Legal Advice Blog: Legal Advice, Case Insights, & Local Law Information

Have you and a friend ever had one of those “inside jokes” that run indefinitely and that no one else seems to understand? Well, one of those running jokes started during on the Bordas & Bordas Vegas trip last spring.  On the way to Vegas, my friend Michele and I overheard someone talking about wanting to see Terry Fator’s Vegas show.  At that time, I don’t think either of us knew who he was but we quickly learned.  One of the first things we saw when we arrived was a giant Terry Fator billboard.  Little did we know at that time that we would be seeing Terry Fator’s face just about everywhere we looked for the duration of our time in Vegas. When we arrived at our hotel, we went into Terry Fator overload.  We discovered that our hotel was actually the home of Terry Fator’s Vegas show.  As we walked through the casino to go to our room, we passed countless Terry Fator themed slot machines and posters advertising his show.  When we went into the market/gift shop to grab water to have in the hotel room we were confronted with Terry Fator shirts, stuff animals and other miscellaneous souvenirs.  By that time, we had probably been up almost 24 hours and could not stop laughing about seeing Terry Fator’s face all over the place.  And so the Terry Fator game began… For the next three and a half days, it was a contest to see who could see and point out something “Terry Fator” first.  From billboards, to bus station posters to placards on taxis, we didn’t have to look far to find the next “Terry Fator”.  I think we received more than a few strange looks from some of our traveling companions and other passersby when one of us would randomly blurt out “Terry Fator” and we would start laughing.  While I think we both assumed the Terry Fator game would end when we left Vegas, it seemed that fate (or Mr. Fator) had other ideas. As we were packing to leave, Michele found a Terry Fator postcard in the hotel room. I guess Mr. Fator wanted to come home with us.  After we returned home, the postcard would randomly appear in cars and purses– getting passed back and forth when the person not having Terry Fator custody at the time would least expect it.  While I think Michele currently has custody of the postcard – she stepped up the game a while back.  Let’s just say waking up to the “pleasure” of a picture of Terry Fator posted to my Facebook page is something not easily forgotten.  As soon as I stopped laughing, I knew I would have to step up my game.  Since it has taken me so long to respond, I’m guessing she thinks I have forgotten about it … but I haven’t.  I have just been planning my revenge.   Terry Fator will be returned to her when she least expects it and in a way that she won’t anticipate.  Once this plan has been fully executed, I will need new ideas to step up the game once more.  Any suggestions?

A lot has already been written about the great Vin Scully, the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mr. Scully has officially retired after calling 67 seasons of Dodgers’ baseball.  It is absolutely amazing to realize that Mr. Scully moved with the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1957 and has, therefore, been the Dodgers’ play-by-play man the entire time the team has been in Southern California. I’m a big fan of listening to baseball on the radio.  There is something about the pace of play  (sometimes slow, I know) that lends itself to listening on the radio while playing with the kids outside.  While I mostly listen to the Yankees broadcasts over the Internet, I had a chance to tune into Vin Scully Day from Dodger Stadium last Friday night while driving home from my son’s football game. The Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax spoke at the ceremonies and he told a story about Mr. Scully that will stick with me for a long time. Mr. Scully is a devout Catholic and before the World Series, he would make it a point to go to church.   Mr. Scully didn’t pray for victory, though.  He didn’t pray for good luck, or good pitching or good hitting either.  As Mr. Koufax related the story: “Before the World Series, Vin would go to church and pray — not for a win, but that there would be only heroes in the World Series, no goats,” Koufax said. “He didn’t want anyone’s future to be tarnished with the fact that they lost the World Series for their team.” What strikes me about that story is the amount of perspective displayed by Mr. Scully.  It’s part of who he is.  As part of another recent broadcast, I heard him honor Los Angeles’ first responders as the “real heroes” before returning his attention to the “child’s game” of baseball.  Of course, he didn’t mean to demean baseball.  He only meant to keep it in perspective and to understand its relative importance in a life filled with joy, tragedy, family and faith. For a man that has devoted his entire professional life to baseball, I admire the fact that he was able to keep his job, and the sport, in its proper perspective.  That perspective will be missed.

Recently I had the opportunity and pleasure of spending a “girls’ weekend” with three girlfriends in the Elkins area of W.Va. Our girls’ weekend has become a very looked forward to time away, when we do a lot of talking, playing cards and board games, drinking some wine, soaking in the hot tub and generally relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.  We set off one day for a planned picnic lunch to Spruce Knob Lake, and decided to take a different back road than the one normally traveled by some in our group.  After traveling several miles on the winding, very narrow gravel road, we saw something dart out in front of us and cross the road.  It was a beautiful fox standing in the woods staring back at us.  We spent a few minutes watching the fox, as surprisingly, this was the first animal we saw in the woods all day. As we continued to watch the fox, a tractor trailer came speeding around the sharp turn ahead of us.  We all anticipated that he would slow down, but he did not.  He continued flying towards us at a high rate of speed.  At that point, my friend, Brenda (who was driving) began honking the horn and waving her arms out the window to try to get the tractor trailer driver’s attention, but still he kept coming towards us without slowing down.  Brenda pulled her truck off the road as far as she could, but there was nowhere else for us to go.  I unbuckled my seat belt and was prepared to jump out of the truck because I was sure he was going to hit us.  Finally, after what seemed like several minutes, the truck driver saw us and began to slow down.  Needless to say, we did exchange words with him over his erratic driving style. When we all got calmed down, we proceeded on our way to the lake.  Brenda commented that God must have been watching out for us.  If we had not stopped to look at the fox, we would have met the truck in the blind turn and surely been hit head on.  We did not see another animal in the woods the entire day—only that fox.  Realizing what could have happened gave me a very eerie feeling.  God intervened by sending that fox to us at just the right time and in just the right place in order to avoid a collision with the tractor trailer.  I also think maybe the chain of events that day occurred to remind us of who is really in charge and to reinforce our belief in Him.  I truly believe He intervened and it was His way of looking out for us and letting us know it was not our time to go.  He apparently has other plans for the four of us.

For the past few years I have had the pleasure of being a member of the Moundsville Lions Club. My father and grandfather were both members of the Lions Club back in southern West Virginia and I have had the chance to continue the family membership here in the northern part of the state.   I have gotten to know and work with many great Lions over the years and I am extremely happy to be a member myself. I wish I could actively participate in more events than I am currently able to.  I am the second vice-president of the club and look forward to holding the presidency in the not too distant future. I have had the opportunity to blog a few times about joining the club and various events and programs that the club sponsors.  Social organizations like the Lions Club are great opportunities to make friends, network and learn about various topics through our weekly programs. Jim Bordas, our founding partner, was even able to present a discussion at one of our weekly meetings earlier this year.  During the meeting, Mr. Bordas graciously donated $1,000 to the club to assist in our various programs. Bordas & Bordas has also been proud to provide support to the Moundsville Club in its recent hosting of the West Virginia Lion’s Club District 29-L Convention held in Wheeling, as well as various other philanthropic events benefitting the community. The Club is quite active in the area.  On Oct. 7, the Moundsville Lions are co-sponsors of the yearly Red Cross Blood Drive that will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Moundsville.  This blood drive is touted by the Red Cross as one of its most consistent producers of blood in the area.  If you have the chance to come by and donate blood please take the opportunity to do so. The Moundsville Lions Club deserves big congratulations this year as it celebrates its 75 th anniversary!  The occasion will be marked at our meeting on Oct. 4 when we will be honoring several individual members of the club who have been active for more than 50 years and many who have been members for 25 years! These gentlemen are community and business leaders and have helped fight for Moundsville and the surrounding communities for a long time.  For the past 75 years, the Lions Club has been an active community participant in Moundsville and still has one of the largest active groups in the region.  The Club is still going strong and still welcoming new members all the time.  I am proud to be one of the younger members of the group and can only hope that I am still around in for the next 50 years.  If you are interested in joining the Lions Club you can find out information from the International Lions Club website at www.lionsclub.org.  You can also follow the Moundsville Lions Club on Facebook to learn what the club is up to and what events are coming in the future.

I make an effort to stay away from the discussion of politics with anyone outside of my own home. I have my opinions and I have strong feelings, but I find it somewhat disturbing and almost comical how passionate political conversations can often turn in to an argument, and rather quickly. For this very reason, I shy away from those conversations.  In my mind, it becomes counterproductive because it separates people rather than unitING people, which is what we should be able to do maturely in the UNITED STATES. Rather than intelligently discussing the pros and cons of the candidates, people tend to shut down after they have stated their thoughts and are not always open to listening to anyone else.  No one said you have to agree, but mutual respect for opinions and feelings should be adhered to. I will, however, give you my take on the importance of being proactive and voting for the candidate of your choice. Make a decision by keeping in mind that we are building a future for our children and their children.  Choose the leader that you feel will best bring change to the table for a greater United States of America for years to come. This is your chance to be heard.  Your candidate may or may not be elected into office, but if you do not take a position for your voice to be heard through our election process then don’t complain about what is or isn’t being accomplished in our government. Take the time to make a decision based on your very own observations.  Educate yourself to be confident in your choice.  Use the right that you were given in this great country of ours and vote.  If you have not yet registered, you still have time, but that deadline is soon approaching.  Your opinion matters.  Your voice can be heard.  Help make a positive change to impact the lives and futures of so many who are counting on us to fight for the candidate we believe can do that job. GOD BLESS THE USA!

What's your zodiac sign? Are you a Libra? Virgo? Aries? After yesterday's announcement of the newest and 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, you may want to double check to see if your sign has changed. Those who read their daily horoscope may have to learn to look for their new zodiac and may be very unhappy about this change. There has been a shift in the dates of the Western zodiac calendar, which has resulted in each zodiac starting later than the originals. For example, the calendar once categorized those born between Aug. 23 and Sept. 22 as Virgos, but now that zodiac is for those with a birthday from Sept. 16 to Oct. 30. Thus some Virgos are now Leos. The Babylonians introduced the zodiac over 3,000 years ago, and now NASA decided to throw everyone off by switching up signs.  Though this is not a life or death change, a number of people look at their sign as a guide to life. However, NASA is simply doing their job by studying astronomy and has no time for society’s astrology problems. Has your whole horoscope been a lie this whole time? Are you an Ophiuchus? Take a look: Capricorn: Jan. 20 to Feb. 16 Aquarius: Feb. 16 to March 11 Pisces: March 11 to April 18 Aries: April 18 to May 13 Taurus: May 13 to June 21 Gemini: June 21 to July 20 Cancer: July 20 to Aug. 10 Leo: Aug. 10 to Sept. 16 Virgo: Sept. 16 to Oct. 30 Libra: Oct. 30 to Nov. 23 Scorpio: Nov. 23 to Nov. 29 Ophiuchus: Nov. 29 to Dec. 17 Sagittarius: Dec. 17 to Jan. 20

With fall here and the cooler weather coming with it, I can always bet that Barley and Guinness will want to be outside more than they will want to be inside. The boys love the cooler weather. They run, jump and play more outside in the fall and winter months. Sometimes I have a hard time getting them to come inside for the night.  I have to go out with my flashlight and hunt them down to get them to go to bed.  I sometimes feel like I’m out snipe hunting, but eventually they do come in. I think that the boys think it’s a game they get to play with me where I go one way and they take off the other.  I know they have their own way of communicating with one another. They seem to laugh a lot at me when I’m out hunting for them (it must be dog humor). Pretty soon the boys will be getting to go up to Seven Springs with us more often. The trails and the paths around the springs are so beautiful this time of year and make for the perfect walk. This past weekend was Mother Earth Day Festival at Seven Springs. Snipe hunting was talked about one year. It is an interesting event. Log onto 7springs.com to learn more about this festival. If you’re into keeping the planet clean or you want to know more about the topic, this is something you might want to attend.  They offer a lot of interesting ideas. So enjoy fall with your pets and maybe you can learn how to live off the grid by attending future Mother Earth Day Festivals. Bark on, Bordas dog nation. Bark on.

Before he fought Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s immortal trainer, Mickey Goldmill, knew what to tell him. Mickey told Rocky that he would “eat lightning, and crap thunder.” He told a young, unknown boxer that with the right preparation, he would become “a very dangerous person.” A great trainer has a way of telling his fighters exactly what they need to hear, at exactly the right time. Rocky Balboa came from nothing, and got a fight against the world champion, Creed. Rocky had the talent and the skill. What he needed was the confidence and belief that he could win the fight. Mickey gave him exactly what he needed, at just the right time. The result was a club fighter going the distance against the World Champ, in Rocky I. So what would Mickey say to tonight’s combatants? Many are saying that tonight’s presidential debate will be the most watched event in the history of television. Certainly as big an event as any boxing match ever staged. The stakes Monday outweigh any ninety minutes we’ve ever seen — on the line is nothing less than the US Presidency, control of the world’s most powerful military, and the title: Leader of the Free World. (Image retreived: USA Today) In addition to being a fictional character, Mickey died in Rocky III. So we can’t ask his advice on this clash of the titans. But we can wonder what he might say, and start by asking ourselves, what does each of tonight’s debaters need to hear to win? For Trump, I think the answer is easy and Mickey could give it in one word: behave. Over the last several months, Trump has been painted as a monster. The message “unfit for the Presidency” has been hammered home by Clinton and her myriad surrogates. “Dangerous,” “unhinged,” “reckless,” and “pathological” are all words the Democrats have sought to hang on Trump. So how does he win? Easy. Just behave. Act completely normal, reasonable, and calm for the whole debate. Trump can benefit from the low bar set for him. If he doesn’t behave awfully, insulting people, obviously lying, or otherwise acting the fool, he doesn’t necessarily prove he should be President, but he proves his critics wrong. That could be enough to see him declared the winner of the debate and put the Clinton campaign on the defensive for the rest of the campaign. If Mickey was in Trump’s corner, he’d be telling him over and over again: “just behave, Donnie! Stay cool and don’t let her rattle you! If you act like you belong here it’s all yours.” I don’t know if Trump will listen, but I believe that is what his advisers have been telling him leading up to the debate. What about Clinton? What would Mickey tell her? First of all, the whole situation would be culture shock for Mickey — a notorious sexist. When Adrian started showing up at the gym, Mick said “what’s with this domestic stuff? Tend to business!” But if we get Mick past the traditions of his era, he’d probably be happier to have Clinton as his fighter. That’s an easy call, because above all, Mickey hated laziness, showboating, and wasting time. When Rocky started training in a flashy, Trumped-up joint in Rocky III, Mick called it a “house of ill-repute.” Surrounded by dancers and media and a carnival atmosphere, Mick wanted to “go back to the old gym and get some blood and sweat and tears around us.” When you think about Rocky’s disastrous preparation for his first fight against Clubber Lang in Rocky III, it’s hard not to think today that the flamboyant gym, full of ring girls and media, was designed by Donald Trump. But Clinton still has to come out and fight. She needs a plan and cannot count on simply knowing more, or being more qualified. The plan Mick would create for her is the one that exploits her opponent’s greatest weakness. In this case, that is Trump’s pride. Trump may not be a wizard on public policy or facts and figures, but that won’t lose him this debate: George W. Bush became President despite being thoroughly outmatched by Al Gore on policy details. Trump lacks the experience in TV debates that Clinton has, but unlike her, he is a great performer. His rallies, his TV shows, his countless appearances in front of any camera that would have him testify to his ability to hold an audience and appear to be what they want to watch. His one weakness is his pride and his insecurity — he hates to take even a modest punch. Trump simply cannot stand to be attacked — not on any matter, great or small. He tells people all the time, “you hit me, I hit back.” He always has to prove himself against every slight. His allies call it “counterpunching,” but they know it could be his fatal flaw as a fighter. To win, Clinton just has to agitate Trump. Get his back up with a little comment here and a quick joke there. If she can, even for a moment, make Trump feel as though he is being laughed at or insulted, there will no longer be any worry that he stays calm, or “presidential.” When his pride is at issue, Trump goes off script and on the attack — wildly swinging to avenge his wounded self-image. So Mick would tell Clinton what he told Rock in Rocky II, the rematch with Apollo: this guy “wants to bury you, he wants to humiliate you, he wants to prove to the whole world that you was nothing but some kind of a freak.” Despite being the nominal favorite, Clinton must debate like the underdog, attackingand working to get inside Trump’s guard and under his skin so she can wound his precious pride. If Clinton can do that, Trump will quickly hang his chin out and the well-prepared Clinton will put him on the canvas fast. Unlike the calculating Clinton, Trump will debate “in the moment.” If he sees himself as having lost a point, he will go crazy trying to get it back, and any preparation he’s been able to absorb goes out the window. On the other hand, if Clinton takes a hit, she’ll simply absorb it. What’s one more blow to her at this point? The fight of the century and it’s just twelve hours away. Who will listen to their trainer? Who will swallow their pride and fight the fight they need to fight, instead of the fight they want to fight? We’ll know late Monday night.

It’s been the basis of many laughs over the years and people are fascinated with the creation of caricatures. We’ve all been somewhere and stopped to observe the artist creating a masterpiece in the form of caricature. Perhaps, you too, have had the opportunity to have this done over the years. They say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, a caricature must be worth a heck of a lot more. These pictures generally will amplify certain characteristics of the subject and exaggerate them in such a way as to create a comical or distorted and unsightly type of effect. When I think of a caricature, I generally think of an amusement park or walking the boardwalk at some beach, but this past weekend, I attended a wedding and interestingly, this was some of the guest entertainment and certainly proved to be fun.  I did not realize that this has actually become a normal practice at parties as it had been awhile since the last wedding I attended. Meet my caricature family: Now, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, then we must not be very happy people. I must say, this was so much fun, not just for us, but for every guest in attendance no matter their age. In about three minutes, your party favor was complete with its own caricature of the bride and groom dated on the back for you to take home as a keepsake. The use of caricatures has been around since at least the 16 th century and often was used to ridicule public figures and have remained a typical form of poking fun at those in the public domain. My guess is the reason it has remained such a form of popularity is obvious—who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh? Now, setting aside the perhaps distasteful versions that inevitably exist over the years and could be potentially hurtful, most of us just like a good laugh and look forward to having a little fun. I mean, after all, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, then perhaps we should learn to relax just a tad and take some time to stop and smell the roses. May you find laughter and joy within yourself every single day!

Few among us would argue the fact that in the past 20 years or so, youth sports has seemingly exploded in popularity. Many of us grew up with Little League Baseball being pretty much the only organized sport available in our home towns.  By contrast, the youngsters of today have more sports and teams to pick from than I could ever have imagined 40 years ago.  Baseball has been joined by football, hockey, soccer, softball, volleyball, lacrosse, and my personal favorite, basketball.  Kids 6 years old and younger are now competing in all of these areas, and by the time they reach the fifth grade they are being recruited to play with various “travel teams.”  For the most part, I think all of this is good for our young people.  I fear, however, that if things don’t change, we may be in for a serious reduction in the opportunities for our kids to participate in competitive sports. I’ve been a basketball official since 1985.  My first training class was held on the day after my daughter was born.  It’s been in my blood ever since, and it’s hard for me to imagine taking off the stripes and putting my whistle down for the last time.  But at 60 years old and counting, I know that day can’t be too far off.  The problem is this:  as I look around the room during the meetings of our local officials’ association, I see more people who are close to my age than I do young folks.  Don’t get me wrong; there are young people who are moving up the ladder in the ranks of basketball officiating.  It’s just that for every one of them, there are three “veterans” who will be hanging it up within the next five years.  Combine that fact with the explosion in the number of teams and leagues in the Ohio Valley, and you can see the problem.  There simply aren’t enough referees available to cover the games being played. Five years ago, there wasn’t a single game, at any level, that had to be cancelled due to the lack of officials available to work the game.  This past season (2015-16), schools were forced to cancel more than 50.  Fifty times when children were disappointed; when parents missed the chance to see their kids play.  Fifty times when there just wasn’t anyone available to work the game.  And my guess is it will be worse this year. I’ve never understood why we aren’t absolutely buried in college students looking to take the officiating training course so they could earn some extra money during the year.  The course takes 10-12 weeks, one night per week for 2-3 hours per night.  Upon completion of the course, the student is eligible to work all levels of basketball except high school varsity in both West Virginia and Ohio.  Now, for you college kids who may be reading this, here comes the good part.  You can work at your own pace.  One night a week or seven days a week, it’s your choice.  Each time you are scheduled you can expect to work two, and sometimes three games.  You generally start by 5 p.m., and you are done by 7-7:30 p.m.  And you get paid, in cash, on the spot.  That means you can walk away with $50-$75 in your pocket each day you work, and you can work up to seven days a week during the season.  You do the math.  During the season, an official working only grade school and junior high games can make $500 or more a month working only three days each week. We are in desperate need of young people to get involved in basketball officiating here in the Ohio Valley.  It isn’t just about the money; it’s about the love of the game, and the desire to help our youngsters learn the valuable lessons that only competitive sports can teach.  If officiating is something you might be willing to give a shot, please get in touch with me.  You can email me at jearef@aol.com, or call me at 304-639-7272.  Give it a shot.  You just might discover you love it.

In the wake of a few fatal crashes in Florida and China involving Tesla’s Model S sedans, and as Uber goes live in Pittsburgh with self-driving cars, the federal government, in the form of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is poised to issue a barrage of new regulations aimed at the technology companies and automakers involved in autonomous transportation. The unprecedented manner in which these regulations are being promulgated, in advance of the technology being widely deployed, highlights the manner in which autonomous driving technology has rapidly ascended from science fiction to Google "moonshot" project to a crowded marketplace poised to radically transform our society in the coming years. In fact, Lyft cofounder John Zimmer recently issued a long diatribe in which he declared that most of his ride-hailing company's cars would drive themselves in just five years. Traditionally the Department has sets guidelines for automakers who have vehicles on the road and then used recalls to address defective cars. However, in this instance, faced with a growing number of self-driving car tests on roads across the country and rapidly expanding use of (somewhat concerning) driver assist technology, the DOT will require any new tech to meet a 15-point safety assessment. The DOT is also considering expanded powers to allow administrators to limit the deployment of self-driving vehicles and will issue model policies for states aimed at developing a cohesive set of national regulations for self-driving vehicles. Moreover, government officials have made it clear that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will have the power to take any vehicle whose technology poses a safety risk off the road, including those that utilize semi-autonomous driving systems - ones in which the human continues to monitor the road and perform some of the driving tasks. In an editorial posted on the website of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, President Obama commented that "egulation can go too far,” and allowed that some argue government "should stay out of free enterprise entirely, but I think most Americans would agree we still need rules to keep our air and water clean, and our food and medicine safe. That’s the general principle here. What’s more, the quickest way to slam the brakes on innovation is for the public to lose confidence in the safety of new technologies." Ford, Google and others are currently testing some form of self-driving cars in California. Google is also road-testing its autonomous fleet in Texas, Arizona and Washington. Testing of Ford’s technology continues in Michigan, while Uber recently began picking up passengers in Pittsburgh in a first-of-its kind experiment. Hopefully the new regulations being promulgated provide adequate guidance to ensure the safety of people interacting with this new technology while retaining ample flexibility to continue to allow this rapidly developing technology to progress to a point where it can become mainstream.

You have probably already seen Uber’s prototype driverless vehicles around town as they are hard to miss with its rooftop sensors and communications equipment. Uber began accepting passengers last week.  For now, an Uber employee stays behind the steering wheel to intercede if the car’s self-driving system makes a mistake or encounters a complication.  The operators are instructed to loosely grip the steering wheel at all times and must be ready to take over immediately at any time. Pittsburgh was chosen as a test city for a variety of reasons.  Pittsburgh is home to Uber's new Advanced Technologies Center, which is staffed by many former Carnegie Mellon University researchers. Moreover, it is a challenging place to drive with its combination of bridges, tunnels, one-way streets, bicyclists, bad weather, and potholes.  "We like to call Pittsburgh the double-black-diamond of driving," said Raffi Krikorian, leader of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center, using a term for an extremely difficult ski slope. "If we really can master driving in Pittsburgh, then we feel strongly that we have a good chance of mastering it in most other cities around the world." Local transportation activists say they support Uber's effort. "People are bad at driving," said Scott Bricker, executive director of the bicycling advocacy group Bike Pittsburgh. "Recently, a Pittsburgh bicyclist posted video of a self-driving Uber test car giving him space and passing at a slower speed in contrast to a car driven by a person.... If you ask me, taking the human factor out of driving can't happen fast enough." However, not everyone is excited about the new development, particularly those individuals who derive income from driving.  “When the self-driving-car revolution firmly takes hold, there will be carnage, according to Wolf Richter of the Wolf Street blog. Not the car-crash kind — though that is a prevalent fear — but on the employment front.  “The magnitude of this problem is breathtaking,” he wrote. Citing government figures, he says that 4.1 million jobs (the stat of the day in our daily Need to Know before-the-bell column) are at risk, including chauffeurs and drivers of trucks, cabs and ride-share vehicles. Still others, like Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. agrees with Uber that automation tends to foster economic growth.  If Uber’s technology one day brings down the cost of providing a ride from $10 to $5, people will have $5 in their pocket they didn’t have before. That extra money will lead to an overall better working economy, he said. “The idea that automation is going to eliminate jobs in the economy overall is at best exaggerated and almost certainly is not true,” Mr. Mishel said. What about accidents?  Interestingly, a study recently published in the Journal of Science found that autonomous (AVs) should reduce traffic accidents, but noted that they will sometimes need to choose between running over a pedestrian to save its passenger or sacrificing its passenger to save the life of a pedestrian. While the study participants approved of utilitarian AVs, i.e. AVs that sacrifice their passengers for the greater good, the overwhelmingly preferred to ride in AVs that protect passengers at all costs.  The vast majority of study participants also disapproved of enforcing utilitarian regulations for AVs and would be less willing to buy such an AV. A representative from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the administration plans to release updated guidelines on autonomous vehicles and automated safety technology this summer. In April 2016, NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind announced that the "NHTSA is developing operational guidance for the safe deployment of automated vehicles. This guidance will provide manufacturers and other stakeholders with guidelines for how NHTSA expects safe automated vehicles to behave in a variety of conditions.” When a driverless car gets in an accident, causes property damages or injuries, or breaks the law who's responsible? There are various candidates: -The manufacturer of the car; -The owner of the car, who decided to operate it in driverless mode and failed to take over in time; -The make of the software, sensors or other systems that went into the car; and/or, -Those responsible for training the owner of the driverless car. Like it or not, the future is here and being paved in Pittsburgh.