns out, shoppers are turning to off-price retailers such as Ross, T.J. Maxx, and HomeGoods, according to recent earnings reports and data from location analytics company Placer.ai. Lets break down the numbers. Ross Stores posts rosy earnings Its fair to say that Jim Conroy, CEO of Ross Stores, is very pleased with the third-quarter earnings report released on Thursday, November 20. The company earned $1.58 per share, resulting in a $512 million profit. This is an increase from last years figures of $1.48 per share and $489 million in profit. When you zoom out beyond Q3, the numbers are equally as impressive. Rosss year-to-date sales earnings are $16.1 billion, which is a 3% increase. People are clearly bargain shopping to get through these hard economic times and it’s safe to predict this trend will only continue to grow in the holiday shopping season. Foot traffic is reportedly up at off-price retailers Do you ever feel like you are being watched? Well, your cellphone is collecting data on you, most likely with permission buried deep in the terms and conditions of some of the apps downloaded on your phone. Placer.ai uses mobile-device data that is anonymized and aggregated to analyze customer behavior. It estimates how much foot traffic certain stores get and how long customers linger. According to the analytics platform, things are good for off-price retailers. TJX HomeGoods, which includes both HomeGoods and Homesense stores, saw a 9.6% increase in shopper volume in the third quarter, according to data shared with Fast Company. Similarly, TJX Marmaxx, which includes TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Sierra stores, saw an 8.1% increase in store traffic. And store visits at Ross rose 9.4%. Target cannot say the same. The companys store visitors declined 2.7% year-over-year in Q3, according to Placer.ai. The big-box retailer’s struggles were apparent in its third-quarter earnings report, which saw $25.3 billion in sales, around 1.5% lower than the same quarter last year. Ross has been opening new stores in 2025 Because of its overwhelming success, Ross is doubling down to keep this momentum going. In October, the retailer announced that it had opened 36 Ross Dress for Less and four Dd’s Discounts stores in October and September. These store locations span 17 states. In an economy where many brick-and-mortar retail chains are closing stores, this is no small accomplishment. Shares of Ross Stores (NYSE: ROST) are up 6.64% this week. TJX Companies stock (NYSE: TJX) is up 3.67%.
Category:
E-Commerce
President Donald Trump has called New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and a total nut job. Mamdani has called Trumps administration authoritarian” and described himself as Donald Trumps worst nightmare. So their first-ever meeting, scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. EST at the White House, could be a curious and combustible affair. Despite months of casting each other as prime adversaries, the Republican president and new Democratic star have also indicated an openness to finding areas of agreement that help the city theyve both called home. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who takes office in January, said he sought the meeting with Trump to talk about ways to make New York City more affordable. Trump has said he may want to help him out although he has also falsely labeled Mamdani as a communist and threatened to yank federal funds from his hometown. But for both men, the meeting offers opportunities beyond any areas of potential bipartisan agreement. The two men are convenient political foils for each other, and taking the other one on can galvanize their supporters. Trump loomed large over the mayoral race this year, and on the eve of the election, endorsed independent candidate and former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, predicting the city has ZERO chance of success, or even survival if Mamdani won. He also questioned the citizenship of Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen after graduating from college, and said he’d have him arrested if he followed through on threats not to cooperate with immigration agents in the city. Mamdani beat back a challenge from Cuomo, painting him as a puppet for the president, and said he would be a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump and actually deliver. He declared during one primary debate, “I am Donald Trumps worst nightmare, as a progressive Muslim immigrant who actually fights for the things that I believe in. The president, who has long used political opponents to fire up his backers, predicted Mamdani will prove to be one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party. As Mamdani upended the Democratic establishment by defeating Cuomo and his far-left progressive policies provoked infighting, Trump repeatedly has cast Mamdani as the face of Democratic Party. For Mamdani, a sit-down with the president of the United States offers the state lawmaker who until recently was relatively unknown the chance to go head-to-head with the most powerful person in the world. The meeting gives Trump a high-profile chance to talk about affordability at a time when hes under increasing political pressure to show hes addressing voter concerns about the cost of living. But thats if the meeting doesnt turn rocky. A chance for some Oval Office drama It was not immediately clear whether cameras will be allowed into the meeting. Trump’s daily schedule said it will be private, but the president often invites in a small pool of reporters at the last minute. The president has had some dramatic public Oval Office faceoffs this year, including an infamously heated exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March. In May, Trump dimmed the lights while meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and played a four-minute video making widely rejected claims that South Africa is violently persecuting the countrys white Afrikaner minority farmers. A senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions said Trump had not put a lot of thought into planning the meeting with the incoming mayor but said Trumps threats to block federal dollars from flowing to New York remained on the table. Mamdani said Thursday that he was not concerned about the president potentially trying to use the meeting to publicly embarrass him and said he saw it as a chance to make his case, even while acknowledging many disagreements with the president. If the president does use the meeting as a public confrontation, Mamdani may be uniquely ready for it. He, like Trump, was a relative political outsider who rose to victory with a populist message that promised a break from the establishment, known for his savvy navigation of the spotlight and a distinctive use of social media. Mamdani, who lives in Queens where Trump was raised also has shown a cutthroat streak. During his campaign, he appeared to borrow from Trump’s playbook when he noted during a televised debate with Cuomo that one of the women who had accused the former governor of sexual harassment was in the audience. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing. The moment evoked Trump’s tactics before a debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, when he appeared with accusers of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who denied the accusations against him. Michelle L. Price, Associated Press Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.
Category:
E-Commerce
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