The Changing Landscape of Autonomous Car Insurance
The 2016 Tesla crash raised questions about sharing the blame and how autonomous vehicles might fit in future liability determinations.
A few manufacturers have publicly stated they will assume liability if their vehicle’s technology is responsible for an accident.
"As of year-end 2017, state legislatures had done little to revise existing auto insurance laws for the potential insurance implications of autonomous vehicles. Uneven state legislative and regulatory progress may hinder insurers in designing and maintaining insurance programs that address autonomous vehicles."
Read the article at Insurance Journal.
The High Tech Repo Man
Technology has made the repo man ruthlessly efficient finding repos they never would have uncovered a few years ago.
Relentless Recovery's spotter cars have four small cameras mounted on the trunk and a laptop bolted to the dash. The high-speed cameras captured every passing license plate and scanned 28 million license plates last year, a demonstration of its recent, heavy push into technology.
"The company’s goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns. A plate shot outside an apartment at 5 a.m. tells you that’s probably where the driver spends the night, no matter their listed home address. So when a repo order comes in for a car, the agent already knows where to look."
Read the article at The Washington Post.
Vroom, Vroom, Give ‘em Room: Sharing the Road with Motorcyclists
By Art Liggio, President and CEO, Driving Dynamics
Spring has finally sprung, bringing budding trees and flowers, the sounds and smells of nature, and with warmer weather also comes the vroom, vroom heard as motorcycle enthusiasts eagerly emerge onto roadways in growing numbers to enjoy a much anticipated riding season.
Unfortunately this carefree happy scene can quickly turn deadly: motorcyclists are 26 more times likely to die in a crash and five times more likely to be injured than drivers of other vehicles, but with conscious effort we can help reduce these statistics.
According to the International Transport Forum on safety, motorcycle related fatalities continue to rise in many countries and the problem demands urgent attention. More than 100 safety experts from 21 countries agree that responsible behavior and awareness by motorcycle riders and the drivers with whom they share the road will play a key role in reducing the risk of motorcycle crashes.
Senators Demand Action to Prevent Keyless Vehicle Carbon-Monoxide Deaths
Heidi King, a top official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was challenged at a Senate hearing by Senator Richard Blumenthal over the agency’s inaction to prevent carbon-monoxide deaths from keyless vehicles, stating that it should be treated as a design flaw and to complete the law-making process.
A regulation proposed in 2011 to address keyless-vehicle hazards would force automakers to install features that assertively alert motorists that a vehicle has not been turned off.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut and Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, sent a letter to Ms. King on Monday demanding that the agency complete action on the rule and begin to enforce it. “N.H.T.S.A.’s inaction clearly has produced fatal consequences,” the letter read. “This problem has not been solved by voluntary industry measures.”
Read the article at New York Financial News.
An Award-Winning Global Manager’s Tale: Insights on Coping with the Challenges
By Mark Boada, Executive Editor
In 2015, John Dmochowsky, CAFM was named the first global fleet manager for snack-food giant Mondelez International, with sales in some 160 countries. Last year, he was named the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association’s Fleet Professional of Year after reducing Mondelez’s worldwide fleet costs by 21%.
Mr. Dmochowsky was a featured speaker at last month’s NAFA Institute and Expo, at a session entitled Be Great at Global Fleet Management.
