Recent Blog Posts in February 2010

22% of Nevada motorists are uninsured, according to Jim Gibbons' chief of staff, Robin Reedy.

According to Chicago company InsureNet, Nevada could raise $30 million by using InsureNet's system of photographing license plates to identify uninsured and unregistered vehicles.

The proposal was rejected on Wednesday.

The Law Vegas Review Journal reports that Nevada fines its motorists $250 for driving while uninsured and $500 for driving without valid registration, but the offenders are difficult to catch.

According to the journal, "critics raised the privacy issue, although a spokesman for InsureNet said any information collected by the company would go into a national law enforcement computer network, and the company itself would not retain the information."

No other state currently uses InsureNet to verify the insurance status of motorists. 

A class action lawsuit has been filed in a Philadelphia suburb against a school district that provided students with laptops installed with webcams. The problem? The 2,300 laptops' webcams were remotely accessible by school officials.

According to Law.com, the lawsuit discusses the "school district's official announcement of the launch of a program to provide every student with a laptop, which billed it as 'an authentic mobile 21st century learning environment' designed to ensure that 'all students have 24/7 access to school based resources.' "

The AP reports that the webcams would only be activated by the schools' technology and security departments when a laptop was reported lost or stolen.

The suit was filed by student Blake Robbins and his parents after Robbins was confronted by the assistant principal at his high school. The assistant principal allegedly told Robbins that he had been caught doing something inappropriate at home. The lawsuit doesn't indicate whether Robbins' laptop had been reported lost or stolen.

The suit alleges violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, and Pennsylvania's wiretap statute. It also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment, and federal civil rights laws.

A Texas nurse who notified the state medical board of a doctor's unsafe practices found herself on trial for a third-degree felony with the possibility of up to ten years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

The prosecution's theory? The charge was for "misuse of official information," and the prosecution claimed that nurse Anne Mitchell used "her position to obtain and disseminate confidential information -- patient file numbers -- in her letter to the medical board with the intent of harming Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr."

According to the NY Times, "The uncommon prosecution had ignited deep concern among health care workers and advocates for whistle-blowers about a potential chilling effect on the reporting of malpractice."

Mitchell was acquitted after jury deliberations of only one hour. The NY Times reports that "Rebecca M. Patton, president of the American Nurses Association, called the verdict 'a resounding win on behalf of patient safety.' Ms. Patton said, 'The message the jury sent is clear: the freedom for nurses to report a physician's unsafe medical practices is non-negotiable.' "

Mitchell has filed a civil complaint in federal court against the county and the hospital, seeking redress for violations of her due process rights, freedom of speech, violation of a Texas whistleblower statute, and tortious interference with business, among other things. 

Since 2004, Nevada statute has limited jury awards in medical malpractice actions to $350,000 for noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering.

Illinois has a similar statute, which limits noneconomic damages to $500,000 for doctors and $1 million for hospitals.

Today, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the Illinois statute limiting damages was unconstitutional. As the Chicago Tribune notes, the Court struck down the under the Illinois Constitution because it "violates separation of powers by allowing lawmakers to interfere with a judge's ability to reduce verdicts."

While the parties arguing for upholding the statute cited the several states which have enacted medical malpractice damage caps, the Illinois Supreme Court refused to uphold the statute based on the status quo. According to the Court's opinion, "That 'everybody is doing it," is hardly a litmus test for the constitutionality of the statute." 

In further attempts to combat the dangers of distracted driving, The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has prohibited commercial drivers from texting while driving.

Commercial drivers include drivers of interstate buses and trucks over 10,000 pounds. Drivers who violate the ban may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.

The USDOT press release cited the dangers of texting while driving as the motivation for the ban:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) research shows that drivers who send and receive text messages take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds while texting. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field, including the end zones, without looking at the road. Drivers who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers. Because of the safety risks associated with the use of electronic devices while driving, FMCSA is also working on additional regulatory measures that will be announced in the coming months.

As of February 2010, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association, many states prohibit or limit the use of cell phones while driving.

The GHSA reports the state laws currently in effect:

• Handheld Cell Phone Bans for All Drivers: 6 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington), the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones while driving.
• With the exception of Washington State, these laws are all primary enforcement--an officer may ticket a driver for using a handheld cell phone while driving without any other traffic offense taking place.
• All Cell Phone Bans: No state completely bans all types of cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for all drivers, but many prohibit cell phone use by certain segments of the population.
• Novice Drivers: 21 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell use by novice drivers.
• School Bus Drivers: In 17 states and the District of Columbia, school bus drivers are prohibited from all cell phone use when passengers are present.
• Text Messaging: 19 states, the District of Columbia and Guam now ban text messaging for all drivers. Fifteen states, D.C., and Guam have primary enforcement. In the other four states, all driver texting bans are secondarily enforced. Some states have limited texting bans.
• Novice Drivers: 9 states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers.
• School Bus Drivers: 1 state restricts school bus drivers from texting while driving.

Nevada, however, is one of six states that has preemption laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting cell phone and/or texting while driving bans.

The National Safety Council and the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced a new, non-profit advocacy group, FocusDriven. The advocacy group's mission is to "Support victims of cell phone distracted driving and families of victims, and increase public awareness of the dangers of cell phone distracted driving by putting a human face on the disastrous impact of this behavior, in order to promote corresponding public policies, programs and personal responsibility."

A U.S. Dept. of Transportation news release states that "FocusDriven is a direct outgrowth of the September 2009 national Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, DC called by Secretary LaHood. Since the two-day meeting that brought together affected families, law enforcement, researchers, public officials and others, family members of distracted driving victims have worked to establish an advocacy organization with support from the Department of Transportation and the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit organization that uses leadership, research, education and advocacy to prevent injuries and save lives. FocusDriven's new website, www.focusdriven.org, hosts information on distracted driving, help for victims and family members, and ways to get involved."

For more info on the new group and its vision, visit FocusDriven.org.