Trial Magazine

Almost 50 years have passed since Richard Scarry’s classic illustrated story of Cars and Trucks and Things That Go was published. The tale of the Ma, Pa, Pickles, and Penny Pig family driving their car to the beach for a picnic while encountering every imaginable mode of transportation along the way was a cherished book while growing up in our home.

After hundreds of uses, its well-worn pages and fragile spine revealed the character of a most beloved story. After all, how can one not love the hammer car, the wolf wagon, the giant pickle truck, and the alligator car? This treasured book would find its way back inside my home many years later, when my children became equally enamored with this fantastical Busytown tale.

Whimsical as this famous book may be, it reflects a telling assessment: We live in a society dominated by transportation. As a communication major in college, I learned about concepts related to language and communication—some believe that a culture or psychology of a society is often reflected by its language. Just think about how many different words—nouns, verbs, and descriptive terms—relate to transportation in American vernacular.

It’s only natural that ubiquitous transportation leads to ubiquitous risk for operators, passengers, servicemembers, and even bystanders. That’s why civil justice is a critical guardrail to protect and even prevent crashes and injury, and in turn, civil justice provides significant anchors for accountability.

Unfortunately, the ability to hold wrongdoers accountable is under constant attack. On our roads, driverless vehicles have emerged, and early warning signs indicate the industry will seek to shift the blame for crashes.

And year after year, a staggering number of catastrophic crashes occur due to trucking negligence. Yet, the federal insurance minimum for truckers has been stuck at $750,000 since 1980. A House bill containing a provision to increase insurance minimums passed last year but stalled in the Senate.

On our railways, Amtrak attempted to avoid future accountability following two deadly derailments in 2015 and 2017. In 2019, it quietly added a forced arbitration agreement to its ticket contract, requiring any legal action against it to occur outside the courtroom. Last year, the House passed a provision to eliminate these clauses, but it was not taken up in the Senate.

On the waterways, the 100-year-old Death on the High Seas Act prevents victims and their families from recovering pain and suffering damages from harmful or deadly incidents on cruise ships and other maritime vessels, and there have been new pushes to eliminate the protections of the Jones Act.

In the skies, civil justice foes continue to try to take advantage of the FAA safety certification system to avoid accountability for airplane defects, even in the wake of the Boeing 737 Max tragedies. These are just some examples that reflect the unfair playing field.

With each of these issues, AAJ is continuously advocating for your practices and your clients. As part of Trial’s continuing coverage of AAJ’s 75th year, read about Public Affairs’ never-ending legislative efforts to protect civil justice across America (p. 18).

And our members keep fighting in the courtroom. In this month’s Trial, read about personal jurisdiction in trucking cases (p. 28); harnessing black-box data (p. 38); and keeping cruise ship injury cases afloat (p. 48). Also take advantage of the transportation-related resources and networking provided through Sections and Litigation Groups, AAJ Education programs, Litigation Packets, and more.

Plus, through the Leadership Academy, an initiative of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, AAJ provides its underrepresented members with the skills to be effective leaders in their firms, in their communities, and within AAJ. Applications for the 2021 class are due by April 23 (www.justice.org/leadershipacademy).

In the Richard Scarry classic, Dingo Dog is the “terrible driver” wreaking havoc across town, knocking down parking meters, causing crashes, and unleashing chaos. It’s a reminder that in the real world, wrongdoers must be held accountable. AAJ will continue to carry the torch to meet that mission.

Tobi L. Millrood is a partner at Pogust Millrood in suburban Philadelphia and can be reached at tobi.millrood@justice.org.