Driving an automobile on a highway or highway is a privilege that may be regulated by motor vehicle laws. Individual states derive the power to control trafficking from their police power, but often delegate that power to a local police force. At the national level, Congress has the power to regulate motor vehicles engaged in interstate commerce. Automotive regulations are intended for the safety and protection of the public. Laws must be reasonable and must not impose an extraordinary burden on owners or operators. These laws also provide the ability to identify vehicles involved in an accident or theft and generate revenue for the state through fees imposed on the owner or operator. Laws through no fault of their own stipulate that anyone who receives personal injury benefits waives the right to bring an action for damages. However, a person who is authorized to drive in a State that requires no-fault insurance may sue someone who caused an accident and who holds a license in another State that does not require no-fault insurance. In some states, a person who has not purchased no-fault auto insurance is personally liable for the damages.
Some States do not abolish liability arising from the possession, maintenance or operation of a motor vehicle in certain circumstances, such as when the damage was caused intentionally, the injured person suffered death or serious injury, or medical expenses exceed a certain limit. For more than half a century, the automobile has brought death, injury and the most priceless grief and deprivation to millions of people. In 1965, Ralph Nader began his book Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile, an important milestone in the history of American consumer protection. However, many car safety experts point out that regulations governing the manufacture of automobiles can only go so far as to reduce injuries. Studies show that only 13% of car accidents are due to mechanical failure, and of those that do, most are caused by poor maintenance, not inadequate design or construction. Other analysts say that safety rules cause a phenomenon known as compensatory behavior. According to this theory, people will drive more dangerously because they know their risk of injury is lower, which exposes them, their passengers and other drivers, passengers and pedestrians, thus compensating for the safety gain caused by stricter manufacturing standards. Nader`s book tells the story of how American automakers resisted attempts to improve auto safety in the 1950s and 1960s. Even when manufacturers of other vehicles such as planes, boats and trains were forced to comply with safety rules, car manufacturers were still largely uncontrolled in the field of safety.
“The gap between existing design and achievable security,” Nader wrote, “widened enormously in the post-war period.” Emission standards Emission standards aim to reduce pollution caused by a car`s exhaust system. Cars contribute significantly to air pollution. Some cities, such as Los Angeles, have notorious smog problems, a situation that can cause serious health problems for people with respiratory problems like asthma and bronchitis. Air pollution also damages plants, reduces crop yields, reduces visibility and causes acid rain. In 1970, Congress passed amendments to the Clean Air Act (Pub. L. No. 91-604, 84 Stat. 1676-1713 [42 U.S.C.A.
§ 7403 et seq. (1995)]), which set an ambitious goal of eliminating 90 to 95 percent of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions as measured in 1968 automobiles by 1975. Manufacturers did not meet the target date to achieve this target and the deadline was extended. In addition, the new emission standards have caused problems as they have reduced fuel consumption and vehicle performance. Dozens of laws affect driving an automobile, many of which vary from state to state. Minor traffic violations include parking and speeding violations. More serious traffic offences include reckless driving, leaving the scene of the accident, and driving without a licence. Most states require motorists to submit reports to the relevant authorities if they are involved in accidents. In R v Baggett, Justice Toy of the SUPREME Court of British Columbia adopted the shorter Oxford dictionary definition: Cars are also commonly used to commit crimes. Drivers whose negligence causes accidents that result in the death of others may be convicted of manslaughter (unlawful homicide of others without malice, that is, without intent to cause harm by an unlawful act), including homicide by criminal negligence, a crime punishable by imprisonment.
Two types of crimes that have attracted a lot of public attention are drive-thru shootings, in which occupants of a vehicle shoot pedestrians or people in other cars with weapons, and carjackings, in which criminals hijack or take control of the cars of their owners or operators, often by stealing and sometimes killing victims. Due to the generally random nature of these crimes, the public has called for harsh penalties for them. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act 1994 (Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796) made murders caused by shootings while driving or carjacking punishable by death. As a result of these new laws, 19 federal safety regulations came into force on January 1, 1968. The regulation establishes accident prevention standards for vehicle characteristics such as brakes, tires, windshields, lights and transmission controls. They also ordered more expensive collision protection standards. These included occupant protection requirements for seat belts, energy-absorbing steering wheels and bumpers, head restraints, padded dashboards and stronger side doors.
These vehicle safety standards have significantly reduced the number of deaths on the roads. Between 1968 and 1979, the annual motor vehicle mortality rate decreased by 35.2%, from 5.4 to 3.5 deaths per 100 million vehicle-miles. To protect these rights, Nader used his book to call for a number of different strategies to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on the roads: federal safety standards; a federal agency for automotive safety research, design and testing; increase manufacturers` research and development in safety technology; improving consumer information on vehicle safety; better disclosure of car manufacturers` safety efforts; and the creation of a Ministry of Transport. It is a sign of Nader`s foresight and determination that all of these goals have been achieved in the decades following the release of Unsafe at Any Speed. Between 1976 and 1980, NHTSA approved the recall of more than 39 million vehicles. Recall is a controversial policy. One problem with this is that typically only 50% of car owners respond to recall notices. Other crimes Criminals target and use cars in a number of different types of crimes. Cars have been a popular object of theft since their invention. As early as 1919, the Dyer Act or National Motor Vehicle Theft Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 2311 et seq.) imposed severe penalties on those who transported stolen vehicles across state borders. Car theft remains a serious problem in many parts of the country and contributes significantly to high insurance premiums in many urban areas.
In 1994, Congress passed the Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act (18U.S.C.A. § 511 et seq.; 42 U.S.C.A. § 13701 note, § 14171 [West 1995]), which introduced a program that allows owners to register their cars with the government, provide information about where their vehicles are normally driven, and attach a sticker or marking to cars. Owners who register their cars in the program allow the police to stop the cars and question the occupants if the vehicles are outside their normal areas of operation. Some suggestions on what to do if you are involved in a car accident: To rent or rent a car, a person must present a valid driver`s license and usually a common credit card. A rental company may require a customer to have a good driving record and be of a certain age, sometimes 25 years or older. A car rental, as opposed to a rental agreement, can be as short as a day. A rental company may offer a Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) option, which provides insurance coverage for damage to the rental car. The CDW option does not cover bodily injury or property damage. Several national organizations have been established to combat drunk driving. These include Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD). The legal drinking age has been raised to 21 in each state, primarily to reduce drunk driving.
Most states also make it illegal to carry an open container of alcoholic beverage in a vehicle. The proportion of alcohol-related deaths in all road deaths increased from about 56% in 1982 to 47% in 1991. On the other side of the problem, critics make a number of different points against no-fault insurance. Many, including litigants and some consumer advocates, object to the fact that no-fault insurance eliminates or significantly restricts the right to sue for damages. Many States, for example, allow injured parties to sue for “pain and suffering” only if they have suffered certain injuries such as dismemberment, disfigurement or fracture. Often, “soft tissue” injuries such as whiplash do not qualify as sufficient grounds for prosecution. Critics also argue that no-fault insurance removes the incentive to drive safely.