Law And More

"Paul Dicesare v. Matthew Horn, Revel Transit" - E-Motor Scooter Industry on Trial

Last July, a New York City bicyclist filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against a man riding an electric moped (e-motor scooter) and the company renting out that vehicle.

Soon enough, the whole e-motor scooter industry has been put on trial - in the media, among safety activists, and seemingly even dealers who sell those vehicles.

The lawsuit is "Paul Discesare v. Matthew Horn and Revel Transit." Here is a copy of the complaint. The implications are amazing.

As StreetsBlogNYC reports, in June, the plaintiff and the defendant were both attempting to make a left turn from York Street onto Gold. Dicesare contends Matthew Horn, who was on a moped leased from Revel, hit him from behind, injuring him. The police report provides different details. 

Dicesare contends that Revel leases for a $19 fee the e-mopeds but does not require hands-on, in-person training. Yet, the vehicle can travel up to 30 miles an hour and the rider has to navigate the crowded streets of New York City. The terms and conditions of the leasing only mandate a valid driver's license with a clean record. Revel provides $50,000 in liability coverage. 

To participate in this vehicle-sharing program, it's necessary to download the Revel app, which is here. The program also is available in Austin, Texas, Oakland, California, and Washington D.C. According to CrunchBase, "Revel Transit is an shared electric vehicle service that allows users to locate, reserve, and unlock through an app." The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Brooklyn. 

Yesterday, the influential tabloid the New York Post covered this emerging legal niche. Since Dicesare, who is represented by lawyer Daniel Flanzig, filed his lawsuit there have been six more against Revel.

However, the controversy over this sharing app may be just the tip of the iceberg about the safety of e-motor scooters, the legal liability associated with them, and other approaches to what might be thought of as "green travel."

Here is my story, for instance. Recently, I went to a dealer in Toledo, Ohio which sells powersports vehicles, including mopeds. Because I hadn't ridden a moped since graduate school I asked if I could try one out. The owner refused because of liability.

Before my visit to Tucson, Arizona, I called a motorcycle dealer about my test driving one of their e-mopeds. The answer was "no," unless I had been riding one regularly already.

Meanwhile, green activists are advocating alternate modes of transportation to replace the gasoline-powered car. Along with bicycles, of course, are the e-motor scooters.

The growing number of food couriers find the e-moped less expensive than maintaining a car and is faster than a conventional bike.

Another option for them is the e-bike. At least, outside NY state.

Last December, governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed the bill legalizing those e-bikes, along with e-scooters. He cited safety reasons. Here are more details from the New York Post.

E-transport everything, including the green movement, can be damaged by the litigation as well as Cuomo's veto. Along the way, my enthusiasm about green travel has been replaced with fear. Here in OH, e-bikes are legal. But I now wonder how safe I will be navigating traffic. If I conjure up the courage to test out an e-moped, the place I could go would be an official Harley Davidson dealership. It also provides riding lessons.

In my 20s, I had taught myself how to ride a Honda 90 cc. That was in a vacant lot near the boarding house for doctoral students. I went everywhere, without any accident. 

But that was then. Roads in a university town were sharable by multiple types of vehicles and I had the fearlessness of youth. 

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Bluelining - New Kind of Housing Discrimination

It's as simple - and legal - as billing a house, condo, coop, or rental at an extraordinarily high price.

That puts in a play the new kind of discrimination.

That's bluelining.

In The Atlantic, Derek Thompson examines that and its implications.

Only the wealthy can afford to buy or to rent, at least in those zip codes.

Partly for that reason, 300 exit New York City daily and homelessness increases.

Meanwhile, the fear of becoming homeless has become a mainstream anxiety. Yes, in an economy where even graduates of brandname colleges live paycheck to paycheck, darkness, that is losing the roof over one's head, can fall fast. Loss of a job, a big medical bill, or a lousy credit rating can do it.

Of course, the term "bluelining" should enter the rhetoric of Election 2020.

Ironically, those who indirectly or directly created bluelining also have become victims of it, points out Thompson. Those are the assorted types in the real estate loop. Instead of focusing on affordable housing they built lux condos and McMansions, as well as palatial apartment complexes. 

However, half the condos they made happen in Manhattan during the past five years are empty. It's been a perfect storm.

Foreign money to purchase those is drying up as the economies of boom nations slow.

The Treasury folks have cracked down on using real estate purchases as a way to launder money.

And the prices themselves are, well, ridiculous. The ROI on putting money in the stock market could have a better.

The impacts of climate change will intensify the shortage of affordable housing. As the special on "60 Minutes" documented, it's no longer unthinkable that residents will have to consider migrating from a city because flooding becomes the norm. The deluge which happened every 800 years can now occur every year.

A positive unintended consequence is this: Pockets of the midwest can have an economic comeback because they are insulated from the worst of global warming. Unfortunately, a chunk of that could result from the real estate industry which engineers a surge in housing prices and in the average rental. Anticipate homeless to grow in those locations. 

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E-Bikes Not Legal in NY - Gig Workers Lose Out

It's a matter of safety.

That's what New York governor Andrew Cuomo indicated was the reason he vetoed the bill making e-bikes and e-scooters legal in the state. For example, the bill had no provision for helmets being required. Here are more details from Fast Company.

Many in the legislature are pushing back. There is talk of over-riding the veto when law-makers return next year.

Why this is an important matter is that gig workers in the growing delivery business are losing out. They could make better time with less manual energy expended through e-bikes versus traditional bikes. This is how they earn their living.

In addition, e-bikes represent a movement toward green. Others spotting them on the road could get the Ah-Ha moment: Hey, I can get around that way too. Yup, ditch the car or at least use it less.

In essence, e-bikes provide the option of battery-operated motor power supplementing peddle power. The bike facilitates both. 

The New York law, as it stands, is odd.

Here in Ohio, for example, e-bikes require no registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles. You just go to the bike boutiques which carry them, make the purchase, and go on your way. For exercise, you peddle. For timely transportation, you use the battery-operated motor. 

E-bikes usually are more expensive to buy and maintain than traditional bikes. But they are still cheaper than using a car for deliveries. According to NerdWallet, the annual cost of operating a car for 15,000 miles a year is $8,469.

Reflection: Is maintaining a car keeping too many people living from paycheck to paycheck?

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How Green Is the Valley - And GM Branding

There were three shifts.

Then there were two shift.

Soon there was one shift.

And, the announcement came from GM that there would be no shifts at the Lordstown, Ohio plant, just outside Youngstown.  The vehicle produced there - the sedan Cruze - was too slow a seller in the era of the SUV and pickup truck. 

Unlike Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Youngstown Metro area, sometimes called "The Valley," never diversified after the steel industry went kaput. 

Lordstown became a symbol for rust-belt manufacturing decline. Pittsburgh had been for years the symbol of urban reinvention through nurturing industries such as healthcare, technology, and higher education.

But this wasn't the first time Lordstown had been used to send a negative message. Back in the early 1980s, it represented blue-collar blues. The assembly workers no longer exuded gratitude for being lifted into the middle class through auto industry jobs. They berated the kind of work they were doing.

Today, Lordstown transitions into another kind of symbol: Midwest extreme resilience in manufacturing. It might go by the meme: How Green Is the Valley.

As USA Today reports, GM and South Korea's LG Chem announced a $2.3 billion joint venture in Lordstown, OH to produce batteries for electric cars. Eventually that will generate 1,100 new jobs. And lots of favorable environmental PR will come GM's way. Leaders from around the world can tour the plant.

A reason why the partners choose the Youngstown area is the existence of an experienced production workforce with an amazing work ethic.

This initiative could, of course, attract other manufacturing projects. That means even more jobs.

Youngstown could evolve into an industrial hub. The dark side of that is that rents, so low even for the state of OH, could surge upward.

Right now, a 600-square-foot one-bedroom at Hillbrook Apartments, with all utilities included, in nearby Austintown, goes for $580. Peanuts. That could change as soon as the economic development gets traction.

Meanwhile, property owners in the region could experience a windfall profit if they sell to a professional or tradesman parachuting in to work at the battery plant. 

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Global Auto-Industry Lobbyists/Law Firms - The Business Potential

From June 15th through September 15th of this year, the Toledo Museum of Art featured the special exhibit "Life is a Highway: Art & American Car Culture."

That might be the last hurrah for the technological  innovation which transformed everything from transportation to social values (e.g. get in the car and escape whatever).

Increasingly, because of factors ranging from climate change to the expense involved, the car is less and less a symbol of what has been considered "progress" in civilization.

That shift in perception could impact all brands, even the designer ones.

What's obvious is that worldwide, lobbyists for the auto industry and law firms managing its litigation could run into raw headwinds. Of course, those challenges could command premium pricing. It will be interesting to monitor which law firms beef up practices dealing with auto sector.

Yes, the car is being vilified.

A recent radical move which is attracting attention, positive and negative, is the mission of socialist Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to liberate the city from the oppression of the car. Last summer, as The New York Times reports, the temperature in Paris reached 107 degrees. Some viewed that as a preview of the future in a world getting hotter.

Hidalgo is busy implementing her vision for protecting Paris from further eco damage from cars.

Already dozen of miles of pavement have been dug up to make way for bike paths. In her view of things, the bike culture is good. The car is bad. If she gets her agenda through, cars could be banned from center city. 

Meanwhile, in the larger realm of global finance, there is a growing niche in focusing on investing in climate change. No surprise, Beyond Meat is a closely watched stock. It provides plant-based meat substitutes.

Simultaneously, as BusinessInsider documents based on IMF numbers, the global auto industry is slowing faster than expected. That is triggering major economic threats. The issue is: Can it bounce back. Or, will its demise only be delayed?

In addition, there is the political issue: Can weaning ordinary people from cars reduce overall poverty? In America, CBS reports that 70% see themselves as struggling financially. For a car that travels 15,000 miles annually, Nerd Wallet puts the average cost at almost $8,500 a year.

What lobbyists and law firms pull off in the court of public opinion could blow up the current negative narrative about The Car. That could constitute one of most astounding communications campaigns of these crazy times. 

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California Pushes Back on Auto Makers Siding with Trump Administration on Emissions

California continues to be aggressively green.

As Axios reports, the state government announced that it won't purchase government vehicles from auto makers which have sided with the Trump Administration on emissions.

The state had issued emission standards and, by proxy, mileage requirements which are higher than those imposed by federal law. The Trump Administration has sued and three auto makers have supported that litigation. They are GM, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota.

Those could be hurt in the pocketbook as well as in their branding. CA can make this stance high profile in the media.

In addition, CA announced that for its government vehicles, with a few exceptions, it will only purchase those which are electric or hybrid.

Since CA has enormous influence this kind of pressure put on the auto industry could spread to other states.

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Aging Law Partners - Trike Your Way Out of Clinical Depression (and sell green feature to media)

It was bravado. But, part of me believed it at the time I purchased the trike (adult tricycle) at Wersell Bike Shop, Toledo, Ohio. 

I had to believe that three-wheel contraption could really get me, an over-50, everyplace I wanted to go.

So, with great confidence I informed the salesperson Brett Gibson I was going to use the trike to peddle my way to the Toledo Museum of Art. That was about six weeks ago.

Here's my story. When I still had a car I had become a member of the Museum and got an emotional/spiritual lift weekly when I roamed the exhibits, nursed one affordable coffee in the cafe, and gazed out at the garden. Afternoons of heaven.

The car I had donated to Kars4Kids.

See, I couldn't shake the trauma of an accident in Michigan at the end of August 2019. The sound of the crash and the look in my dog's eyes when the accident happened, they dominated my consciousness.

In addition, State Farm, although it was my first accident and no one was hurt, more than doubled my insurance. After that, I yanked my homeowner's insurance and placed it with another insurance company. It also covers the trike for the replacement value.

Peddle by peddle, I worked up to making it to the Museum.

First it was the 40 minute bike ride to my support group meeting on Sylvania Avenue. Within a week I got that down to 30 minutes. Obviously, I was making progress. I also connected the dots on wearing layers. Also, I felt total cool with a backpack. 

Then last week there was the 90 minute peddling to the main shopping district and back. According to calorie calculators, that has lightened my calorie count for that afternoon by 805. On Facebook I asked my friends if I came across as thinner.

I made it my business to study city maps. Somehow I identified a shortcut from Lewis Avenue to Monroe Street. I took it, but didn't trust my directional instincts. 

For once, they were on the money. I arrived at the Museum parking lot. My member sticker was on the bike. That would allow me to park w/o the $8 fee.

Then, a wrench in the works.

"No bikes in the lot." That's what the attendant said.

My heart sank to the crusty envelope encasing planet earth.

Then, the attendant indicated there was a bike rack in front of the museum.

I backed up my trike (manually) and headed there.

There was a new exhibit on light and shadow. Because I was a member I didn't have to pony up the $12 bucks for a ticket.

Then I studied Andrew Wyeth's "The Hunter."

It reinforced for me the importance of angle in creative projects.

Wyeth approached the subject from on high in a Sycamore tree. The bark was peeling off. Since it was fall there were few leaves. That renewed my determination to go for out of the box angles in my ghostwriting, even if clients seemed to want (the issue is always: do they really want) platitudes. 

"The Hunter" stuck with me. I needed to think more about Wyeth's technique.

So, I took the long long way home. One stop was at an apartment complex closer to the action of downtown. Should I move there? 

The issue became: Maybe I needed as much peddling distance between me and what my soul craved. During the six weeks of triking the clinical depression I had struggled with since age 11 had gone into remission. 

Depression and other mood disorders among lawyers are well-documented. Along with seasonal bonuses in 2019, aging law partners might also get to get a limo ride to the bike store and choose their trike. They can peddle it home. The firm's legal marketing team can contact the media about a feature on green. 

Reflection: Harvard Medical School might do a global experiment on triking and putting a dent in the worldwide epidemic of depression. Instead of giving the world a Coca-Cola, give 'em trikes. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

Law Firm Branding Outreach: Give Those Struggling Financially Bicycles

According to NerdWallet, the average expense for operating a car which travels about 15,000 miles a year is $8,469 for each of those years.

For a working family having to have a car can shift them from okay to a financial struggle. 

Donating bicycles to all members can prevent that daily angst about having ends mean and the possibility of homelessness.

Fortunately, society, at least the progressive niches, are helping make biking anywhere possible and safe. For example, The Guardian reports New York City is setting up 250 new bike lanes.

As part of the new marketing, Law.com recommends that law firms position and package the lawyers as not only good at what they do but also as good human beings. Pro bono projects associated with bicycle outreach could get plenty of media attention. That not only helps families. It's green. And, yes, the program can include e-bikes.

Of course, there is no missing this irony: Those with those great jobs are already commuting via bike to work. It's wellness. It's green. And it's no angst about having an accident, with insurance rates doubling. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Zantac - Obviously, Pharma to Get Hit Again and Hard with Lawsuits

Defense lawyers for pharma have been busy.

There has been the pile on of lawsuits directed at prescription and over the counter medications.

Many of the lawsuits allege failure to warn.

Johnson & Johnson had been hit with a $8 billion Risperdal verdict. Its defense legal team will appeal that. 

Now, Zantac joins that conga line. In the loop are pharma companies ranging from Sanofi to Pfizer. 

As Law.com reports, plaintiff lawyers anticipate a deluge of litigation contending that the heartburn fix allegedly has triggered the formation of the carcinogen NCMA. It's claimed that can cause a number of cancers, ranging from the kidney to colon. It's also alleged that the pharma companies were aware of that possibility and did not inform consumers. 

Since the medication has been out there since 1983, the number of possible lawsuits is amazing.

Again, plaintiff lawyers can pitch to juries allegedly there has been the priority put on profits over safety.

That has been effective in generating nuclear verdicts such as the one in Risperdal and those aren't predicted to go away. Here is Law.com's analysis of that trend.

Yes, juries are out to "punish" BigBusiness not adequately focused on the public good. This reflects the ongoing global review of capitalism.

Harvard Business School, boot camp for future capitalists, has an elective called "Reimagining Capitalism."

The Roundtable has pushed for redefining the purpose of the corporation as more than just increasing investor value. The interests of other constituencies, be they planet earth, employees, or local communities, have to be factored in. 

The 2020 Election puts traditional capitalism under a microscope.

Also, in this Zantac development, shade is being thrown on the FDA. During the Trump Administration the regulatory agency has been downsized. In some circles there is outrage the FDA did not take action on Zantac sooner.

Reflection: Expect giant settlements and jury punitive damages awards with Zantac. Meanwhile, pharma has a major branding problem.

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Distressed U.S. Auto Industry - Are Auto Insurers Making That (much) Worse & Shouldn't That Be Issue in Election 2020?

"The world is cooling off its love affair with cars." -  Jim Edwards, BusinessInsider, February 19, 2019.

In the U.S., the car had reconfigured just about every institution, ranging from real estate to escape fantasies.

That was captured in the Toledo Museum of Art's exhibit "Life is a highway: Art & American Car Culture" (June 15 - Sept. 15, 2019). What was palpable was that the car created a whole new mindset of possibility. 

Now, much of that is being reconfigured.

In the U.S., auto sales are flat and predicted to decline. The Lordstown, Ohio GM plant went from three shifts to a total close-down.

Some see the downward trajectory as a result of a kind of perfect storm:

Environmental concerns

Escalating prices at the pump

The sticker shock associated with purchasing a new car (which tends to be an SUV)

Wellness trend encouraging walking

More and better public transportation, and

The availability of affordable taxi service through ride-sharing.

The fallout, speculates some economists at HSBC, could be a global recession.

Added to those usual suspects and increasing the combined impact of all that had been, I have a hunch, the way the auto insurance industry operates in the U.S.

To begin with, the price of auto insurance tends to be high for a new car. So, come on, why buy one? Hang on to the one you have, riding it out until it gives out at 200,000+ miles.

Another is the severe expense implications of an accident, even one that isn't particularly serious. 

I had been toying with buying a new car to replace mine which had almost 90,000 miles.

That was before I moved from Austintown, OH to Toledo, OH and, two days later had a not-serious accident in no-fault state Michigan.

According to the police it was my fault. But since it happened in a no-fault state my insurance company - State Farm - only had to pay the other party's deductible.

As for my car, it only had to pony up about $1000 since I paid a $500 deductible.

I had refrained from renting a car while mine was being repaired to keep the overall bill down.

That was the first accident I had had since I became insured with State Farm years ago. I had switched from Allstate. (Maybe that had been a financial mistake.)

Before I relocated to Toledo, my monthly State Farm insurance for auto and renters, had been about $70. After the move and the accident, it was more than $150.

I made the decision, of course, not to purchase a new car. Some OH dealer lost that piece of action. Can you imagine what the insurance premium would have been on a new car, in Toledo, post-accident?

In addition, I went further: I decided not to own a car any more. I donated mine to Kars4Kids.

Along with the U.S. car industry, related businesses will also suffer. They include gas stations, tire manufacturers, oil change shops, repair garages, car detailers/wash drive-throughs, and parking structures. 

A much-played commercial on TV is Allstate's accident forgiveness. Since I didn't anticipate what I experienced as a financial hosing after an accident, I never asked the State Farm agent if that feature had been available. And, no, if State Farm offers it, that wasn't brought to my attention. 

Incidentally, when I called State Farm claims that evening, I was instructed to contact the agent in Austintown, OH in the A.M.

That I did. Early, since I hadn't slept.

I experienced the person answering the phone at the agent's as being abrupt. I was told to go back to claims.

And that was that.

I never heard from the agent.

The news of the jump in the monthly premium came snail mail on a Saturday morning.

By early afternoon that Saturday I was on the phone with Kars4Kids arranging the donation.

Incidentally, though, the claims folks at State Farm were cordial and efficient.

Meanwhile, I shopped around for another insurance company for renters' insurance. I got a better deal and it covers my new expensive bicycle. It will pay the replacement cost if the bike is stolen. 

Reflection: What is good for the U.S. auto industry is an insurance industry that doesn't inflict severe financial penalties after one accident. Elected officials focused on the growth of American GDP should look into this. Hell, it should become a major talking point in Election 2020. Nissan already announced cutting 1,400 jobs in the U.S. 

Smart global ghostwriting, with social networking know-know. Emergencies welcome. Complimentary consultation (pressure-free) janegenova374@gmail.com.