Transportation Law Commons^™

Disability And Income Loss Benefits Under The Minnesota No-Fault Act, Michael K. Steenson

Faculty Scholarship

The Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act was intended to ensure the “prompt payment of specific basic economic loss benefits to victims of automobile accidents without regard to whose fault caused the accident,” to prevent overcompensation of less seriously injured people by the interposition of tort thresholds, and to encourage appropriate medical and rehabilitation treatment by assuring prompt payment for that treatment. It seems clear that at least some of the initial promise of the Act has not been fulfilled. Payment of basic economic loss benefits, which the legislature intended to be paid promptly, has become bogged down in a quagmire …

Protection Of Shipowners’ Liability Under United States Law And Marine Insurance Practice, Izak Stephanus Fourie

LLM Theses and Essays

Shipowners are exposed to a variety of risks that are, to a large extent, unique to maritime business. Because of factors like the recent increase in the size and value of ships, increase in marine traffic, enactment of legislation imposing new liabilities, and the tendency of courts to make huge awards to personal injury and death claims, shipowners are exposed to potential losses or claims worth millions of dollars in the event of disaster. These heavy risks led to the establishment of the marine insurance industry, as well as the enactment of legislation that limits shipowners’ liability. This legislation was …

Guest Statute Applicability To Motor Driven Golf Carts

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recognizing The Liability Of Social Hosts Who Knowingly Allow Intoxicated Guests To Drive: Limits To Socially Acceptable Behavior, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Washington Law Review

Gradually, courts have joined these efforts to alleviate the harm caused by the intoxicated driver. A few courts have recognized an action in tort against those who contribute to drunken driving by serving intoxicating liquor. These courts have acted, in part, to relieve victims of the costs of drunken driving and to distribute the costs among those responsible for its occurrence. Washington courts should recognize the liability of a negligent social purveyor of alcoholic beverages. Courts need not be constrained from recognizing a common law cause of action because of competing social interests or legislative inaction. Washington courts should rule …

Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton

Seattle University Law Review

This note examines Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company v. Wiscomb. The note supports the court’s decision to prohibit unbargained for family exclusion clauses, because it furthered the policies exemplified in the Financial Responsibility Law and the Underinsured Motorist Statute and acted consistently with its decision abrogating intrafamily tort immunity. However, the note argues that by suggesting it would uphold truly bargained for family exclusion clauses denying coverage to named insureds, the court ignored its own pronouncement declaring such clauses against this state’s policy of assuring compensation for the protection of innocent victims of negligent motorists.

Aviation Tort Liability: The Need For A Comprehensive Federal Aviation Liability Act, 15 J. Marshall L. Rev. 177 (1982), Russell P. Veldenz

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Products Liability Revolution - Proposals For Continued Legislative Response In The Automotive Industry, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The law of automobile product liability in the United States developed intially through a process of evolution, as evidenced by the more than four decades between the leading decisions in the area. Since then, the restrained evolution of judicial development has become a revolution with its major focus of attack in several significant areas, including: (1) crashworthiness, (2) strict liability in tort, (3) burden of proof to establish the existence of a "defect"; and (4) apportionment of liability judgments, i.e., comparative fault versus joint and several liability. The purpose of this Article is twofold: to trace and comment upon these …

A Primer On Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance, Michael K. Steenson

Faculty Scholarship

The Minnesota No-Fault Act has undergone substantial change since its enactment in 1974. Recent legislative modifications and judicial constructions of the Act's provisions have served to correct earlier deficiencies, but have raised new and complex problems of interpretation. In light of these developments, Professor Steenson provides an overview that explains how the Act functions. After tracing the history of automobile insurance regulation in Minnesota, Professor Steenson examines in detail the various compulsory and optional insurance coverages under the Act, the proper sources of payment under those coverages, and the limitations imposed by the Act on the right to recover damages …

Common Carriers And Risk Distribution: Absolute Liability For Transporting Hazardous Materials, James F. Roberts

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Maximizing Passenger Recovery Under The Warsaw Convention: Articles 17 And 22

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

No-Fault In A Fault Context: Tort Actions And Section 65b.51 Of The Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act, Michael K. Steenson

Faculty Scholarship

The passage of the Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act has created new problems for the Minnesota lawyer. Some of the most pressing problems concern the effect of the Act on tort actions. This article analyzes the provisions of the No-Fault Act dealing with limitations on tort recovery and suggests solutions to come of the many interpretive problems created by the Act.

The Constitutionality Of Automobile Guest Statutes: A Roadmap To The Recent Equal Protection Challenges, David K. Detton

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Caveat Viator: The Duty To Wear Seat Belts Under Comparative Negligence Law, John A. Hoglund, A. Peter Parsons

Washington Law Review

The first portion of this article will attempt to show that neither judicial nor legislative reluctance, nor its underlying reasoning, is justifiable in light of the current state of law and society. Substantial evidence will be presented to demonstrate the need for our society to adopt the seat belt habit and for the law to recognize and respond to this societal need. Reactions of courts and legislative bodies to suggestions of mandated use are then explored as a preliminary to an analysis of the common law basis for adoption of the seat belt rule. A careful explanation will then be …

The Automobile Manufacturer's Liability To Pedestrians For Exterior Design: New Dimensions In "Crashworthiness", Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Each year approximately twenty per cent of all traffic fatalities in the United States are pedestrians. Of the 54,700 people killed in traffic accidents in 1971, 10,600 were pedestrians. Cyclists made up another 850 fatalities. In addition to the over I 1,000 pedestrians and cyclists killed, an estimated 150,000 pedestrians were injured in 1971. This Note concerns the liability of automobile manufacturers for injuries caused by the exterior design of their products. The plaintiffs in most cases will be pedestrians, but exterior design defects may also injure motorcyclists, bicyclists, and, more rarely, occupants of other vehicles. For convenience, the term …

Torts: 1971 Survey Of New York Law, Faust F. Rossi, Warren E. George

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Automotive "Crashworthiness:" An Untenable Doctrine, Stephen J. Werber

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

It is the purpose of this article to review the decisional law of automobile crashworthiness and to place it in the context of important policy considerations which justify such judicial determinations. It will be shown that the great majority of these decisions are entirely consistent with the doctine of "strict tort liability" as enunciated in section 402A of the Restatement of Torts, Second; that the questions sought to be submitted to juries in these cases are properly the subject of highly technical and complex legislative and administrative action on both a state and federal level; and that the few decisions …

Recent Legislation

University of Richmond Law Review

This is a list of the recent legislation from 1970.

Insurance: 1969 Survey Of New York Law Part Three, Commercial Law, Faust Rossi

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Basic Protection For The Traffic Victim, By Robert E. Keeton And Jeffrey O'Connell

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defectively Designed Highways, Steven J. Erlsten

Cleveland State Law Review

There are many design standards, attitudes, and procedures which result in public highways with built-in design hazards and, when drivers are confronted with these hazards, the highways involved become laten tkillers. A defect of a highway by reason of its design will not be appa-ent to those unfamiliar with the problems of highway engineering. Thus, in the majority of accidents, the failing component is presumed to be the driver and little further investigation or thought is given to other factors. Highway fatality statistics prove that the driver cannot sustain the burden of correcting design shortcomings with driving skills, and an …

Sudden Illness As A Defense In Auto Accidents, Annmarie R. Kirchner

Cleveland State Law Review

Today, automobile accidents constitute a major source of actions at law for negligence. Some of these mishaps may have sudden illness of the motor vehicle operator as the primary or contributing cause. The purpose of this note is to examine the question of sudden illness and its possible value as a defense when negligence is charged against an automobile driver.

Imputed Contributory Negligence In Automobile Cases - Weber V. Stokely-Van Camp, Inc.

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Motor Vehicles--Legislation--The Michigan Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

With the adoption of the Michigan Act, Michigan has become the fifth state to adopt a comprehensive program utilizing both the insurance and the fund approaches. Moreover, the Michigan Act, apparently inspired by its Ontario prototype, contains some elements which were previously unknown in United States legislation. Consequently, it may prove enlightening to examine the scope and purpose of the Michigan Act, and to compare it with similar legislation in other states.

Definition Of Gross Negligence Under The Guest Statute, Anon

Washington Law Review

On a bright summer morning, defendant slowed her automobile, intending to make a left turn. The road stretched dry and straight before her for more than a mile. She turned on her left signal blinker, observed a truck in the distance coming toward her, and looked in her rear view mirror. Seeing a car pulling out to pass her, she slowed further and waited for it to go by. Then she turned abruptly to the left and drove straight into the path of the oncoming truck. Plaintiff passenger, seriously injured in the collision, sued defendant, alleging gross negligence. The trial …

The Financially Irresponsible Motorist: A Survey Of State Legislation, Fredric C. Jacobs

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Negligent Parking Of Automobiles, James G. Young

Cleveland State Law Review

Liability for an accident involving both a moving vehicle and a stationary one is most commonly imputed to the moving vehicle. However, numerous cases involving various fact situations have held otherwise. It is the object of this note to review the reasoning of these decisions.

The Economic Treatment Of Automobile Injuries, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

The automobile has changed more than Americans' ways of transportation. It has changed their ways of housing, of working and playing, of eating, living, and loving. It has also added to their ways of suffering and dying.

The suffering and dying have called forth two kinds of treatment. The better recognized kind is medical treatment, which staves off death and minimizes pain and disability among the living. The less recognized kind of treatment is economic-the restoration to the injury victim or to his dependents of some part of the economic wellbeing that has been snatched away from them by loss …

Private Insurance As A Solution To The Driver-Guest Dilemm, Harvey R. Friedman

Michigan Law Review

The duty of the driver of an automobile to his nonpaying passenger, and liability arising from the breach of that duty, has long presented a troublesome area of litigation for the courts and the parties involved. Application of standards unsuited for the peculiar risks of automotive transportation has produced inadequate compensation in some cases and excessive recoveries in others. Meanwhile, trial calendars are overcrowded with personal injury litigation, and insurance companies must bear the awards of sympathetic juries and those resulting from collusion between passenger and driver. The over-all expense of this method of determination of liability, far too little …

Heart Attacks As A Defense In Negligence Actions, Jerry B. Kraig

Cleveland State Law Review

The general rule in the United States today is that an unforeseen heart attack which leads to loss of consciousness, or to inability to maintain control of a motor vehicle, is not negligence. When an operator of an automobile is suddenly stricken by a heart attack, and as a consequence there is an injury to a person or damage to property, a defense based upon the fact of a heart attack will preclude recovery by an injured plaintiff.

Contributory Negligence Of Automobile Passengers, Martin C. Spector

Cleveland State Law Review

What is the duty of a passenger when the auto in which he is riding is approaching a railroad crossing, or an intersection, or when the auto is going at an excessive rate of speed, or if the driver is intoxicated? When does the passenger have a duty to remonstrate with the driver and when may he rely on the skill and care of the driver? May the contributory negligence of the driver be imputed to the passenger? Note that this article deals with contributory negligence as such, and does not attempt to distinguish between results in guest statute or …