The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that the “family exclusion” that exists in every motor vehicle insurance policy I have ever seen is not void as against Tennessee law or public policy. The case came before the Court on a certified question from a federal district court in East Tennessee.
You may remember that the Congress passed a $287,000,000,000 transportation bill last month. What you may not have known is that a tort reform measure was slipped into the bill. Transportation bills gives “pork” a bad name. Historically, they have been filled with local projects of questionable value. But now…
The Bush Administration is pushing forward with new trucking rules, even though the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found a similar set of rules “arbitrary and capricious” and “a threat to driver’s health” just last year. The rules come into effect October 1, 2005. Here is a summary of the…
The Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that a defendant may use photos showing relatively little property damage to a vehicle to argue that the plaintiff did not have a significant personal injury. The decision is Mason v. Lynch. There is also a great dissent on the issue; it makes…
A federal court jury in Winchester has returned an $8M verdict against Greyhound for injuries to a passenger after a man attacked the driver who then lost control of the bus. You can read another press report of the story here. The injuries were substantial; the plaintiff had some $1.6M…
I ride a BMW 1200 CLC. My wife rides a Harley Sportster. I did not ride until I hit the age of 45 but I must confess there is nothing quite like riding a motorcycle on a country road on a fall or spring day. It is a blast –…
This article in the Tennessean is a tragic reminder of how quickly a life can be lost as a result of carelessness. A truck driver for Diamond Logistics fell asleep at the wheel, went into a parking lot at a local market, and killed one man and injured three others.…
There is a new study out that maintains that relatively minor changes in highway design can say lives. The study, by the Insurance Information Institute, explains that “urban roads ‘weren’t built to accommodate today’s heavy traffic. They’ve evolved as traffic has increased, and they haven’t always evolved in the best…
Good news. Overall, the Department of Transportation said alcohol-related fatalities fell 2.4 percent, from 17,105 in 2003 to 16,694 in 2004. 42,636 people died on the nation’s highways in 2004, down 248 – or 0.6 percent – from the previous year. Read a more complete summary of the data here.…
General Motors has been the leader in putting event data recorders, or so called “black boxes,” in its passenger vehicles. These devices record a vehicle’s speed, brake systems, seat belt status, and other information in the seconds before an airbag is deployed. Since 1990, GM has been progressively increasing the…