Michigan Auto Accident Lawyers Urge Drivers to Join “No Phone Zone Day”

On Tuesday, I announced the welcome news that Michigan has finally banned texting while driving. Today, Governor Granholm will sign the texting-while-driving ban on ‘Oprah.’ Like our auto accident attorneys, Oprah has been very vocal about the dangers of texting while driving. Recently, she had her fans take a pledge to stop texting while behind the wheel.

I’d like to share the following article that appeared in the Detroit News, as it highlights the importance of this new law and urges Michigan residents to put their phones down while driving - starting today.

So-called textualist judges dismiss bus accident cases  based on false logic while ignoring  law that works in bus accident victims’ behalf

I’ve helped a number of personal injury victims injured in serious bus accidents over the years. But recently, the law has swung hard against the rights of Michigan residents injured in bus accidents. The way Michigan judges are now treating bus accident victims is outrageous. In a recent spate of bewilderingly unjust cases, appellate judges have approved the dismissal of bus victims’ lawsuits based on a hyper-technical argument made by bus lines that defies justice, common sense, morality and logic.

Michigan lawyers welcome new law that will surely prevent car accidents and save lives

After extensively blogging about the extreme dangers of texting while driving, I am elated to report that Michigan has adopted a legal ban on texting while driving a motor vehicle. With the new ban, drivers who text message can give legal cause for police to pull them over and issue a ticket.

Michigan joins 18 other states with similar anti-texting while driving laws. And for the car accident lawyers who work at Michigan Auto Law, we have only one word to add: Finally.

Rule of the Road No. 12: EVERYONE in a trucking company must follow truck safety rules

My fellow truck accident attorneys, this is the last blog in my “Rules of the Road” series. I posted this series because it is my sincere wish that by sharing these dozen rules of what I consider to be some of the most important Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for lawyers handling truck accidents, and showing how they’re integral to handling such a case properly, we can work together with many in the industry to stop so many tragic and preventable truck fatalities and serious injury accidents.

Rule of the Road No. 11:  The daily log  book as an oath or affirmation

This week, I’ll be wrapping up my “Rules of the Road” series of blogs for truck accident lawyers from my recent seminar. These 12 rules were shared with lawyers throughout the country during a truck accident litigation seminar I spoke at in New Orleans.

I had a truck driver e-mail me yesterday on the subject. This is what he wrote:

Bus line again exploits loophole to escape responsibility for bus accident

For the third time in almost as many months, SMART bus has used a Michigan law that puts form over substance to avoid responsibility for causing a bus accident that resulted in serious injuries.

By claiming its accident victims didn’t report their personal injuries (even though the bus line already knew about the injuries and crashes from multiple other sources), SMART bus has successfully argued that victims’ lawsuits should be thrown out of court. SMART bus contends these plaintiffs failed to comply with a Michigan law that requires accident victims to personally notify transportation authorities, such as SMART bus, about their injuries after a bus accident.

Insurance company sends full no-fault release seven days after car accident

Wow, I’ve seen a lot of dirty tricks pulled by Michigan auto insurance companies over the past 16 years I’ve been helping people injured in car accidents. But what Dairyland Insurance just did to a group of unsuspecting accident victims may actually top my list for dirty tricks. In fact, I’ve never, ever seen a  Michigan auto insurance company pull a stunt this outrageous before.

Here’s what happened:

Tragic bus accident result shows why Michigan law must change

Talk about putting form over substance. That’s exactly what happened after a SMART bus accident caused serious injuries to a completely innocent woman. SMART bus relied upon putting form over substance to allow it to escape responsibility for serious, debilitating personal injuries it caused one of its most vulnerable wheelchair-bound passengers.

In Eugene Rose v. Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation [SMART bus], et al., SMART bus got Eugene Rose’s lawsuit thrown out of court by insisting it didn’t have proper “notice” of the injuries Mr. Rose suffered in a Detroit accident involving one of its buses - even though SMART bus knew about both the bus accident and the serious nature of Mr. Rose’s injuries.

Bill 5744 would change ‘open and obvious’ defense to better protect Michigan residents

How bad is Michigan’s “open and obvious” premises liability law?  So bad that in one fell swoop in 2002, it wiped out over 65 years of human factors science. Our “open and obvious” law essentially wipes out slip and fall cases. The Michigan Supreme Court declared that no typical person could ever blame the premises owner for falling in a pothole or on a sidewalk, if he or she were able to see the hazard.

Rule of the Road No. 10: Truck accident lawyer says get medically impaired truck drivers off our roads

There are close to 600,000 commercial truck drivers with dangerous medical conditions — and who qualify for full federal disability payments — driving tractor-trailers on the roads today, according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office study. This means 600,000 truckers on our roads with epilepsy, heart disease and various other illnesses and injuries that can greatly impair their ability to operate an 80,000-pound commercial truck. These truck drivers share our highways and put our families in danger of completely preventable and sometimes catastrophic truck accidents.