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How Ralph Nader changed the auto industry

Many people think his book Unsafe at Any Speed was just about the Chevrolet Corvair, but Nader went after the entire auto industry, as well as the government and insurance companies. His actions didn't just result in safer cars, but in federal standards, NHTSA, better crash testing, and better recall information. Find out more in my "Rearview Mirror" column at the National Post.

R.I.P., Saturn ...

How I know I'm getting old: as of today, a major auto brand has both started and ended in my lifetime.

Regrets, I've had a few ...

There are moments of regret in every writer's career: the line we should have used, the word we should have changed. And sometimes it's just a case where time marches on and ruins everything, and that's what happened with Saturn.

My husband came up with the perfect line, and I very much wanted to use it, and then what did GM do? It made Saturns good-looking before I got close enough to a story where I could use it. And so, to my great regret, I never got the chance to use it: Why do they call it a Saturn, when it looks like Uranus?