View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-declarations/2012/01/09/230104.htm
Alaskan Texting
“If the Alaska legislature wanted to prohibit texting, then it should have, and could have, clearly said so, just as California did.”
—Alaskan Magistrate Jennifer Wells, saying the Legislature should have been explicit if they truly meant to prohibit texting while driving. The Alaska law merely refers to driving with a “screen device operating.” It never mentions text messaging and does not apply to cell phones used for verbal communication or displaying caller ID information.
Social Host
“If you were out of the country and something happened and you got held responsible, I bet it wouldn’t ever happen again.”
—Maryellen Johnson, who has children in middle and elementary schools on Mercer Island, Wash., where a recently passed “social host” ordinance mandates that people who own, rent or lease property where teenage drinking happens can be fined $250.
Policy Review
“The Caughlin Ranch Fire is a reminder to us all to call our insurance agent or company and ask for an annual policy review.”
—Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott J. Kipper, stating that Nevada’s insurance carriers reported around 600 claims as a result of the Caughlin Ranch Fire in November resulting in more than $16 million in claims.
Defamation Suit
“I went from a $4.5 million practice to seeing just two patients each week.”
—Albert Carlotti, a doctor, who, along with his wife, Dr. Michelle Cabret-Carlotti, were awarded $12 million by a Maricopa County jury in Arizona from a former patient they accused of defaming them in online postings.