Tag: supreme

Supreme Court strikes down Bloomberg’s hybrid taxi plan for NYC

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

New York City hybrid taxi

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has fought long and hard to uphold a local law requiring all city cab companies to replace their gas-guzzling Ford Crown Victoria sedans with more efficient livery vehicles. A noble goal, no doubt, but the Supreme Court is having none of it.

The New York Post reports that the highest court in the land refused to hear the case after four years of battles in the lower courts, giving the victory to the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade. The court ruled that federal agencies have the sole right to regulate emissions and efficiency, not the mayor of one town – even if it is the City That Never Sleeps.

When the Supreme Court swings its gavel, there usually isn’t another shot, but that likely won’t stop Mayor Bloomberg from lobbying Congress to change the rules. The mayor said that local governments are the ones dealing with climate change and energy policy, adding “the federal government seems unable to address those issues.”

While the city of New York appears to have lost the efficiency war, the Big Apple can still feel good about the fact that some 4,400 of the 13,237 cabs on its streets are hybrids. And if gas prices continue to jump, we’re thinking many of the other 8,000 cabs will follow suit.

[Source: New York Post | Image: Chris Hondros/Getty]

Supreme Court strikes down Bloomberg’s hybrid taxi plan for NYC originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Supreme Court clears path for additional seatbelt lawsuits

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

1993 Mazda MPV

The United States Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that automakers can be sued over product-liability complaints, regardless of whether or not the vehicles in question meet federal motor vehicle safety standards in place at the time of manufacture. The decision has been handed down in the case of Williamson vs. Mazda Motor of America, in which the family of a woman who perished in a crash involving a 1993 MPV (pictured) sued the automaker, arguing that she would have survived had there been a three-point belt available for her seating position.

The 2002 accident that claimed the life of Thanh Williamson was a head-on crash with another vehicle, and the other occupants of Williamson’s vehicle with three-point belts survived. Ms. Williamson’s family brought suit in California, contending that Mazda should have provided lap-and-shoulder belts, though it wasn’t required by law at the time the vehicle was built and sold. Despite Mazda’s compliance with vehicle safety standards, the ruling makes automakers more prone to lawsuits over issues deemed negligent by consumers.

Wednesday’s ruling opens the door for a reinterpretation of the Geier vs. American Honda Motor Company decision in 2000 that many lower courts read as a prohibition of state-level liability lawsuits pertaining to products ranging from electronics to vehicles. The Federal regulations in place for these products have been seen as precluding any contradictory state statutes, but with this latest decision, the landscape may change significantly, and not just for automobiles.

Reaction to this decision from the stock market was not positive, with Ford and other car companies down one or two percent. Mazda says the ruling is disappointing, but doesn’t assign liability, and the company will defend itself.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal | Photo: Wikimedia – IFCAR CC 2.0]

Report: Supreme Court clears path for additional seatbelt lawsuits originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Truckers upset over LA ‘clean rig’ legislation ready to take fight to Supreme Court

Filed under: Truck, UAW/Unions

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pushed his “Clean Truck Program” as a way to improve the air quality in and around the Port of Los Angeles. And while a cleaner air is in everyone’s best interest, a Los Angeles Times report suggests that it could be truckers who are left holding the short end of the stick. Semi drivers have been encouraged to replace their beat-up, high pollution diesel rigs for much newer trucks with particulate filters that trap harmful gasses before they ever reach the atmosphere.

But while the new trucks are most definitely cleaner, they’re also far more expensive; often costing over $100,000 each. Truckers are leasing the vehicles from the trucking companies for over $1,000 per month, and they also have to spring for fuel and insurance and maintenance costs are said to have risen. Some drivers say that they have been driven to sleep in their rigs at night to save time and increase earning, and even after that after paying for the bills, wages can be as low as $7 per hour.

Trucking companies say that the drivers aren’t faring nearly as poorly as advertised, and they counter that the Clean Truck Program’s real aim was to unionize the drivers. According to the LAT, that was actually supposed to be part of the plan, as Mayor Villaraigosa intended for truckers to give up on being independent contractors in favor of becoming employees of the trucking company. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa justifies unionizing the employees, adding that the drivers are “slaves” to their rigs. Meanwhile, the trucking companies have taken the government to court in an effort keep the the city from forcing the companies to hire on the workers with benefits including health care. The industry promises to continue to fight hiring the thousands of port workers even if the case needs to go to the Supreme Court.

We’re not experts on government law or unionization, but it sounds suspiciously like the city of Los Angeles chose to draft and enforce new trucking laws without working closely enough with the companies that would end up footing the bill. The good news is that the air in L.A. appears to be a bit clearer, but the bad news is that the truckers appear to be the ones making the sacrifices.

[Source: Los Angeles Times | Image: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty]

Report: Truckers upset over LA ‘clean rig’ legislation ready to take fight to Supreme Court originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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