Archive for March 2016

An autonomous vehicle being tested by Google hit a bus earlier this month, the first time the company said it’s self-driving technology is partly to blame for an accident. The car, a Lexus sports utility vehicle, hit the left side … Source: Claims Journal

With less than five months to go before medical marijuana dispensaries can open in Hawaii, business owners could be facing unique obstacles in a state of islands separated by federal waters. Dispensaries can open as soon as July 15, but … Source: Claims Journal

Federal regulators are failing to refer serious safety violations involving freight rail shipments of crude oil and other hazardous cargo for criminal prosecution, and are going lightly on civil fines, according to a report released Friday by a government watchdog. … Source: Claims Journal

A U.S. investigation found that a December hack on the Ukrainian power grid was coordinated and highly sophisticated. The report released Thursday offers a detailed look at one of the first cyberattacks to succeed in taking down part of a … Source: Claims Journal

After tornadoes ravaged the Dallas area in late December, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) and Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) Fraud Unit worked together to establish a new disaster outreach program, called the Catastrophe Response Team (CRT). The CRT … Source: Claims Journal

The property/casualty industry is undergoing significant challenges with increased claim severity in liability and physical damage claims. These increases are outpacing inflation and rate adequacy. According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2009 the average private passenger auto bodily injury … Source: Claims Journal

The deadly shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, raises anew a question that has dogged Uber and other taxi competitors: Their rides may be cheaper and more convenient than a cab, but are they as safe? It’s not just whether Uber’s … Source: Claims Journal

A West Virginia woman sentenced to a year in jail for a crash that killed a 5-year-old girl has had her conviction reversed because Maryland has no criminal penalty for drivers of uninsured, out-of-state vehicles. The Herald-Mail reports that Washington … Source: Claims Journal

In emergencies, people may trust robots too much for their own safety, a new study suggests. In a mock building fire, test subjects followed instructions from an “Emergency Guide Robot” even after the machine had proven itself unreliable – and … Source: Claims Journal