HANDLING A MICHIGAN TRUCK ACCIDENT CASE

A simple Michigan automobile accident case with only minor, temporary injuries and little time off from work is something that most Michigan lawyers are probably competent enough to handle.  But, when it comes to Michigan trucking accidents, the level of sophistication required is far greater. Inexperienced personal injury attorneys should not handle a Michigan semi truck accident. In fact, it could lead to very bad results. Anyone suffering serious personal injury in Michigan from a truck accident needs the accident investigation to be addressed and handled as a trucking accident because they are significantly different from car accidents in many important ways.

The faster the investigation into a serious personal injury or fatality after a truck accident, the greater the likelihood that an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney can catch important safety violations and prevent spoliation of evidence by the truck company, or the truck company safety director, or defense attorneys who are immediately brought on after such serious truck accidents occur. 

Highly trained investigators, who are on staff with some of the larger trucking companies, arrive at the truck accident scene within hours of the crash. During this time, evidence may be altered or even destroyed to favor the truck driver or other related parties.  This is not paranoia.  This is based upon experience and actual cases of very serious truck accident injuries and fatalities handled by the attorneys at Michigan Auto Law.  In fact, in one real-life example of a horrific burn injury case caused by a careless truck driver, the investigators who were sent down by the truck company actually moved our client’s shift from drive to neutral.  Luckily, police photos taken at the scene exposed what the truck company investigators had done.  The lesson is clear: prompt, comprehensive investigation by an experienced Michigan personal injury attorney is important to protect key evidence and protect the rights of people who have suffered serious personal injuries.

Those injured from a Michigan semi truck accident must also make sure Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations are being pled by their attorney in the lawsuit complaint and investigated during discovery of the  lawsuit by the personal injury lawyer handling the case.  

Although rules for truck equipment and truck drivers' hours of service were established to keep a careful eye on trucking companies and prevent deliberate misconduct , many semi tractor trailer truck drivers are still told to drive for longer hours than permitted by law and as a result become too fatigued to drive these large trucks safely, causing serious accidents. Upon examination, log records and receipts can show these violations of safety regulations. However, the law only requires trucking companies to keep these records for six months, after which they may be destroyed, with valuable pieces of evidence lost.   These are federal regulations that apply to Michigan truck companies that had a driver who caused an accident in Michigan, as well as truck companies who caused a personal injury accident driving trucks through Michigan as well. 

Big trucks are big business.   There are important truck safety rules in place, but enforcement remains a major problem, especially without financial consequences for the trucking companies that choose to avoid implementing and overseeing these safety rules, both in Michigan and throughout the United States. Too many trucking companies in Michigan and throughout the United States offer larger incentives for speed rather than safety. Unfortunately, there are far too many trucking companies that push their drivers to work while fatigued, falsify their time in service logs, and violate safety policies.  In fact, there are new defense attorney seminars popping up each year to help negligent trucking companies to avoid being held accountable and to mask or defeat federal regulations when truck drivers kill or maim innocent drivers.  Under federal law there are clearly established standards of care for safety that tractor trailer truckers ignore or that trucking companies choose not to enforce. It is sadly not unusual to see trucking companies and their insurers destroy or “lose” important documents to avoid financial responsibility to the people they injure, maim or kill in Michigan tractor trailer truck accidents.

The key message is this: unlike many other car or motorcycle personal injury accidents, truck injury accident cases are truly different.  Action must be taken immediately to preserve important  evidence when a serious injury or fatality truck accident occurs in Michigan.  Contacting a lawyer one year or longer after a serious personal injury or death occurs will be too late to prevent spoliation of documents that are not an issue in other types of motor vehicle cases.

The message is slowly getting out.  The increasing number of semi trucks on Michigan roads these days is causing increasing concerns about highway safety. NAFTA and other developments in commerce and economics have greatly increased the numbers of large big-rigs and semi trucks on our highways. Trucks pose a great risk to other drivers on the road when they are carrying tons of toxic materials or driving at unsafe speeds. Many truckers work long hours, and too many drive heavy trucks longer than is permitted under the law, causing fatigue behind the wheel and increasing the likelihood of serious accidents with other vehicles.   The determination to keep schedules on time, even when it poses issues of safety, led to overloaded trailer-rigs or drivers ignoring trucks with potentially dangerous mechanical problems.  Please, if you are working with an attorney who is helping you with a serious injury accident involving a truck, make sure they are experienced and familiar with these important safety issues. 

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