Phoenix Criminal Lawyer Blog

Motorcyclists 21 and older could ride without a helmet, under a bill passed Tuesday in the state Senate.  Approved on a 24-14 vote, the bill goes to the Republican-led House, where it is expected to pass.  

The bill was amended to require motorcyclists to buy a minimum of $100,000 insurance coverage for injuries.

Supporters of the current helmet law say repealing it would result in more serious injuries from motorcycle accidents, which would add to insurance costs for non-bikers.

Opponents of mandatory helmets say it should be a personal choice and that requiring them keeps many bikers from other states away

If you owe child support and you are entitled to a personal injury settlement from an insurance company, does the government have the right to take some or all of your settlement to satisfy your back child support?  Can they take it from third party liability recovery or from your first party UIM/UM insurance?   

Under Arizona Revised Statute 25-505 

"A. The department or its agent may issue a limited income withholding order to any employer, payor or other holder of a nonperiodic or lump sum payment that is owed or held for the benefit of an obligor... 

E. For the purposes of this section, "lump sum payment" includes: 

10. Personal injury awards.

Thus, this statute gives the authority to the Arizona Department of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) to collect against a victim's injury settlement to satisfy child support arrears.   The mechanism by which DCSE collects against a insurance settlement is called Limited Income Withholding Order, LIWO, and it is the same procedure that DCSE uses to collect against other sources, such as federal or state tax refunds. 

The biggest issue as of now is notice.  Exactly what obligation does the personal attorney have to investigate the existence of child support liens, particularly if the victim is unaware of them.  In this regard, Arizona has joined Child Support Lien Network, which is a third party vendor, to get settlement information directly from insurance companies regarding potential insurance benefit and payment disbursements. 

This area of lien law, unlike federal, statutory, and medical providers liens, is still relatively new and untested.   Thus, it is not clear what the exact procedure is for notice and an attorneys' responsibility in resolving child support arrears.  It does seem, however, that the Arizona Department of Economic Security and the Arizona Attorney General Office, do act reasonably in resolving these matters. 

NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has announced a recent recall because of defective handlebars.

Polaris Industries, a maker of motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and other power-sports equipment, is recalling certain Victory Cross Country motorcycles from the 2011 model year because their handlebar clamps or risers may have been machined improperly.

Nassim Taleb has a book called The Black Swan in which he makes the point that very rare events, things that you would never expect to harm you, have a way of hurting you when you least expect it. And just because something has not happened does not mean it will never happen.  The entire book is essentially a treatise on Murphy's Law, if something can go wrong, it eventually will.

A recent accident out of New York state makes that point crystal clear (as reported by Kyla Igoe of WKBW): 

"If your doing all those things, many times you get lucky and you never hear about it but not last night, we didn't get lucky. The combination of potential texting, potential drunk driving, dark roads, and a couple of boys walking down the street, it ended in disaster," said Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour.