A catastrophic hailstorm that struck Texas in June, unleashing baseball to softball-sized hail, is projected to result in insured losses exceeding $1 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark and Company (KCC).
From June 10th to 13th, the Central Plains experienced near-daily thunderstorms as a stationary frontal boundary extended from Texas to Georgia, leading to converging air masses. KCC reports that these storms were particularly intense due to high instability, resulting in powerful updrafts that pierced the atmosphere and allowed for the growth of large hailstones.
The city of Mansfield, Texas, witnessed hailstones measuring 5.23 inches in diameter, nearly breaking the state’s record. Dallas also faced daily impacts from substantial hail, as stated by KCC.
In a recent ruling, New York’s highest court unanimously declared that a state regulation mandating the installation of electronic logging devices (ELDs) in commercial motor vehicles does not violate the state constitution’s prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.
The Court of Appeals, while modifying a lower court’s decision, rejected a constitutional challenge presented by the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. The high court concluded that the truck owners, who operate within a heavily regulated industry, possess a reduced expectation of privacy. Furthermore, the court emphasized that ELDs capture a limited amount of electronically collectible data, eliminating the need for physical searches of vehicles.
The court’s opinion also dismissed the contention that the ELD rule is unconstitutional due to the absence of restrictions on the frequency of authorized searches.
Expressing disappointment with the ruling, the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association argued that electronic logging devices fail to enhance motor vehicle safety. The association further highlighted that ELDs lack an on/off switch, continuously monitoring drivers 24/7, even while they reside in their trucks beyond working hours.
Since 1937, New York has enforced hours-of-service limits and recordkeeping requirements for commercial vehicle owners. In 2012, Congress enacted legislation mandating the use of ELDs equipped with global positioning system technology to record various data points such as location, engine hours, and mileage for trucks engaged in interstate commerce.
The lawsuit filed by the owner operators challenged the federal rules as an unwarranted violation of the truck drivers’ Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. In 2016, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ELD requirement did not constitute an unreasonable search.
Subsequently, three owner-operators belonging to the Independent Drivers Association filed a lawsuit contesting New York’s latest version of ELD rules, adopted in 2019. The association argued that the state had wrongly enforced the federal requirement before implementing state rules and claimed that the data collection requirement violated the state constitution’s guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.
Initially, the Albany County Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, citing the “”administrative searches”” exception to the constitutional warrant requirement. The Appellate Division upheld this ruling.
The Court of Appeals determined that two exceptions apply to the warrant requirement in the New York State constitution: cases where the searched activity or premises have a long history of pervasive government regulation, and situations where regulations are designed to further the goals of the regulatory scheme rather than solely uncover evidence of criminality.
The court found that the ELD rules satisfy both exceptions. Truck drivers undeniably operate within a heavily regulated industry, and the ELD rules serve to deter cheating without gathering unnecessary information about drivers’ activities.
The Court of Appeals instructed the Supreme Court to modify its ruling, stating that the ELD rules are constitutional and do not violate the state’s constitution.