INHALANTS NOT INCLUDED UNDER DRUNK DRIVING LAW, N.Y. HIGH COURT RULES

A motorist accused of "huffing" stimulants from an aerosol can before getting into a deadly wreck cannot be charged with driving while intoxicated, New York's highest court ruled recently.

The Legislature never included inhalants with alcohol and certain other drugs in the definition of intoxicated driving, the Court of Appeals ruled.

Several counts, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, remain against Vincent Litto, who is charged in a 2004 crash in Brooklyn that killed a 17-year-old girl and injured others, including himself. Prosecutors allege he was driving when he sprayed a can of "Dust Off" into his mouth, and crashed into an oncoming car less than a minute later.

"If defendant did what the prosecution charges, then his conduct was reprehensible," wrote Chief Judge Judith Kaye in the unanimous decision. "Perhaps gaps exist in the law. ... However, a determination by this court that intoxication in Vehicle and Traffic Law includes the use of any substance would improperly override the legislative policy judgment."

Neither could the driver have been charged under a 1966 law against driving while high on drugs because that law covers only "explicitly enumerated drugs," the decision stated.

Huffing is inhaling the chemicals that are given off by glue, aerosols and other substances and can act as stimulants. It replaces oxygen in a person's lungs and can be fatal.

The court said it would be up to the Legislature to address huffing.

State Sen. Catherine Young sponsored a bill this year that would have expanded the definition of "drug" to include "inhalants and glues" in the driving while ability impaired by drugs law. It passed the GOP-led Senate in March, but didn't get out of committee in the Democrat-led Assembly.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

PA. BILL LIMITS FARM OWNERS' LIABILITY FOR HUNTING ACCIDENTS

A bill limiting Pennsylvania farmers' liability for hunting accidents on their properties has flown through the House and Senate and been sent to Gov. Edward Rendell for signing.

The measure was backed by Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, which sought to strengthen an existing law that provides liability protection for farmers and other landowners who allow hunters on their land.

House Bill 13 would amend the Recreational Use of Land and Water Act (RULWA) of 1965 by increasing protection for landowners from liability for injury or property damage caused by hunters that occurs off the landowner's property.

The law already provides landowners liability protection for actions that occur on their property as a result of recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, swimming and hiking.

But farmers sought to clarify the law in the wake of a 2006 court case in which the owner of a Lehigh County orchard was found partially liable for damages for a situation where a stray bullet fired by a hunter traveled about a half-mile before accidentally striking a woman sitting in a car on a different property.

PFB argued that many farmers would choose to limit or exclude hunters from their property if they could not be sure of protection from liability.

"Pennsylvania farmers need assurances that they will not put their property and livelihood at risk when they allow hunters on their land. This bill should ease their concern," said PFB President Carl T. Shaffer.

N.Y. names med malpractice task force after approving 14% hike

Regulators in New York approved a 14 percent increase in medical malpractice insurance rates and Gov. Eliot Spitzer formed a task force to find ways to rein in the high cost of the coverage.

The state insurance department said the latest rate hike was lower than insurance companies wanted and "is necessary to avoid further financial deterioration of the companies and perhaps an irreversible crisis in an already severely distressed market."

State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo will lead the task force, which will report back to Spitzer by the end of the year. It will include state Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines and representatives of physician and hospital groups, the insurance industry, consumer groups, health plans, trial lawyers and state lawmakers.

"I am concerned that the increasing cost of medical liability insurance will drive some physicians out of the field and will discourage young people from entering the medical profession in the first place," Daines said.

Consumer groups questioned the rate increase and said there hasn't been a recent increase in medical malpractice claims. They'll urge the new task force to focus on the root problems of malpractice by reducing medical errors and correcting industry mismanagement.

EPOXY CITED IN FATAL BIG DIG CEILING FAILURE

Federal investigators said that "epoxy creep" was a major factor in the Big Dig accident one year ago that killed a Boston woman when concrete tunnel ceiling panels fell and crushed her car.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said if any of the agencies involved in the tunnels had considered the possibility of epoxy slowly pulling away from the ceiling, the accident could have been avoided.

Bruce Magladry, director of the NTSB's Office of Highway Safety, described "epoxy creep" as the tendency of some epoxies to slowly give way over time under constant applied pressure.

"Although the epoxy used in the tunnel had acceptable short term strength, it was incapable of supporting much lower loads over an extended period of time," Magladry said.

Milena Del Valle, 39, was crushed to death on July 10, 2006, when 12 tons of concrete ceiling panels fell from the Interstate 90 connector tunnel as she and her husband drove toward Boston's Logan Airport.

On the one-year anniversary of the accident, the NTSB met to review and approve a final report on the probable cause of the ceiling collapse.

The $14.798 billion Big Dig, the costliest highway project in U.S. history, has been plagued by construction problems and cost overruns.

Last summer's accident spawned tunnel shutdowns, extensive ceiling repairs, a wrongful death lawsuit and a wave of federal, state and criminal investigations, including the NTSB probe.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is expected to announce soon whether she'll press criminal charges in connection with the accident.

Also pending is a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Del Valle's family against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the agency overseeing the Big Dig, and several companies associated with design and construction of the project.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

N.J. agents hope to end auto insurance quote requirement

New Jersey agents no longer want to be required by state law to provide quotes from all of their auto insurance companies to all auto insurance applicants.

The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Inc. and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New Jersey have secured introduction of a bill (A-3863) to change that law as well as a requirement that insurers provide three possible insurance premium scenarios to applicants.

According to PIANJ President Andrew H. Anderson, these requirements are no longer appropriate in the current automobile insurance market.

"The requirement for agents to provide quotes for all their represented companies places an unnecessary obligation on insurance agents and does not serve consumers because it fails to take into account all factors that agents consider when offering coverage options to consumers," said Anderson in recent testimony on the bill.

He maintained that not every company an agent represents offers appropriate coverage options for a customer. For example, an agent should not be required to provide a quote for a company that is facing financial problems, or for a company that offers the same coverage as another, but at a higher premium. Nor is it appropriate to provide quotes for all other companies when a consumer asks to purchase insurance from a specific insurance company, he stated.

"Insurance agents do not need to be told how to best serve the interests of their customers," Anderson told lawmakers.

The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee unanimously approved the bill in May.

The agents' bill would also eliminate the requirement for insurers to provide each applicant seeking automobile insurance, and each insured upon request, with three premium scenarios demonstrating the effect of different coverage choices.

THE NONADMITTED INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE REFORM ACT OF 2007 (HR 1065)

The bill would establish national standards for how states regulate the surplus lines market and reinsurance.

HR 1065 creates:

• a uniform system of premium tax allocation and remittance for surplus lines premium taxes;


• uniform national standards for surplus lines insurer eligibility;


• one-state compliance on multi-state surplus lines risks;


• direct access to the surplus lines market for sophisticated commercial purchasers;


• more efficiency in licensing surplus lines brokers through use of a national data base, and;


• authority for states to enter into a compact or create procedures to allocate surplus lines premium tax among themselves.

The bill also contains reinsurance provisions which charge the ceding insurer's home state regulator with making the so-called "credit for reinsurance" determinations. It also would prohibit state insurance regulators from applying their laws to reinsurance agreements of ceding insurers domiciled in other states.

U.S. P/C INSURERS PAY $2.1 BILLION IN CAT LOSSES

U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses an estimated $2.175 billion for second-quarter property losses resulting from a total of six catastrophes in 25 states -- tying the record for the second-lowest number of catastrophes in a second quarter in the past 10 years, according to preliminary analysis by ISO's Property Claim Services (PCS) unit.

PCS estimates the six catastrophes of second-quarter 2007 generated 504,000 claims. Year to date, the estimated number of claims is 709,000.

At $435 million, Texas topped the list of the five most severely affected states, followed by Minnesota at $322 million, Kansas at $210 million, New Jersey at $160 million, and New York at $130 million.

The costliest event of the quarter -- caused by strong winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flooding -- occurred in mid-April and affected 18 states and the District of Columbia. The current PCS estimate of insured property damage for this event is $1.225 billion.

ISO's PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of policyholders and insurers. PCS estimates represent anticipated insured loss and exclude loss adjustment expenses.