Declarations

Privilege, Not Right

“Driving is not a right, but a privilege.”

—University of Missouri senior Nina Bolka, whose older sister was killed in an accident caused by an elderly driver, spoke in support of “Arrive Alive After 65,” a public health campaign aimed at helping aging Missouri men and women to get off the roads when it’s no longer safe for them to drive. A 2007 law named for her sister requires Texas drivers 79 and older to appear in person for license renewals.

Everybody Sues

“Everybody gets the right to sue.”

—Kenton Brine, assistant vice president of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said a handful of bad faith bills introduced in the Oregon Legislature will create a potential flood of lawsuits in the state and drive up the cost of insurance by establishing so many avenues for filing lawsuits and leveraging higher settlements.

Guns and Insurance

“A law that conditions the exercise of a constitutional right on buying insurance is unlikely to survive judicial scrutiny.”

—Robert Detlefsen, vice president of policy affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), on state legislative proposals to require firearm liability insurance for gun owners. A handful of states have introduced mandatory liability insurance bills as part of larger gun control packages this year.

Coastal Nervousness

“Doubt about viability of insurance has already caused nervousness on the coast.”

—Keith McMullen, mayor of Port Aransas, Texas, told board members of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association that a proposal by state regulators to put TWIA in receivership is having a disrupting influence on coastal communities. TWIA, the state’s residual market in coastal areas, is financially unsound primarily as a result of claims litigation stemming from Hurricane Ike in 2008.

Topics Texas