Author Archives: billyjohnson

To say that the General Motors ignition switch recall and resulting legal action has not been without drama would be putting it mildly. Since initially recalling 800,000 of its small cars in 2014 due to faulty ignition switches which could shut off the engine during driving and prevent the airbags from inflating, the recall has swelled across all GM makes and models, eventually totaling nearly 30 million cars and trucks...

A proposal by more than 80 different industry groups, primarily comprised of agricultural shippers, could see truck sizes grow and create major changes on highways and roads in the United States. Pilot Proposal The coalition sent a letter to Congress on May 26 proposing a 15-year pilot program to study raising large trucks weight limits from 80,000 pounds to 91,000 pounds on federal highways, according to Trucks.com,...

After steadily declining since the beginning of the millennium, deaths on U.S. roads began a reverse trend upward: 14.4 percent in the past two years. Little has changed when it comes to driving per-se that could explain this increase, save one: our obsession with our smartphones. During the past few years – according to Bloomberg – use and ownership of smartphones has virtually exploded. We can now do anything on t...

Fourteen states have passed laws to make it illegal to have a phone in your hand while you’re driving; and texting while driving is illegal in 46. Still, the National Safety Council attributes more than a million crashes each year to drivers on cell phones, while the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reports distracted driving plays a role in crashes that kill nine and injure another 1,000 people every singl...

When you’ve been in an accident caused by someone else, you are confronted by a decision pretty early on about whether you should handle your injury claim yourself or hand it to a lawyer. Some of you might even know someone who works (or has worked) in the legal or insurance professions and is happy to “help” you. That’s all well and good if your doctor has given you a clean bill of health after a thorough exam....