Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| AAA: Drivers Becoming Less Fearful of Self-Driving Car Technology |
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Americans are starting to lose some of their hesitations when it comes to cars that can drive themselves, a new AAA study released Wednesday finds. While a majority of drivers still say they'd be afraid to ride in a self-driving car, the percentage has taken a significant drop from early last year, the national travel organization says. In the new survey, 63% of U.S. drivers say they're fearful of taking a spin in a fully self-driving car. A year ago, the figure was 78%. That equates to 20 million more people who are now more comfortable with the idea.
Chris Woodyard, USA Today 01/24/2018    |
| Read Article: USA Today |
| Oklahoma Drilling Rig Explosion Deadliest in Years |
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The bodies of five workers, including one Texan, were recovered Tuesday after an explosion ripped through a drilling rig in Oklahoma, triggering what appears to be the nation's deadliest oil and gas accident since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig is owned by Houston's Patterson-UTI Energy, a large drilling and hydraulic fracturing company that had worked hard to rehabilitate its image from a decade ago as one of the worst safety offenders in the energy sector. Three of the five people killed were Patterson-UTI employees.
Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| GM is Being Sued After its Self-Driving Car Collided with a Motorcyclist |
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One of the first known lawsuits involving the collision of a self-driving car and a human driver. The accident happened in December in heavy traffic outside of San Francisco, reports the Guardian. The lawsuit claims a Chevrolet Bolt that was operating in autonomous driving mode 'suddenly veered back into [the motorcyclist's] lane, striking [him] and knocking him to the ground.'
Staff, Fast Company ' Co.Exist 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: Fast Company ' Co.Exist |
| OK High Court Says Oil Company can be Sued When Worker Injured or Killed |
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The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that oil and natural gas companies can be sued when a worker is killed or injured on the job. The state's highest court struck down a state workers' compensation law that exempted oil and gas well operators and owners from lawsuits, including one filed by a worker who was fatally burned in 2014 at an Oklahoma County oil well site operated by Stephens Production Co. The ruling was handed down one day after a fiery explosion at an Oklahoma gas drilling rig in southeastern Oklahoma left five workers dead.
TIM TALLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, Houston Chronicle 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Lawsuit Accuses California Senior Facility of Bribing Residents After Fire |
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A lawsuit has been filed alleging that a senior living facility in California bribed residents after a fire occurred on site. The Santa Rosa facility was destroyed in wildfires back in October and the original lawsuit was filed on behalf of eight residents who say they were abandoned during the fires. According to the lawsuit, Oakmont Senior Living officials offered to pay $750 to $1,500 to residents if they would say they were unaware the company had made any violation of local, state or federal law, says the lawsuit.
Paul Payne, Santa Rosa Press Democrat 01/20/2018 |
| Read Article: Santa Rosa Press Democrat |
| Grumpy Cat Owner Awarded Over $700,000 in Lawsuit |
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Its been reported that Grumpy Cat Limited has made in anywhere from $1 million to $100 million in its first few years in existence.The company found itself at the center of an intellectual property dispute that's raged on since 2015 between Grumpy Cat Limited and the Grenade beverage company. On Monday evening, an eight-person jury in Santa Ana, Calif., awarded Grumpy Cat Limited $710,001 in damages, according to court documents. It all began in 2013, when Nick and Paul Sandford, the owners of Grenade struck a licensing deal with Grumpy Cat Limited to sell a line of iced coffees called 'Grumpy Cat Grumppuccino.' But in 2015, the beverage company decided to create a line of 'Grumpy Cat Roasted Coffee,' which was not in the original deal, prompting Grumpy Cat Limited to file a copyright lawsuit in federal court.
Travis M. Andrews , The Washington Post 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: The Washington Post |
| Lawsuits Accuse Texas Lottery Contractor of Bait-and-Switch |
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More than 1,000 Texas lottery players are locked in a three-year court battle over whether the private contractor that develops the popular scratch-off games pulled a bait-and-switch that duped people into erroneously thinking they'd just won big money. But the half-billion-dollar litigation that's been simmering since late 2014 remains bottled up in a legal sideshow over whether the players are even allowed to put their cases before a judge and jury.
John C Moritz, USA Today Network (Caller Times), USA Today 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: USA Today |
| Harris County Settles Lawsuit with Woman in Roadside Cavity Search |
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Harris County paid out almost $200,000 to a Houston woman who was subjected to a controversial roadside cavity search in 2015, according to federal court records. The payment comes after Charnesia Corley filed a federal lawsuit against Harris County, contending her constitutional rights were violated during the late-night search. County Commissioners agreed to pay Corley $183,000 for her to drop the suit, according to documents provided by the Harris County Attorney's Office, ending a two-year battle between Corley and the county over a case that sparked outcries from Black Lives Matter activists and her attorneys.
Jay R. Jordan, Houston Chronicle 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| In Mediation, Doctors Reduce Billed Charges by Millions |
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Of $7 million in disputed surprise medical bills patients submitted to the state's mediation process last year, insurers agreed to increase their overall payments by $1 million, new Texas Department of Insurance data show. That means physicians made the more dramatic concessions, reducing their demands by $6 million. The who-pays-what argument is at the core of an ongoing state crisis over a confusing medical business practice called balance billing that costs patients millions of dollars each year. Under the system, a doctor who is outside a patient's insurance network can charge more and then shift any or all of the "balance" not paid by the insurer onto patients.
Jenny Deam, Houston Chronicle 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Tesla on Autopilot Crashes into Firetruck |
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A Tesla that was on autopilot crashed into a Culver City firetruck. It happened Tuesday morning on the 405 Freeway. According to Culver City Firefighters - Local 1927, the firefighters were responding to a call about a motorcycle that was down. Officials say the driver reports the Tesla was on autopilot and he was not paying attention. There were no injuries in the crash.
FOX26 News, CBS DFW 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: CBS DFW |
| Waze Unable to Explain How Car Ended Up in Lake Champlain |
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When Tara Guertin lent her Jeep to three friends from Connecticut who were doing some sight-seeing in Burlington, she did not expect the car to end up at the bottom of Lake Champlain. Guertin said, they were following directions from Waze, a community-driven GPS navigation app now owned by Google. Waze pairs turn-by-turn GPS directions with user reports of accidents, traffic jams and police traps. Users can also update roads and landmarks. The app directed the drivers to turn onto the boat launch near the Coast Guard station. It was dark and foggy, Guertin said, and by the time they realized what was happening, the car had slid 100 feet onto the lake. The three people in the car managed to climb out. Guertin said she thought it was a fluke, but when she tried the app out after the car sank, she got the same results.
Jess Aloe, Free Press, USA Today 01/24/2018 |
| Read Article: USA Today |
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