Insect Alert

See where Austin ranks on the list of worst cities for mosquitoes

Better grab some Off!, it's that time of year again.

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Folks who live in Texas need swat teams — the kind that swat mosquitoes, not that respond to high-risk emergencies.

Dallas-Fort Worth appears at No. 6 and Houston at No. 7 on a new ranking of the worst U.S. metro areas for mosquitoes. Further down on the 50-metro list are Austin at No. 37 and San Antonio at No. 39.

Pest control giant Orkin produced the list based on the number of mosquito treatments it provided to residential and business customers from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017. For the fourth year in a row, Atlanta tops the list.

“Mosquitoes are a public health threat,” Orkin entomologist Mark Beavers says. “Zika virus is currently one of the most notable illnesses that can be spread by mosquitoes, and it will likely be a problem again this year, especially in areas where the type of mosquito that can carry the virus thrives.”

Aside from Zika, mosquito-borne viruses include West Nile, chikungunya, and dengue.

Orkin says mosquitoes become more active as temperatures rise, with mosquito season typically running from April to October.

The Texas Department of State Health Service says it’s preparing for the transmission of the Zika virus throughout Texas during the 2017 mosquito season.

“Zika remains a significant health risk to pregnant women and their babies, and it’s only a matter of time until we see local transmission here again,” Dr. John Hellerstedt, the state health commissioner, said in April.

From January 1, 2015, through April 26, 2017, Texas reported 326 Zika cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Defensive Driving

Austin-based Tesla faces new probe focused on remote driving feature

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 2.6 million Teslas.

Federal regulators have opened an investigation into 2.6 million Teslas after reports of crashes involving the use of company technology that allows drivers to remotely command their vehicle to return to them, or move to another location, using a phone app.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said Tuesday, January 7 that Austin-based Tesla did not report any of the accidents. Tesla is under order to report crashes on “publicly accessible roads” involving vehicles being operated through its autonomous driving technology.

The new investigation follows another probe launched in October looking into the company's “Full Self-Driving” system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. That investigation covers 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

One driver filed a complaint after a crash while using Tesla's “Actually Smart Summon” technology and NHTSA is looking into another three similar incidents based on media reports, the NHTSA said. The agency is looking into 12 total incidents reported by users of the technology.

Each of the vehicles failed to detect posts and other parked vehicles, according to the NHTSA.

Regulators say the vehicles struck objects because the users had "too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”

Shares of Tesla Inc. slid more than 4 percent in late afternoon trading Tuesday.

Musk has complained that U.S. regulations are too onerous and are holding back the development of self-driving cars. Ethics experts are worried that once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Musk will push him to ease oversight of Tesla, which just suffered its first decline in annual sales in more than a decade.

Musk donated an estimated $250 million to Trump's presidential campaign and is a frequent guest at Trump's Mar-a-Lago, vetting cabinet nominees and meeting with foreign heads of state. Trump has put Musk in charge of an advisory group, the Department of Government Efficiency, that will recommend where to cut government expenses and staff at federal agencies and reduce regulation.

The NHTSA said it will look into the top speed that Teslas can reach when users deploy its “summons” technology, as well as restrictions on public roads and line of sights requirements. It also said it expects to check for any “connectivity delays" with the app that could result in increased stopping distance.

Tesla’s Model 3 owner’s manual says that its “summons” feature is designed for use only in parking lots and driveways on private property and is disabled on public roads.

The new probe covers 2016-2025 Model S and X vehicles, 2017-2025 Model 3, 2020-2025 Model Y equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving driver assistance system.

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