Transportation Law Commons^™

Automated Vehicles, Moral Hazards & The "Av Problem", William H. Widen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Winning The Imitation Game: Setting Safety Expectations For Automated Vehicles, William H. Widen, Philip Koopman

Articles

This article suggests that legislatures amend existing law to create a new legal category of "computer driver" to allow a plaintiff to make a negligence claim against an automated vehicle manufacturer for loss proximately caused by any negligent driving behavior exhibited by the driving automation systems which it produced. Creating this new legal category will allow a status quo approach to attribution and allocation of liability, including permitting defendants to take advantage of contributory negligence and comparative fault rules. Creation of the category also allows for continued functioning of the structure of our existing liability laws and regulations for motor …

Autonomous Vehicle Regulation & Trust: The Impact Of Failures To Comply With Standards, William H. Widen, Phillip Koopman

Articles

The autonomous vehicle (AV) industry works very hard to create public trust in both AV technology and its developers. Building trust is part of a strategy to permit the industry itself to manage the testing and deployment of AV technology without regulatory interference. This article explains how industry actions to promote trust (both individually and collectively) have created concerns rather than comfort with this emerging technology. The article suggests how the industry might change its current approach to law and regulation from an adversarial posture to a more cooperative one in which a space is created for government regulation consistent …

Chapter Eight - Technology And The Law: The Automobile (By James Willard Hurst), Bj Ard, William J. Novak

Articles

In this chapter we are going to talk about some of the automobile effects that it has had. Upon the law, and some of the effects that the law has had upon the automobile. We could undoubtedly open up some worthwhile lines of thought, if we talked about the automobile in relation to, certain brooder problems of which it is a part: for example, the effects of the internal combustion the growth engine, or of all types of communication. But we shall have enough on our hands if we stick to the automobile, and even so in the limits of …

Who’S Afraid Of Uber?, Jeremy Kidd

Articles

Ride-sharing has disrupted the transportation-for-hire industry, breaking down barriers to entry that have protected entrenched incumbents for decades. The disruption has led to calls for increased regulation, along with criticisms about the effect of innovation on consumer safety, market stability, rule of law, and other areas. That disruption, however, has also led to tremendous benefits to consumers as they are freed from a regulatory regime that limited their transportation choices and forced them to pay higher prices for lower quality service. The same type of disruptive innovation is upon us in almost every area of our economy. How we deal …

Failure To Capture: Why Business Does Not Control The Rulemaking Process, Gabriel Scheffler

Articles

Leading figures on both the political right and the political left have concluded that the agency rulemaking process is captured: that it serves to benefit businesses, at the expense of the general public. This perception appears to be supported by recent theoretical and empirical scholarship and has prompted lawmakers to introduce various proposals to reform the federal rulemaking process.

Yet as I will demonstrate in this Article, the view of the rulemaking process as captured is unwarranted. I will show that the academic literature actually provides little guidance as to the magnitude of business influence that is, the extent to …

Innovation In A Legal Vacuum: The Uncertain Legal Landscape For Shared Micro-Mobility, David Pimentel

Articles

The last few years have seen an explosion in the number and size shared of micro-mobility systems (“SMMS”) across the United States. Some of these systems have seen extraordinary success and the potential benefit of these systems to communities is considerable. However, SMMS have repeatedly ran into legal barriers that either prevent their implementation entirely, confuse and dissuade potential users, or otherwise limit SMMS’s potential positive impact. This paper reflects a detailed study of state laws relating to SMMS and the platforms commonly used in these systems. The study uncovered many inconsistencies with micro-mobility laws across the country. Currently, many …

If You Provide, Will They Ride? Motivators And Deterrents To Shared Micro-Mobility, David Pimentel

Articles

Bike share, e-bike share, and e-scooter systems (shared micro-mobility) are gaining popularity throughout the United States and internationally, but the optimal system design has not been determined. This study investigated motivators and deterrents to the use of such systems in the Pacific Northwest with secondary data, participant observations, depth interviews, and an on-line survey to users and non-users. The survey was administered in all cities in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho that have shared micro-mobility systems. The strongest motivators reported were exercise and enjoyment. The strongest deterrents were weather, danger from automobile traffic, and insufficient bike lanes and paths. The latter …

Should Automakers Be Responsible For Accidents?, Kyle D. Logue

Articles

Motor vehicles are among the most dangerous products sold anywhere. Automobiles pose a larger risk of accidental death than any other product, except perhaps opioids. Annual autocrash deaths in the United States have not been below 30,000 since the 1940s, reaching a recent peak of roughly 40,000 in 2016. And the social cost of auto crashes goes beyond deaths. Auto-accident victims who survive often incur extraordinary medical expenses. Those crash victims whose injuries render them unable to work experience lost income. Auto accidents also cause nontrivial amounts of property damage—mostly to the automobiles themselves, but also to highways, bridges, or …

Commuting To Mars: A Response To Professors Abraham And Rabin, Ryan Calo

Articles

The remarks that follow are less about the particular wisdom of manufacturer enterprise responsibility (MER) for driverless cars, and more about the limits of legal scholarship in grappling with unfolding technologic change. The contingency of technology and its social impacts caution against sweeping interventions. And the role of law and technology scholarship—as opposed to legal scholarship that touches upon technology—is arguably to recognize the unique challenges that arise at this intersection.

The Future Of Law And Mobility, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

With the launch of the new Journal of Law and Mobility, the University of Michigan is recognizing the transformative impact of new transportation and mobility technologies, from cars, to trucks, to pedestrians, to drones. The coming transition towards intelligent, automated, and connected mobility systems will transform not only the way people and goods move about, but also the way human safety, privacy, and security are protected, cities are organized, machines and people are connected, and the public and private spheres are defined.

Cycling, Safety, And Victim-Blaming: Toward A Coherent Public Policy For Bicycling In 21st Century America, David Pimentel

Articles

No abstract provided.

Why Intra-Brand Dealer Competition Is Irrelevant To The Price Effects Of Tesla's Vertical Integration, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

"In recent years, Tesla Motors (recently renamed Tesla) has been engaged in a state-by-state ground way for the right to distribute it’s all-electric vehicles directly to consumers. The car dealers' lobby, with the political backing of General Motors, has fiercely battled back, relying on decades-old state dealer protection laws to argue that Tesla is legally bound to distribute through franchised dealers. Through a combination of favorable state legislative and judicial decisions, Tesla has won the right to distribute directly in many states, but remains categorically barred from direct distribution in important states like Michigan and Texas--and hence all direct distribution …

Tesla, Dealer Franchise Laws, And The Politics Of Crony Capitalism, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

Public choice theory has long proclaimed that business interests can capture regulatory processes to generate economic rents at the expense of consumers. Such political exploitation may go unnoticed and unchallenged for long time periods because, though the rents are captured by a relatively small number of individuals or firms, the costs are widely diffused over a large number of consumers. The triggering event to expose and mobilize opposition to the regulatory capture may not arise until a new technology seeks to challenge the incumbent technology, thus creating a motivated champion to expose and oppose the regulatory capture and advocate for …

Tesla And The Car Dealers' Lobby, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

Tesla Motors, the offspring of entrepreneur Elon Musk (who brought us Pay-Pal and SpaceX), is the most exciting automotive development in many decades and a marquee story of American technological dynamism and innovation. The company’s luxury electric cars have caused a sensation in the auto industry, including a review by Consumer Reports calling Tesla’s Model S the best car it ever tested. Despite the acclaim, Tesla faces enormous challenges Despite the acclaim, Tesla faces enormous challenges in penetrating an automotive market that has been dominated for a century by internal combustion engines. Not only must it build cars that customers …

William W. Cook And Detroit Street Railways, 1891-1894, Margaret A. Leary

Articles

In 1890, much of Detroit's street railway system used outmoded technology, had severe labor and public relations problems, and faced uncertainty over the remaining length of the 30-year franchise granted by the city in 1863, but extended in 1879, perhaps illegally. An apparent solution came in 1891, when William W. Cook-later to earn a fortune that he would give to the University of Michigan Law School-and other "Eastern capitalists" purchased Detroit's street rail system. They were unable to solve the existing problems, and the new outside ownership itself added difficulties. Cook's group sold out in 1894, and over the next …

Boilerplate And Economic Power In Auto Manufacturing Contracts, Omri Ben-Shahar, James J. White

Articles

This Article is structured as follows. Part I compares the terms and conditions in the purchase orders of the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and highlights important differences in the substance of these boilerplate provisions. It argues that these differences cannot be easily reconciled with the prediction that sophisticated parties draft the most efficient boilerplate terms. Part II examines how these forms are drafted, how their terms are negotiated, and how the OEMs guard their terms from erosion. It provides some insight on how tailoring occurs and how the internal organization of a party to a deal affects the terms that …

Car Wars: The Fourth Amendment's Death On The Highway, David A. Harris

Articles

In just the past few terms, the Supreme Court has issued several decisions that have increased police discretion to stop and question drivers and passengers and search both these persons and their vehicles. These cases are only the latest in a line that has slowly but surely made it ever easier for police to do these things without being concerned with procedural or constitutional obstacles.

This article traces the history of those cases, and argues that, however much protection the Fourth Amendment might accord to an ordinary citizen in his or her home or even walking down the street, it …

Consumer Sensitivity To Interest Rates: An Empirical Study Of New Car Buyers And Auto Loans, James J. White, Frank W. Munger Jr.

Articles

ALTHOUGH it has never been clear whether the consumer needs to be protected from his own folly or from the rapaciousness of those who feed on him, consumer protection is a topic of intense current interest in the courts, in the legislatures, and in the law schools. A number of recent court decisions have attempted to attack problems confronting the consumer; unfortunately, these judicial efforts have succeeded primarily in disclosing the limitations in the courts' ability to deal with such problems. State and federal legislative bodies have pursued more carefully designed remedies. Congress has passed the Truth-in-Lending Act; the National …

Liability Of Manufacturer To Remote Vender For Defective Automobile Wheel, Horace Lafayette Wilgus

Articles

Plaintiff. in February, 19O9. purchased from the Utica Motor Car Company, a Cadillac six-passenger touring car, manufactured by the Cadillac Motor Car Company, of Michigan. The Utica company was a dealer in motor cars, and purchased to resell; it was the original vendee, and the plaintiff was the sub-vendee. The car was used very little until July 31, 1909, when the plaintiff, an experienced driver, while driving the car on a main public road in good condition, at a speed of 12 to 15 miles per hour, was severely and permanently injured by the right front wheel suddenly breaking down …

Joy Riding, Simple And Compound, Edgar N. Durfee

Articles

The wrongful use of another's automobile, even though accompanied by a trespassory taking, cannot, if followed by a return to the owner or an abandonment, be easily brought within the definition of larceny at common law or under the ordinary larceny statutes, because of the requirement of intent to deprive the owner permanently of his property. Smith v. State, 146 S. W. 547; State v. Boggs (Iowa, 1917), 164 N. W. 759; McClain, Criminal Law, § 566. Of course, such intent, at the time of taking, might be found in spite of return or abandonment, though it is doubtful whether …

The Commodity Clause Of The Hepburn Act, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

The Supreme Court of the United States has added another to the interesting line of cases construing the so-called "Commodity Clause" of the HEPBURN ACT of 1906. In United States v. Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co. and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coal Co., decided on June 21, 1915, 35 Sup. Ct. 873, the court reversed the decree of the District Court as reported in 213 Fed. 240, and found the relation and contract between the Railroad Company and the Coal Company to be in violation of the HEPBURN ACT and the SHERMAN ACT.

The Liability Of The Common Carrier As Determined By The Recent Decisions Of The United States Supreme Court, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

An understanding of the present day liability of the common carrier under conditions as they exist, especially in interstate shipments, is best reached by an historical journey from the early decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States to the end of the year just past.

Limitation As To The Amount Of Liability For Loss Of Goods By Carriers, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

A carload of automobiles was shipped by express, under an express receipt limiting recovery to $50, unless a greater value was named and a greater carrying charge paid. The shipper knew of this stipulation, and deliberately chose the restricted liability so as to secure the lower rate. On a suit for loss of the automobiles, recovery was limited to $50. Geo. N. Pierce Co. v. Wells Fargo & Co., 189 Fed. 561, commented on in 10 MICH. L. REB. 317. The United States Supreme Court has just affirmed this decision, 35 Sup. Ct. 351.

The Rights Of Passengers In An Unregistered Automobile, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

The State of Massachusetts by statute requires automobiles to be registered, and prohibits the operation of unregistered machines upon any public highway. While this law was in force, a party of persons went riding in an automobile whose registration had expired four days before. While they were in the act of crossing a railroad track, the automobile was struck by a locomotive, and several of the party were injured and one killed. Five actions were brought against the railroad company. There was evidence that the whistle of the locomotive had not been blown nor the bell rung as the locomotive …

Limitation Of The Amount Of The Common Carrier's Liability, Edwin C. Goddard

Articles

When the case of Railroad v. Lockwood, 17 Wall. (U. S.) 357, settled the law that the common carrier can not contract against liability for losses due to his negligence, it did not put an end to the efforts of common carriers to escape liability for losses so arising.

The Passing Of State Control Over Railway Rates, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

Congress has exclusive power to regulate interstate commerce, so far as it admits of a uniform system of regulation, and a failure on its part to regulate in a given case is tantamount to a declaration that such commerce shall remain free and unrestricted. Brown v. Houston, 114 U. S. 622; Leisy v. Hardin, 135 U. S. 100. The states are, in all such cases, without jurisdiction to regulate, irrespective of what Congress has or has not done.

The Degree Of Care Required In The Operation Of A Scenic Railway, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

The case of O'Callaghan v. Dellwood Park Co., - Ill. -, 89 N. E. 1005. decided by the supreme court of Illinois, October 26, 1909, is of interest because of the holding of owners and operators of scenic railways to the same high degree of care required of railroads and common carriers of passengers in general. The action was in case for the recovery of damages for injuries suffered by the plaintiff by reason of having been thrown out of a car on defendant's scenic railway. The plaintiff had paid the usual charge for the ride and was, at the …

Limitation Of A Carrier's Liability For Negligence, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

Limitation of a Carrier's Liability for Negligence.-This is one of the subjects which never seems to be set at rest. In making contracts, shipper and carrier do not stand upon an equality. The shipper cannot exist without the aid of the carrier, but the carrier can easily forego the business of any particular shipper. Hence the ordinary rules of contract fail in many respects to meet the demands of the situation. To properly define the limitations necessary to be placed upon these rules is not an easy task.

Police Regulation Of Sleeping Car Berths, Edson R. Sunderland

Articles

From the time of the introduction of the sleeping car there has been a constant feud between the sleeping car companies and the travelling public in regard to the upper berths. The exigencies of the situation have, of course, made economy of space a prime requisite in sleeping car construction, and there is no doubt but that a high degree of success in this respect has attended the efforts of the sleeping car builders.