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.

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.

I probably should have expected this, knowing how passionate so many motorcycle riders are about the helmet law in Michigan. After all, I even had old clients – people who had suffered very serious injuries from motorcycle accidents and who I’ve developed close relationships with – tell me they still supported HB 4747; even after their crashes, personal injuries and lawsuits. So the e-mails and comments from so many in favor of repealing Michigan’s helmet laws should have come as no surprise to me as a motorcycle accident lawyer.

Any lawyer who assumes a commercial truck accident case is simply a “car wreck” case with bigger policy limits is bound to commit legal malpractice. In trucking cases, the federal government imposes hundreds of regulations that essentially, create theories of strict liability against the truck driver and the trucking company.

Without knowledge of these regulations, a lawyer cannot possibly recover top value for his clients after a serious truck accident case.

Truck Accident Lawyer Says Drivers Who Text Are 20 Times More Likely to Crash

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every six seconds while texting. FMCSA research shows drivers who text are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers.

Our truck accident lawyers are happy to announce that drivers of commercial trucks and buses will be prohibited from texting under federal guidelines that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood issued Tuesday.

Accident Attorneys Urge Drivers to Take “No-Texting” Pledge

Our car accident attorneys have seen far too many preventable car accidents resulting from distracted drivers texting and talking on cell phones. Research shows that talking on a cell phone while driving can have the same effect on perception and reaction timing as driving with four drinks in your system, while texting can have the same effect as driving with eight drinks in your system.

Michigan Auto Law attorneys warn Ingham Country drivers to beware when driving on high-crash streets

As another bone-chilling winter brings more treacherous driving conditions, our Lansing auto accident lawyers want to make mid-Michigan drivers aware of crash statistics in Ingham County. The Michigan State Police recently published 2008 data for the state’s top 100 high-crash roads - and two stretches of Ingham County made the list. These problem roads are based on the number of car accidents reported to police in Ingham County:

1.    East Grand River Ave. Between North Clippert Street and Saginaw/Grand River cutoff
Not even a quarter-mile in length, this stretch of Grand River was home to 45 auto accidents in 2008, making it No. 13 on the list of Michigan’s top 100 high crash roads.  With the US-127 exit ramps and the Saginaw Street intersection, this area is a busy corridor between Lansing and East Lansing’s Michigan State University campus.

Michigan Car Accident Attorneys Give Safety Tips That Can Save Your Life

As attorneys handling auto accidents for more than 50 years, we have seen countless accidents occur at the hands of negligent drivers.  While all of these cases are tragic, some of the most heartbreaking are car accidents caused by drunk drivers. These crashes are completely preventable, and it’s never an “accident” when someone gets behind the wheel while impaired.

According to MADD, in 2007 12,998 people were killed by drunk drivers who had BAC of .08 or greater. And during the holidays, the percentage of drunk-driving incidents jumps. Drinking and driving should never be an option.  Remember, one careless moment behind the wheel can change lives forever.

Personal Injury Attorney Highlights West Michigan Streets with the Most Auto Accidents

With the start of another winter, our Grand Rapids auto accident attorneys want to make west Michigan drivers aware of recent crash statistics from Kent County. West Michigan is always one of the first places in the state to get heavy snow, especially with the dramatic lake effect.

The Michigan State Police have published 2008 data for the state’s top 100 high-crash roads - and No. 5 on the list was Alpine Ave. between 4 Mile Road and Henze Drive.  We’ve consolidated the list to identify the top 10 roads in west Michigan that were the scene of the most car accidents and truck accidents, based on the number of crashes reported to Kent County police.

A truck driver hits and nearly kills a pedestrian. There is cocaine in his system. And during discovery, it’s found by the plaintiff’s truck accident lawyers that the truck company employing the grossly negligent driver did not have a drug testing program in the first place.

Sound outrageous?

As an attorney who has handled hundreds of very serious truck accident lawsuits throughout my career, and as past-president of the American Association for Justice Truck Litigation Group, I see versions of this scenario time and time again.