Driver of pickup truck loses control on Texas interstate, crosses median and strikes oncoming semi-trailer truck. Among passengers in pickup truck are two kids, one killed and one horribly injured. Driver of oncoming semi was in own lane, did not lose control, and was driving under speed limit. Plaintiff’s creative theory: there might have been ice on the road, the Werner Enterprises manual tells drivers not to drive during icy conditions; so the driver should not have been on the road at all, and if he hadn’t it would have averted that particular collision. Werner, in its defense: not only was evidence contradictory as to whether conditions were icy or just damp, but driver guidelines do not somehow create legally binding obligations to third parties or prove negligence that could not be shown otherwise. Jury to Werner Enterprises: pay $89.6 million. [Michael O’Connor, Omaha World-Herald]
Posts Tagged ‘autos’
“Sacramento Wants to Boost Rail Ridership By Banning Drive-Throughs and Gas Stations Near Transit”
It’s almost as if making life inconvenient for drivers is seen as a goal in itself: “City staff [in California’s capital city of Sacramento] are drafting an ordinance that would ban building new gas stations, drive-throughs, and other auto-related businesses within a quarter mile of any of the city’s 23 light rail stations. …Other businesses ‘not considered transit-supportive’ — car lots, auto repair businesses, manufacturing sites, wholesale outlets — would still be allowed, but only if the city grants them a special permit.” [Christian Britschgi, Reason]
“Vehicle Safety Inspections Don’t Increase Safety”
When New Jersey repealed its requirement for periodic auto safety inspections, there was no statistically meaningful rise in the frequency of accidents due to car failure, or to road fatalities whether linked to car failures or not. Alex Tabarrok: “It’s time to ditch the annual safety inspection and either move to no inspection system at all or like Maryland move to a system that requires safety inspections only at transfer. I’m not convinced that is necessary either, since at transfer is precisely when the buyer will run an inspection anyway, but at least that system would reduce the number of inspections significantly.” [Marginal Revolution, New York Post editorial; Alex Hoagland and Trevor Woolley]
“Customers shall read and fully understand” owners’ manual in its entirety before operating vehicle
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is not being sold as an ordinary street vehicle, and the disclaimers and waivers that customers are being required to sign are not ordinary either [Patrick Rall, Allpar via Davey G. Johnson, Car and Driver]
Liability roundup
- “A handful of plaintiffs’ lawyers dominates MDL (multi-district) litigation. Is that a problem?” [Alison Frankel, Reuters]
- “A. 5918: Unconstitutional, Unwise and Futile Effort to Expand N.Y. Courts’ Jurisdiction” [Marc Gottridge and Lisa Fried, New York Law Journal, earlier on would-be end-run around Daimler limits on state court jurisdiction]
- “Hawaii counties threaten to pull lifeguards off state beaches if liability bill dies” [Nathan Eagle, Honolulu Civil Beat]
- No good reason why New York municipalities should be required to pay interest rate as high as 9 percent a year on lawsuit outlays [Adam Morey, Auburn Citizen letter to editor]
- “Ohio Supreme Court orders halt in liquidation of defunct Chesley law firm” [James McNair, City Beat (Cincinnati)]
- “What Should Tort Law Do When Autonomous Vehicles Crash?” [Michael Krauss; Jones Day]
Environment roundup
- How regulators dismiss economists’ advice: the case of CAFE fuel economy regs [David Henderson]
- Other auto manufacturers appear to have an emissions cheating problem, raise your hand if you’re surprised [Coyote]
- “You can end up getting a platinum LEED certification and still have the highest energy consumption density in the city of Chicago, as it turns out.” [same, sequel]
- “The Disconnect Between Liberal Aspirations And Liberal Housing Policy Is Killing Coastal U.S. Cities” [Shane D. Phillips] “California Housing Crunch Prompts Push to Allow Building” [Chris Kirkham, WSJ]
- Tyler Cowen takes a look at the stream protection rule;
- Well, natch: staff of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman was in touch with Rockefeller Family Fund campaigners before he launched climate advocacy subpoenas [New York Post]
October 12 roundup
- RIP automotive journalism legend Brock Yates, an incisive critic of auto safety scares [Christopher Smith, CarThrottle, Corvair Alley]
- New California law regulating trade in autographed collectibles might have unintended consequences [Brian Doherty]
- Federal magistrate judge approves service of process via Twitter; suit alleged terrorism finance [US News]
- Cf. Tom Wolfe, Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers: groups that “shut down” NYC planning hearing are funded by none other than city taxpayers [Seth Barron, New York Post]
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., sometimes known in this space as America’s Most Irresponsible Public Figure, has taken job with personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan, known for billboards and TV ads [Daily Mail]
- “The Coming Copyright Fight Over Viral News Videos, Such As Police Shootings” [Mike Masnick, TechDirt]
September 28 roundup
- Today at Cato, Josh Blackman discusses his new book Unraveled: Obamacare, Religious Liberty, and Executive Power with comments from Washington Post Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes and Philip Klein of the Washington Examiner, Ilya Shapiro moderating [watch live 12 noon Eastern]
- Breed-specific laws fuel mass euthanasia: “Montreal Gearing Up To Sentence Huge Numbers Of Innocent Dogs To Death” [Huffington Post]
- Feds prepare to mandate mechanical speed governors capping road speed of tractor-trailers; truckers warn of crashes and traffic jams [AP/San Luis Obispo Tribune]
- “You have to go back to the Red Scare to find something similar,” said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) of advocacy-group subpoenas by Hill committee in “Exxon Knew” probe. Or just five months to the CEI subpoena [Washington Post hearing coverage which oddly omits mention of CEI episode]
- “I’m not here to take away your guns.” Why Hillary Clinton’s assurances ring hollow [Jacob Sullum] Trump’s comments defending stop-and-frisk and no-fly no-buy further undercut his never-impressive claims as defender of gun liberty [AllahPundit, Leon Wolf, Ilya Somin]
- Why my Cato colleagues believe the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership (TPP) is worth supporting as a trade liberalization measure despite some suboptimal aspects [Daniel J. Ikenson, Simon Lester, Scott Lincicome, Daniel R. Pearson, K. William Watson, Cato Trade]
“When the Trial Lawyers Come for the Robot Cars”
“Driverless vehicles could save lives—but we need to sort out liability questions.” [Adam Thierer, Slate] More: Alex Tabarrok, Tyler Cowen (on regulatory angles).
Environment roundup
- Richard Pipes: “Private Property Sets the Boundary of the State” [Istituto Bruno Leoni video via Arnold Kling and Alberto Mingardi; my 1999 review of Pipes on property]
- “‘Housing is a human right,’ says [L.A.] group founded for the sole purpose of preventing new housing from being built” [@MarketUrbanism]
- “EPA Putting Red Light on Amateur Car Racing” [Kenric Ward, Reason]
- Publicity stunts in our time: “Gov. Rick Snyder target of RICO lawsuit over Flint water crisis” [Flint Journal]
- Speaking of which: lawsuit “on behalf of the future” in Oregon federal court seeks to represent youth against the federal government and major energy companies [Eugene Register-Guard]
- Some things to expect as autonomous vehicles take over, including the freeing up of a lot of expensive stuff and space urban areas [Johnny Sanfilippo, Market Urbanism]