| Volume 112 Number 1 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
If you are involved in a car accident, even if the other driver is at fault, make sure that you read and understand what your own insurance policy may require. If the other driver or their insurance company won't pay for repairs, you may need to file a claim on your own policy, and you need to make sure that you don't take any actions that might jeopardize your coverage. For example, many insurance policies require that you make the vehicle available to them for inspection before any repairs are made. Click here for more.
Google’s Self-Driving Car Involved in First Injury Accident
On July 1, one of Google’s self-driving cars was involved in the first injury accident involving one of its vehicles when it was rear-ended by a human controlled car in Mountain View, California. While no one was seriously injured, three passengers in the Google car were examined for whiplash symptoms before being released from the hospital. The Google SUVs have been rear-ended by human controlled vehicles in 11 of the 14 reported accidents involving the Google vehicles. The head of Google's self-driving car program, Chris Urmson, wrote in a blog post that his SUVs "are being hit surprisingly often" by distracted drivers, perhaps people looking at their phones.
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Your Money
Over years of employment many people accumulate a number of retirement accounts and keeping track of them all and their different statements can be a chore. This link has some ideas on how to simplify your retirement account paperwork. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Debt collector has burden to prove a third party communication fits within an exception provided by the FDCPA. The Third Circuit considered a case of first impression: who has the burden to prove a challenged communication fits, or does not fit, with the exception of the Act. The court stated: Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ... , a debt collector is liable to a consumer for contacting third parties in pursuit of that consumer’s debt unless the communication falls under a statutory exception. One of those exceptions covers communication with a third party “for the purpose of acquiring location information about the consumer” but, even then, prohibits more than one such contact “unless the debt collector reasonably believes that the earlier response of such person is erroneous or incomplete and that such person now has correct or complete location information.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692b…. We conclude that the debt collector bears that burden. Evankavitch v. Green Tree Servicing (3rd Cir. 2015) Click here for more.