Declarations

No More ‘Wild West’

“Everyone using city roads needs to abide by the rules of the road. If you’re able to go 25 mph like a car — you should be licensed, registered, and carry liability insurance in the event of an accident and injury.”

— Said Boston City Councilor Edward Flynn in a Facebook post, adding that it “can no longer be the Wild West on the streets of Boston.” The city is among several others including New York and Washington, D.C., that are cracking down on delivery companies whose employees on scooters, motorcycles and mopeds zip in and out of traffic and hop onto pedestrian-filled sidewalks as they race to drop off salads and sandwiches.

Transgender Discrimination

“This is no different than discriminating against a male because he is not tall enough or not muscular enough.”

— Judge Anthony Rex Gabbert wrote in the unanimous decision by the Western District Missouri Court of Appeals that a lower court judge erred in ordering a new trial in a lawsuit over bathroom and locker room access by a transgender student in the Blue Springs School District. The decision sends the case back to the trial court to determine the reasonableness of the $4.2 million verdict that jurors awarded the student in 2021.

Social Learning, Flood Insurance

“Social learning-induced new take-ups are greater and more geographically prevalent than social learning-induced renewals. … A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma brought in 250,000 more PIF in flooded areas and 81,000 more PIF in unflooded areas in the three years following the event.”

— States a study by University of Illinois professor Yilan Xu and graduate student Sebastien Box-Couillard. The authors’ study tapped the Facebook Social Connectedness Index, which measures the strength of connectedness between two geographic areas as represented by Facebook friendship ties, to gauge how policies in force (PIF), renewals and new policies were affected by a county’s social connectedness to a flood.

S.C. Liability Markets

“As you are aware, South Carolina and other states have seen liability markets harden significantly over the past several years. … Consequently, some insurers are not writing liability insurance products for certain lines.”

— Reads a bulletin posted by the South Carolina Department of Insurance, which is requesting carrier data on the health of liability insurance markets in the state. The data call, with data due Aug. 9, was required by state lawmakers. The information gleaned from it should help determine why the state has seen liability insurance affordability and availability issues … and should lead to new legislative recommendations, the bulletin said.

Should Have Done More

“Caltrans could have — and should have — done more to make this property safer for the motoring public who traveled above it.”

— States an audit by the Office of the Inspector General for the California Department of Transportation, which found that lax oversight by the state’s transportation agency contributed to a destructive blaze in 2023 that consumed a section of I-10 in Los Angeles used by hundreds of thousands of commuters. The fire was determined arson but the report found Caltrans had conducted its required annual inspections of lots under Interstate 10 only five times in 15 years and failed to fully document those inspections. It also failed to act when it discovered problems, the report said.

Coastal Structure Payouts

“Coastal communities in Maine know all too well how devastating the impacts of the climate crisis can be. … Over the last year, Maine has been hit with multiple major storms, and climate emergencies are continuing to increase across the country.”

— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said in a press release about a new bipartisan bill that would authorize National Flood Insurance Plan payouts for structures condemned due to chronic erosion or unusual flooding. The Prevent Environmental Hazards Act, backed by Pingree and Congressman Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), would allow advance payouts for demolition or relocation — up to 40% of the home’s value, or $250,000 — and limit payouts to 40% if owners neglect to act before a collapse.