Blog

The Blog contains short posts by Journal of Law and Mobility editors, student staff members, and other guest bloggers concerning breaking news or other contemporary topics. 

Any opinions expressed are those of the individual author and not the University of Michigan, the Journal of Law and Mobility, or the Law and Mobility Program.

Outside blog post submissions (of 500-1,000 words) are always welcome. All submissions are evaluated for publication by our staff.

Filter

Post List

  • Apple came out for right to repair. Toyota should too.

    In August, Apple declared support for California’s right to repair bill. Plausibly, their reason for an about face to supporting right to repair is that regulation will provide them a competitive advantage; because “Apple has been building an industry lead on repairable devices,” they are better positioned than competitors to comply. By…
  • Applying Lessons from Securities Regulation to Intelligent Transportation Systems

    In the 1970s, Congress authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission to “facilitate the establishment of a national market system for the trading of securities.” The SEC’s approach, in large part, was to direct the exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to come up with solutions themselves subject to the…
  • Perfection is the Enemy of Good Where AVs Succeed

    News articles about automated transportation technologies consistently imply that the challenge of scaling and expanding destines the technology to be if not useless then at least a bit silly. This attitude is both wrong and unproductive in solving major transportation and climate related problems. For example, a Scientific American article about delivery…
  • E-Waste and Cars Need to Meet in the Right to Repair Debate

    The debate on right to repair continues to rage. Right to repair laws have passed in New York, Colorado, Minnesota, and Massachusets, and upwards of 30 other states have pending legislation. Yet at the end of June, NHTSA sent a letter to 22 automotive…
  • Drivers Look at Infotainment, but Law Doesn’t.

    In the Law and Mobility Journal’s 2018 publication “Vehicle Rental Laws: Road Blocks to Evolving Mobility Models?”, the authors referenced a putative class action suit, Kramer v. Avis Budget Group, in support of the observation that “recently, vehicle infotainment systems…have come under scrutiny.” This blog post follows up on that case…
  • Exporting Used Vehicles to African Countries: Law and Policy to Promote Safety and Environmental Considerations

    What happens to a used vehicle when we are done with it? Does somebody else drive it? If so, who is that somebody and where do they drive? Many used vehicles are exported to developing countries with a total of 40% of the world’s used vehicles spread throughout the African continent.
    • Blog Post
    • June, 2023

    Charging an Electric Rental Car in a Rural Community: Reflections and Lessons Learned

    Anybody who works in the transportation technology space has certainly participated in some intense conversations about the environmental consequences of internal combustion engines (ICEs) in our car-centric society. I have personally spent a lot of time over the past couple of years considering if electrification is truly better for the…
  • Paying for Florida’s Highway Infrastructure in Light of the Feud Between Disney and DeSantis

    Highway infrastructure is notoriously the responsibility of public entities. Usually, the federal government provides grants to state and local governments to build and maintain highways. There are a few notable exceptions. For the last several decades, there has been a significant portion of highway infrastructure in central Florida that…
    • Blog Post
    • By John Mattiacci
    • May, 2023

    On the Wrong Side of the Road: Addressing Racial Disparities in Pedestrian and Cyclist Accidents

    This blog post was written by guest author John Mattiacci, who is an experienced personal injury lawyer. Pedestrian and cyclist accidents are on the rise in the United States, and people of color are disproportionately impacted by these incidents. According to a recent report by the National Highway…
    • Blog Post
    • April, 2023

    The Electric Hummer’s Dirty Secret

    The transportation industry’s contribution to the climate crisis is no secret. An approximate 28% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in 2021 were courtesy of the transportation sector. Consequently, the pressure to electrify is intense and electric vehicles (EVs) are taking the United States by storm. However, electrification is far from a…