Transportation Law Commons^™

Agdaagux Tribe Of King Cove V. Jewell, Taylor R. Thompson

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In a lengthy opinion by the Alaska District Court, the battle for a proposed medical emergency road through the Izembek National Refuge stalled. The court held that the Department of the Interior’s No Action Alternative blocked the construction of the road was decided in accordance within the Department’s authority. It is not the end of the battle over the road, as the court alluded that Congress may be able to change this decision.

Legal Beagle's Blog Archive For December 2015, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Google Glass While Driving, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Publications

Is it legal to use Google Glass while driving? Most states ban texting while driving and a large number also forbid drivers from being able to see television and video screens. But do these statutes apply to Google Glass? Google advises users to check their states’ law and to “[r]ead up and follow the law!” Yet, laws designed for a tangible world are very difficult to apply to virtual screens projected by futuristic wearable technology. In short order, however, police and prosecutors across the country will be called upon to apply outdated distracted driving laws to Google Glass.

This article …

One Centimeter Over My Back Yard: Where Does Federal Preemption Of State Drone Regulation Start?, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

The proliferation of cheap civilian drones and their obvious utility for precision agriculture, motion picture and television production, aerial surveying, newsgathering, utility infrastructure inspection, and disaster relief has accelerated the FAA’s sluggish effort to develop a proposal for generally applicable rules and caused it to grant more than 600 “section 333 exemptions” permitting commercial drone flight before its rules are finalized.

Federal preemption in the field of aviation safety regulation is generally assumed, but political pressure on states and municipalities to regulate drones and the ability of this revolutionary aviation technology to open up space close to the ground for …

Ridesharing's House Of Cards: O'Connor V. Uber Technologies, Inc. And The Viability Of Uber's Labor Model In Washington, Henry Ross

Washington Law Review

Ridesharing companies, namely Uber and Lyft, have taken the transportation market by storm. These companies offer a competitive alternative to taxis through using smartphone apps and more efficient service offerings. As part of their business model, ridesharing companies treat their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees to minimize labor costs. However, drivers do not benefit from remedial labor statutes and thus (1) must pay for operating costs, (2) are not guaranteed a minimum wage, and (3) do not receive overtime pay. In O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc., a class of California Uber drivers are challenging their independent contractor …

The Dependent Origins Of Independent Agencies: The Interstate Commerce Commission, The Tenure Of Office Act, And The Rise Of Modern Campaign Finance, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

Independent regulatory agencies are some of the most powerful institutions in the United States, and we think of them today as designed to be insulated from political control. This Article shows that their origins were the opposite: this model first emerged in the late nineteenth century because it offered more political control.

The modern executive's design of unitary presidential control over most offices, alongside "independent" regulatory agencies, took shape in the winter of 1886-1887. Congress repealed the Tenure of Office Act, giving the President the unchecked power to dismiss principal officers and ending the Senate's power to protect those officers. …

The Salty Truth: Revealing The Need For Stricter Road Salt Application And Storage Regulations In The United States, Sara Labashosky

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Legal Regime Of Marine Insurance In Arctic Shipping: Safety & Environmental Implications, Proshanto K. Mukherjee, Huiru Liu

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

Arctic Shipping & Liability For Harm To Natural Resources, Dominik Walkowski

ShipArc 2015 Conference

No abstract provided.

Research On Setting Up A Performance Evaluation Regiem Of Psc In The Aisa-Pacific Regiem, Xuepeng Shi

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

The Emerging Seat Belt Defense: Two Views, John A. Trerilla

Akron Law Review

The courts have recently been concerned with the new problem of whether the law of torts imposes a legal obligation upon individuals to wear seat belts. The seat belt defense is in its formative years. It was first presented less than a decade ago, and has since been presented in approximately fifty cases. To date, less than half of the judicial jurisdictions in the country have considered the defense.

Automobile Insurance Rates: Promulgation, Regulation, And Equal Protection, James J. Mcgraw

Akron Law Review

T HE INTEREST in the price one pays for automobile insurance continues to grow at a rapid pace. The reason for this growing consumer interest may be attributed to the equally increasing need for automobiles, the price paid for them, and consequently, the need for insurance protection. This insurance protection has developed into a matter of major economic consequence to the auto owner.....The key to improved and efficient rate-watching is in the good faith efforts and perseverance of the policyholders themselves. Accordingly, an examination of the effects of consumerism along with a discussion of modern rate and regulatory developments is …

Recent Development: Eec Article 85, Selective Distributorship Agreements May Not Include Prohibition On Exports, Catherine A. Modling

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Nevada Department Of Transportation V. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 131 Nev. Adv. Op. 41 (June 25, 2015), Jessica Gandy

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined, pursuant to the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Nevada Constitution, there was no taking of Ad America’s property because the Nevada Department of Transportation publicly disclosed its plan to comply with federal law, the City independently acquired property that was part of Project Neon, and the City rendered land use application decisions conditioned on coordination with the Nevada Department of Transportation for purposes of Project Neon.

Coming To A Car Dealership Near You: Standardizing Event Data Recorder Technology Use In Automobiles, Kara Ryan

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Event Data Recorders are receiving more attention as owners of automobiles have begun to realize that their driving histories are recorded. Event Data Recorders are the “black boxes” in automobiles that are installed in the vast majority of vehicles currently on the road. In the majority of states, the restrictions on what information can be retrieved from Event Data Recorders and used by police officers, advertising firms, and insurance companies remains a gray area. State laws governing Event Data Recorder technology greatly fluctuates by jurisdiction. If Event Data Recorder information falls into the wrong hands, the possession of the data …

Whistleblower Protections Of The Federal Rail Safety Act: An Overview, Christopher W. Bowman

Journal of Law and Practice

No abstract provided.

Slaying The Dragon: How The Law Can Help Rehab A Country In Crisis, Samantha Kopf

Pace Law Review

Motor-vehicle-related deaths consistently topped the accidental death count in the United States for decades. In 2009, for the first time, drug poisoning took over as the number one accidental killer. In 1980, approximately 6,100 people died from drug overdose. In the past ten years, the drug overdose rate for males and females, regardless of race, ethnicity and age, increased. In 2000, 4.1 per 100,000 people died from unintentional drug overdose; in 2010, that number rose to 9.7 per 100,000. The drug overdose epidemic, now the leading cause of unintentional death in the United States, warrants national attention.

To reduce the …

International Trade - Canada-United States - Motor Carriers - Reciprocity, Bernard Snell

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Foundations Of Aviation Law, Ian Mcandrew

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This review provides insight on the content and a review of the quality of the recent release of Foundations of Aviation Law from Ashgate Publications.

This review does not reflect the views of IJAAA or ERAU. This work was not peer reviewed.

United States - Mexican Relations - 1981 Convention For Recovery And Return Of Stolen Vehicles And Aircraft - Agreement Replaces 1936 Convention And Clarifies Process For Recovery Of Stolen Vehicles, J. Kennard Neal

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Locomotives V. Local Motives: The Coming Conflict, Statutory Void, And Legal Uncertainties Riding With Reactivated Rails-To-Trails White River Environmental Law Writing Competition Winner, Matthew J. Mcgowan

Student Scholarship

Study after study projects that the United States economy will come to rely more and more on freight rail in the twenty-first century. Few would have predicted the industry's reemergence 30 years ago when Congress, alarmed at the mass exodus from railroad and the resulting anemic rail infrastructure due to abandonment, began passing laws that culminated in 1983 with a rail-banking amendment to the National Trail System Act of 1976. The new statute streamlined the transfer of these rail corridors to private groups for safekeeping in the event railroads once again needed to reactivate the corridors. Since then, parks departments, …

Damage Control: Adapting Transportation To A Changing Climate, Trip Pollard

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Sea level rise, extreme weather events, and other problems caused or exacerbated by a changing climate present the most serious long-term threats to transportation worldwide. Recent disasters have carried a hefty price tag, and forecasts call for more frequent and more costly damage to infrastructure and disruptions of services that are central to trade, jobs, food access, national security, health, and personal mobility. It is essential to reduce greenhouse gas pollution to lessen future damage to transportation; however, even if emissions are cut drastically at this point, the impacts of a changing climate will continue for decades. As a result, …

Don’T Text A Driver: Civil Liability Of Remote Third-Party Texters After Kubert V. Best, Emily K. Strider

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

An App For That: Local Governments And The Rise Of The Sharing Economy, Andrew T. Bond

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

The revolution of the Internet in the late 1990s brought consumers together in unique and unprecedented ways. The evolution of the sharing economy in the early twenty-first century builds upon the Internet’s revolution by connecting consumers and unused resources in a readily accessible and efficient manner.

At the same time, the sharing economy puts new pressures on local governments in choosing how to respond to this evolution. One method of evaluating local government responses is through a paradigmatic example. In this Essay, that case study is Uber: a novel and unabashedly antagonistic transportation service that offers on-demand taxi access through …

(Still) "Unsafe At Any Speed": Why Not Jail For Auto Executives?, Rena I. Steinzor

Faculty Scholarship

Americans can be forgiven for wondering what has gone so drastically wrong with the companies that sell automobiles. In 2014, 64 million, a number equivalent to one in five of the cars on the road, was recalled. Safety defects such as the lack of torque in ignition switches installed in GM compact cars like the Cobalt put motorists in the terrifying position of coping with a stalled engine and loss of power brakes while traveling at high speeds. GM had the audacity to classify this condition was not a safety defect, but instead was merely “inconvenient” for its customers. It …

Ending Drunk Driving With A Flash Of Light, Andrew Sullivan

Law Student Publications

Among the methods used to combat drunk driving is mandating a person convicted of driving under the influence/driving while intoxicated install an ignition interlock device (“IID”) in his/her vehicle as a condition of restoring his/her driving privileges.This comment argues that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) has the authority to issue such a regulation; it need only be presented with a workable opportunity to do so. The present state of IID technology is a poor candidate to make this hypothetical regulation workable, but advances in Near Infrared (“near-IR”) Spectroscopy will provide the technology necessary to make a discussion of …

Comments: Judicial Messaging: Remote Texter Liability As Public Education, Morgan Gough

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Maintaining The Highway Infrastructure As Alternative Fuel Vehicle Usage Increases, Sandy Manche

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

When Apps Pollute: Regulating Transportation Network Companies To Maximize Environmental Benefits, K. Casey Strong

University of Colorado Law Review

"Ridesharing"h as long been touted as a means to reduce the pollution and congestion caused by personal vehicles, but in practice has been relatively unpopular among Americans. That outlook may be changing, however, thanks to new "Transportation Network Companies" (TNCs) that toe the line between ridesharing and for-hire passenger transportation services, such as taxis and limousines. UberX, Lyft, Sidecar, and other similar services have rapidly spread to cities throughout the United States, attracting the attention of investors and ire of incumbent transportation providers. Legal commentary has thus far focused on proposed regulations' implications for liability, public safety, and fairness, but …

Department Of Homeland Security V. Maclean: What Law Is And Who Makes It, Kristine A. Bergman, Joseph Weishampel

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.