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Text messaging while driving isn't safe. That seems clear
enough. But efforts to stop drivers from texting while driving are proving to
be surprisingly ineffective. It is now illegal to text while driving in most
states. But a report released by the Highway Loss
Data Institute shows that not only are these laws not preventing
accidents, they seem to be causing them. “Texting
bans haven't reduced crashes at all. In a perverse twist, crashes increased
in three of the four states we studied after bans were enacted. It's an
indication that texting bans might even increase the risk of texting for
drivers who continue to do so despite the laws,” said Adrian Lund,
president of the institute. The institute compared insurance claims filed after
collisions before and after texting bans were put in place in California,
Louisiana, Minnesota and Washington. The study found increased collisions in
all four states, but the rise in Washington wasn't statistically significant.
The institute was able to attribute these rises to the text-messaging bans by
comparing the rise in claims in the states with new bans to nearby states
that had not implemented texting bans. This controlled for any rise in claims
that could be attributable to other causes. The question remains: why? It would seem that an
ineffective ban would simply not reduce the number of accidents, not cause an
increase. “If drivers were
disregarding the bans, then the crash patterns should have remained steady.
So clearly drivers did respond to the bans somehow, and what they might have
been doing was moving their phones down and out of sight when they texted, in
recognition that what they were doing was
illegal,” Lund said. “This could exacerbate the risk of texting
by taking drivers' eyes further from the road and for a longer time.” Using a driving simulator,
researchers at the University of Glasgow found a sharp decrease in crash
likelihood when participants switched from head-down to head-up displays, the
institute reported. This suggests that it might be more hazardous for a
driver to text from a device that's hidden from view on the lap or vehicle
seat. The problem of texting while driving is likely to get
worse. The institute reports that texting went up
by about 60 percent in one year alone, from 1 trillion messages in 2008 to
1.6 trillion in 2009.
Losses from business fraud have skyrocketed in the past
year with 87 percent of North American companies reporting some level of
fraud in the last year, up from 78 percent last year. This increase in fraud
is being driven mostly by a drastic increase in the amount of information
theft, according to a global survey of businesses by Kroll, Inc. The survey shows that information theft has overtaken
physical theft for the first time. In 2009, just 19 percent of North American
companies reported losses from information theft. This year that number rose
to 32 percent. Meanwhile, reports of theft of physical property rose from 22
percent in 2009 to 27 percent in 2010. The increased reports of information
theft in North America mirrored those coming from around the world. Globally,
19 percent of companies reported information theft in 2009, but in 2010 that
percentage had increased to 27 percent. “Theft of confidential
information is on the rise because data is increasingly portable and
perpetrators – often departing or disgruntled employees – can
remove it with ease absent sufficient controls,” said Robert Brenner,
vice president of Kroll’s Americas region. “At the same time,
there is a growing awareness among thieves of the increasing intrinsic value
of an organization’s intellectual property.” Despite these numbers, the
survey suggests that many companies are not taking the threat seriously. Only
a third of North American businesses thought they were moderately or highly
vulnerable to information theft, and investment in computer security measures
actually declined among these companies in the last 12 months. “Companies need to regularly evaluate how they are controlling
access to information within their organization to ensure they are keeping
pace with technological advancement and the imperative for collaboration in
the workplace,” Brenner said.
The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission has received 47,000 job bias claims in the six months that ended
in April, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. This is an 8
percent increase compared to the same six months one year before, according
to the Journal. Filing a claim with the EEOC is
required before a worker can file a lawsuit. Once a claim is filed the EEOC
will launch an investigation. If the EEOC determines that the employee was
discriminated against, it will seek to settle the claim. If not, it will allow
the employee to file a lawsuit. However, it is important to note that not all
of these claims will turn into lawsuits. One recent high-profile lawsuit
filed in New York accuses Citigroup of using the recent recession as an
excuse to fire thousands of women in a discriminatory manner. Citigroup
denies any wrongdoing. In addition, the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in
the United States recently paid almost half a million dollars to settle
claims of racially discriminatory hiring from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The bottler admitted no wrongdoing and it is unclear whether the suit against
Citigroup has any merit. But what is clear is that these kinds of claims are
becoming increasingly common. During times of high
unemployment, employment-related lawsuits tend to go up, and this period of
high unemployment is no different. However, there are things an employer can
do to decrease the chance that they will be sued and to lessen the damage
should they be sued. The first – and cheapest
– step is proper training. The Insurance Information Institute
recommends that employers take the following measures:
But in any company an allegation of bias is
sometimes unavoidable. Employment practices liability insurance can help
protect employers from the financial losses that can come with these
lawsuits. EPLI typically covers various types of suits including sexual
harassment, wrongful termination, and discrimination. You should check with
your insurance representative if you have any questions about your coverage.
Deer-vehicle collisions are a growing problem on U.S.
roads, according to a new report from State Farm Insurance. The company
estimates that there have been 2.3 million collisions between deer and cars
in the last two years, a 21 percent increase from five years ago. The problem is expensive – and deadly. The average
collision results in more than $3,000 in property damage, according to State
Farm. More troubling, the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety reports that about 200 people die every year in these
collisions. The increase in collisions over
the last few years cannot be wholly attributed to an increase in the number
of vehicles on the road. The number of motorists has gone up only 2 percent
over the last few years, while the number of deer-vehicle collisions has gone
up more than 10 times that amount. State Farm attributes the increase largely
to an increasing deer population and the destruction of deer habitat. The chance that you will strike
a deer during the next year depends a lot on what state you live in. West
Virginia has the highest rate of deer-vehicle collisions. In West Virginia
there is a one in 42 chance of hitting a deer in any given year. That
compares to one in 13,000 in Hawaii. The next few
months are mating season for deer – the time of year when deer-vehicle
collisions are most common. State Farm provides the following tips to avoid
hitting a deer: · Be aware of posted deer crossing signs.
These are placed in active deer crossing areas. · Remember that deer are most active
between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Be especially cautious
during those times. · Use your high beams as much as possible
at night. · Keep in mind that deer generally travel
in herds – if you see one, there is a strong possibility others are
nearby. · Do not rely on car-mounted deer
whistles. · If a deer collision seems inevitable,
attempting to swerve out of the way could cause you to lose control of your
vehicle or place you in the path of an oncoming vehicle.
Any recession comes with fears
of increased litigation, and this recession was no different. But as the
recession officially comes to a close, it's not the economy that has
businesses worried about more litigation – at least not directly.
Instead it is increased government regulation and a changing legal landscape
that have businesses worried. More than 90 percent of in-house
lawyers at corporations around the United States expect litigation to
increase or stay the same in the coming year, according to an annual survey
by Fulbright & Jaworski LLP. In the past year,
87 percent of those surveyed in the United States reported new litigation, up
from 83 percent last year. “With reform in two major
industries—financial services and health care—and the possibility
of greater regulation of offshore petroleum production, regulatory concerns
are front-and-center in the minds of in-house legal counsel,” said Stephen C. Dillard, the head of Fulbright’s global disputes practice.
“Even at small-cap companies, regulatory investigations have nearly
doubled.” The fear of litigation isn't
new; corporations have reported increased litigation in recent years. The
survey reported drops in lawsuits in 2006 and 2007, but since then there has
been a steady upward trend in litigation. The only difference in 2010 is
that, in addition to the lawsuits that naturally arise during a downturn,
there are new laws and changing regulations to worry about.
The obesity problem in
America might be costing businesses more money than previously thought. New data
released by the National Bureau of Economic Research show that 17 percent of
U.S. medical costs can be attributed to obesity. This is almost double
previous estimates. The new study reports that obesity can add more than
$2,800 to a person's annual medical bills. That's up from a previous estimate
of around $1,400. Part of the reason for the increased estimate is that
previous studies have relied on self-reported weight, something people have a
tendency to lie about. Researchers this time were able to correct for that.
The number of overweight and obese Americans has risen dramatically over the
last decade.
Proving that just about
anything can be covered by insurance, one insurer is stepping in to cover
virtual farming. Farmers Insurance Group is offering the 60 million users of
Facebook's wildly popular FarmVille insurance for
their electronic corn and cotton. FarmVille is an
online game where players maintain farms of increasing complexity using
Facebook, an online social networking site. “This is the first time an
insurance company will be featured within internet Social Gaming,” said
Kevin Kelso, Chief Marketing Officer of Farmers Insurance Group Inc. The
company is offering the service for free during a promotional period.
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