“What was the weight of the truck driver who caused the accident?” 
This is a question that lawyers should be exploring after a new safety recommendation issued in April that could have important legal ramifications for truck accident lawyers in Michigan.   The Medical Review Board of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed testing overweight truck drivers for sleep apnea, and to suspend these truck drivers until they receive treatment.  

On March 5, 2008, AAA released a study revealing that car accidents kill 43,000 people every year. It is a staggering number. To put the number of car accident fatalities in perspective, it is the equivalent of two jumbo jets crashing every week, killing everyone aboard.

Car Accidents Cost Also Staggering

The cost of it is also staggering. Car accidents cost over $164 billion dollars a year. That figure is more than double the $67.6 billion in annual costs from congestion, which unfortunately, is the figure that politicians and the media usually focus on instead. Hopefully, this study will realign priorities and more effort will be placed on preventing car accidents and public safety when studying the costs of transportation. (Note: car accident cost was calculated by taking into account the crash costs, property damage, lost earnings, medical costs, emergency services, legal costs and travel delays.)

Truck accident cases must be handled very differently than car accidents, and Michigan lawyers must be familiar with the latest truck driver requirements and regulations to recover full compensation for injured clients.  An important rule change will now directly impact how attorneys litigate truck accident personal injury cases in Michigan.

New Truck Driver Requirement: “must read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public”

When a truck accident occurs in Michigan involving a Canadian truck or Canadian driver, a Michigan lawyer can file a lawsuit naming both the company and the driver.  The lawsuit can be filed in federal court (in Michigan).  But many Michigan lawyers handling truck accident cases are not aware of this recent change in federal law. 

The consequences of driving a car without auto no fault insurance in Michigan are exceptionally harsh.  A recent case, released on January 29, 2008, illustrates just how severe these consequences will be.  

Steven Gursten will be moderating and speaking at the Litigating Truck Collision Cases program this Friday and Saturday, in New Orleans, LA.  The seminar is presented through the American Association for Justice, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. 

The program is an advanced litigation and trial skills seminar intended to help prepare lawyers to better understand how to litigate truck accident injury cases.   This program is only open to attorneys who represent injury victims.

Topics will include:

• Understanding NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Relevant Case law for lawyers handling truck accident cases

What do you do when you are driving in your car and find a deer standing in the roadway before you?

Deer cause many car accidents.  According to AAA of Michigan, deer were directly or indirectly responsible for approximately 60,000 car accidents last year in Michigan alone.   Hundreds of people every year are seriously injured or killed.  There are so many deer in Michigan that in some areas, such as the Upper Peninsula, young drivers are taught by Michigan State Police instructors what to do when they too will one day find a deer in the road. 

Thanksgiving weekend is considered one of the most dangerous across the U.S., and for Michigan drivers. As you and your loved ones travel across Michigan and to other states, please use caution and defensive driving to avoid serious car, truck and motorcycle accidents. 

Our Michigan car accident lawyers wish to remind you of safe driving tips to help avoid car accidents and travel more safely on Michigan roads. Special attention is given to holiday and winter driving, which is always more dangerous in Michigan.

The number of people killed in motor vehicle accidents in Michigan dropped 3.9% in 2006, compared to 2005.  Sadly, 1,129 people were killed in Michigan in 2005.  However, according to NHTSA, the number of people who were killed in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, and truck accidents in Michigan dropped to 1,085 in 2006.  The numbers were compiled under the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, which monitors the number of people who are killed in all motor vehicle accidents in all 50 states. 

The NHTSA recently released its preliminary figures for its 2006 motor vehicle crash safety assessment.   The overall numbers show a small 2% decline in overall car accident deaths, but that bit of good news was overshadowed by a disturbing trend: motorcycle accident deaths once again increased, marking the 9th straight year in a row that motorcycle accident deaths have increased.   

The numbers of people killed on motorcycles is staggering.  Motorcycle accident deaths reached 4,810 people in 2006.  This represents a 5.1% increase in fatalities for motorcycle riders and motorcyclists now represent 11% of total motor vehicle highway accident deaths in 2006.   

Using a cell phone while driving a car or truck in Southfield, Michigan could now cost you a $100 fine.  The Southfield City Council has approved an ordinance that makes using a cell phone while committing a traffic violation such as causing a car accident, speeding or any other driving violation a civil infraction, with a penalty of as much as $100.  The ordinance is to be enacted at the Southfield city council’s Oct. 8 meeting and then go into effect later in the month of October 2007.  This would make Southfield the first city in Michigan to ban cell phone use.  It is about time.