Rule of the Road No. 4 – Know that Complete Driver Qualification File is a MUST After a Truck Accident

A motor carrier is required to keep seven documents in each of its drivers’ qualification files. But it’s almost inevitable that a negligent truck company will fail to produce a complete file after a serious truck accident in Michigan.

In this event, a truck accident attorney’s trial preparation must highlight the carrier’s failure to comply with 49 CFR § 391.51.  This critical Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Regulation states that a motor carrier is required to maintain a complete driver qualification file for each driver it employs.

Tip from my recent trucking lawyer seminar: Teaching truck accident attorneys what info a trucking company should have gathered on drivers before hiring - but didn’t or just ignored

The unfit truck driver who never should have been placed behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound tractor-trailer is often the key to your truck accident case. Remember that under 49 CFR § 391.23, an interstate commercial motor carrier has the responsibility to conduct investigations into the background of each commercial truck driver it employs.

TBI Lawyer gives brain injury prevention tips, so Michigan drivers can protect themselves from the “silent epidemic”

There are 1.4 million people across the country who sustain a traumatic brain injury every year.

About 50,000 people die from brain injury.

Another 235,000 are hospitalized annually.

And 1.1 million people are treated and released from hospital emergency rooms.

These statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are startling, and show how pervasive this “silent epidemic” can be.  But what the CDC  cannot count is the number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency room, or who receive no care.