Petersen museum executive director to retire

The executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum is retiring after a 12-year-run at the helm of one of the nation's preeminent car collections. Richard Messer is stepping down to concentrate on other business interests. He will be replaced by Buddy Pepp on June 15.

Public 'right behind' 20mph urban speed limits

NEARLY 80% of people think 20mph speed limits should be the norm around schools, in residential streets and in village, town and city centres, according to a survey. More than four in five people think traffic travels too fast on local roads, the poll by road safety charity Brake and Allianz Insurance found. Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 78% backed the 20mph campaign run by Brake, with 72% saying roads in their town or village need to be made safer for walking.

Toyota to end Australian manufacturing in 2017

When Holden announced that it would no longer build cars in Australia after 2017, that country’s flagging automotive industry was effectively put on notice -- Mitsubishi had stopped building cars there in 2008, and Ford says its two plants there will close in October 2016. Now Toyota has announced that it has no option but to end vehicle Australian vehicle production. Like Holden, it will close its factories there in 2017.