Author Archives: Neil O'Donnell
PA Supreme Court Speaks on [and Adopts] Traveling Employee Doctrine – A Win for Injured Workers
In its self-described first examination of the traveling employee doctrine, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 7-0 that employees who travel for work are entitled to a rebuttable presumption of being within the course and scope of employment during the entirety of work-related travel. This necessarily includes the worker’s travel home at the conclusion of… Read More »
E-Scooter Injuries
You have seen them in large cities. E-Scooters — all over the place. If you have ever wondered if people are being injured, the answer is a resounding yes. As reported in the AAJ Brief Magazine published in September, 2021, a research project at the Henry Ford Health System estimated that more than 103,000… Read More »
Think the Pandemic Would Lead to Fewer Fatalities in Vehicle Crashes? Better Think Again
Last week, the National Safety Council issued a report concerning Americans driving during the pandemic. And, despite the fact that Americans drove fewer miles, the preliminary data shows 42,060 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year —including pedestrians — which was up 8% from 2019. That’s right — motor vehicle crashes killed nearly… Read More »
Study: Women More Likely to Suffer Serious Injury from Crashes
New research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety demonstrates that women are three times more likely to sustain injuries such as broken bones or concussions in frontal crashes. In side crashes, women were twice as likely to sustain severe injuries such as collapsed lungs or traumatic brain injuries. There are several explanations offered… Read More »
PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT RULES THAT AUTO INSURERS HAVE NO RIGHT TO UNILATERALLY COMPEL “INDEPENDENT” MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS
Earlier this week, in the cases of Sayles v. Allstate and Scott v. Travelers, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that such strict language in auto policies purporting to required insureds to attend medical exams conflicted with Section 1796 which is entitled “Mental or Physical Examinations of a Person”. The Supreme Court, in a 6… Read More »
Better Make Sure your Auto Insurer Knows Who Regularly Drives your Vehicles
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently, and unanimously, ruled that an “Unregistered Driver Exclusion” in automobile insurance policies does NOT violate the Pennsylvania Law — or public policy. In Safe Auto Insurance v. Oriental-Guillermo, authored by Supreme Court Justice Debra Todd, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held: “In the instant case, the policy contains a clear… Read More »
