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Texas Tribune Daily Brief
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| Investigation: Post-Crash Fires in Small Planes Cost 600 Lives |  | Small-airplane fires have killed at least 600 people since 1993, burning them alive or suffocating them after crashes and hard landings that the passengers and pilots had initially survived, a USA TODAY investigation shows. The victims who died from fatal burns or smoke inhalation often had few if any broken bones or other injuries, according to hundreds of autopsy reports obtained by USA TODAY. Fires have been killing and maiming pilots and passengers since the 1920s but, after triggering some attention in the 1980s and early 1990s, have been largely ignored by federal regulators and crash investigators.
Thomas Frank, USA Today 10/28/2014    | | Read Article: USA Today |
| Families of Mudslide Victims File Lawsuit | | Ten people who lost loved ones during a mudslide in Oso, Washington this past March have filed a lawsuit against the state and a forest landowner. The lawsuit alleges that the mudslide was not due to natural causes, but instead happened because of 'actions and inactions' by the defendants. The lawsuit was filed Friday in King County Superior Court on behalf of the 10 families and the 14 people who died in the mudslide. According to the lawsuit, the defendants were aware of the risks in that area and failed to warn homeowners. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.
Hal Bernton, Yakima Herald 10/28/2014 | | Read Article: Yakima Herald |
| Judge Slashes $9B Award vs Takeda, Lilly Over Diabetes Drug | | A U.S. judge on Monday slashed a $9 billion punitive damages award to $36.8 million against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and Eli Lilly & Co over their Actos diabetes drug, although she rejected their request for a new trial. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty in Louisiana in a court filing granted a motion from the drugmakers to reduce the $9 billion in combined punitive damages awarded earlier this year.
Jessica Dye, Reuters 10/28/2014 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Virginia to Be First State to Remove Trinity Guardrail | | Virginia will be the first state to remove the potentially deadly tips of roadside guardrails after the manufacturer failed to meet a deadline for crash-testing a secretly modified version of the part. The ET-Plus end terminal made by Trinity Industries Inc. is mounted on the end of a guardrail to absorb the impact of a crashing car. The modified version is alleged in lawsuits to lock-up on impact, potentially spearing cars and endangering occupants. Trinity has said it didn't tell U.S. officials about a change it made to the part in 2005 until seven years later, when a competing guardrail-maker alerted the government.
Patrick G. Lee , Bloomberg 10/28/2014 | | Read Article: Bloomberg |
| Feds Probe Chrysler Ram Pickup Recalls | | U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation of Chrysler Group's handling of two recalls for potential steering issues affecting nearly 1 million Dodge Ram pickup trucks in the United States. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted online that it is looking at delays in the availability of replacement parts in two recalls from last year, as well as "poor communications" by Chrysler with the safety agency
Reuters, Yahoo News 10/28/2014 | | Read Article: Yahoo News |
| GM Ignition Switch Death Toll Rises To 30 | | A program that compensates victims of accidents caused by a faulty ignition switch in General Motors vehicles has approved one new death claim, bringing to 30 the total number of fatalities linked to the issue so far, according to a report on Monday. Since it began accepting claims on Aug. 1, the program has received 1,580 claims for deaths and injuries, said the report from the office of attorney Kenneth Feinberg, who was tapped by GM to run the program. The report listed all of the claims received and approved as of Friday.
Reuters, The Huffington Post 10/28/2014 | | Read Article: The Huffington Post |
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