Area of Interest NHTSA Seeks Public Comment on Priority Plan
For Vehicle Safety Rulemaking

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today issued a formal request for public comment on its plan for vehicle safety rulemaking priorities, NHTSA Vehicle Safety Rulemaking Priorities: 2002-2005. The plan includes the agency’s highest priority rulemaking actions that fall within the immediate four-year time frame.

For the near term (2002-2003), NHTSA's regulatory priorities will be the Transportation, Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act (TREAD) requirements, including tires, rollover prevention and child safety. Other important safety concerns will include improved head restraints and fuel system integrity, advanced air bags and dummies, upgraded roof crush resistance, occupant ejection prevention in rollover crashes, offset frontal and enhanced side crash protection, and reduced glare from headlamps.

Longer term (2004-2005) testing, analysis, and potential rulemaking actions will address incompatibility in crashes between passenger cars and light trucks, dynamic stability control, roadway departure collision avoidance systems, and the reduction of driver distractions.
Motor vehicle crashes killed 41,821 individuals and injured 3,189,000 others in 6.4 million crashes in 2000. Preliminary data from 2001 indicates that the number of fatalities remains at over 41,000.

The plan is organized along several broad categories: light vehicle crash prevention and occupant protection, incompatibility between passenger cars and light trucks, heavy truck safety, and special populations protection, which includes safety for children, people with disabilities, and older people. The plan also includes other active rulemaking areas, in addition to the top priorities.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

State: Ohio

Area of Interest: Department Investigation Leads to Conviction of Fraudulent World Trade Center Death Claimant
Man Claimed Father Killed in World Trade Center Attacks

Ohio Department of Insurance Director Lee Covington commended a jury for its decision today to convict a Butler County man who attempted to collect on a fraudulent life insurance claim following the attacks on the World Trade Center in September of 2001.

Ajay Chawla was convicted in Butler County Common Pleas Court on one count of insurance fraud, a third-degree felony; one count of attempted aggravated theft by deception, a fourth-degree felony; one count of telecommunications fraud, a fifth-degree felony; and one count of falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor. Sentencing has been scheduled for September 16. Chawla could receive up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 for the insurance fraud count.

On September 26, Chawla filed a claim with CNA Insurance Company stating that his father, Om Parkash Chawla, was missing and that he was last known to be at the World Trade Center in New York on September 11. He also contacted the New York City Police Department to file a missing person’s report, and made arrangements to send DNA samples.

On October 5, Chawla signed a claimant’s statement and an Affidavit in Lieu of Death Certificate form. Both documents were notarized and submitted to CNA Insurance Company for the purpose of initiating a death claim.

The Ohio Department of Insurance, CNA Insurance, and Westchester Township Police Department investigators determined in early October that Chawla’s father was not in New York on September 11, 2001, and was alive and living in India. Chawla later tried to withdraw his fraudulent death claim.

“I commend the jury for its decision to convict this individual who was trying to gain a financial advantage from such a terrible tragedy,” said Covington. “I also want to thank the prosecutor for aggressively prosecuting this insurance fraud case and sending the message that this type of insurance fraud will not be tolerated.”

According to the New York Department of Insurance, 56 cases nationwide are being investigated for fraudulent claims connected to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers. This is the only known case in Ohio.

Source: State of Ohio

State: Colorado

Area of Interest: Workers’ compensation loss costs will decrease for some Colorado employers

DENVER – Workers’ compensation costs for some Colorado employers may decrease on average about 10.2 percent later this year.

Insurance Commissioner William J. Kirven III announced today that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has filed an average decrease of 10.2 percent in workers’ compensation insurance loss costs for Colorado effective December 1, 2002.

“The Division’s consulting actuary will now review this data and make a recommendation to us to either approve it or modify it,” said Commissioner Kirven. “Once this filing is approved, the good news is that some employers should see a decrease in their workers’ compensation premiums.”

A public hearing to discuss this proposal will be held on September 3, 2002, beginning at 1 p.m., at the Colorado Division of Insurance, 1560 Broadway, Suite 850. Interested parties may comment on the proposal before the filing is approved, denied or modified.
The NCCI, a rating and advisory organization, collects annual data on workers’ compensation claims for the insurance industry. The Colorado NCCI loss cost filing includes data from 150 insurance companies that write workers’ compensation insurance in Colorado and includes loss experience from the companies for a five-year period.
This is the second year in a row that Colorado workers’ compensation loss costs have declined. On January 1, 2002, the loss costs decreased an average of 7.4 percent. However, it should be noted that loss costs are a significant, but not the only factor, used in establishing each employer’s actual premium.

Source: State of Colorado

State: Washington

Area of Interest: Safety Standards for Recordkeeping and Reporting Revision

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed delaying the effective dates of sections of their federal recordkeeping rule. WISHA is proposing to change their effective dates for those sections to keep their rule consistent with OSHA’s.
Amended sections:

WAC 296-27-01113 Recording criteria for cases involving occupational hearing loss

WAC 296-27-01117 Recording criteria for cases involving work-related musculoskeletal disorders

WAC 296-27-01119 Forms

Source: State of Washington

State: California

Area of Interest: California Approves Critical Workers’ Compensation Bills

The California Legislature is currently reviewing three important measures that will impact the workers compensation system in the state.

AB 1985 is intended to provide California Insurance Commissioner authority to deny inadequate workers’ compensation rates and to ensure benefits are paid on time.

AB 2007 will allow the 2% assessment charge that is billed to the worker’s compensation insurance premiums. This is intended to assist employers and injured employees.

SB 2093 is intended to reform the state’s workers’ compensation insurance deposit law by ensuring that injured worker’s receive certain benefits immediately if the insurer becomes bankrupt.

Source: American Insurance Association