“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.  

Reprint of Steven M. Gursten’s Letter to Michigan Lawyers Weekly

Rarely does the Michigan Lawyers Weekly completely miss the point of an important case, but I feel compelled to respectfully suggest that your recent story on Benefiel v. Auto Owners Insurance Company¹ did exactly this.  

Benefiel is the most important automobile negligence case to be decided since the Michigan Supreme Court decided Kreiner v. Fischer.²   Benefiel is a published decision, and it may hopefully help lawyers and judges better understand Michigan’s chaotic threshold law.     

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. 

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

Don’t let your insurance company shortchange you on medical mileage reimbursement after a car accident.

Medical mileage reimbursement is an important insurance benefit that is provided under the Michigan No Fault Act.  It is available to anyone injured in an automobile accident in Michigan, provided there is no fault insurance coverage for the car or truck involved in the motor vehicle accident.  Pedestrians hit by motor vehicles are also covered.   With gasoline prices now so expensive, doctor visits and physical therapy appointments frequently can result in thousands of dollars in mileage.   And insurance companies in Michigan are not reimbursing many of these claims at a fair rate. 

How Can All lawyers in Michigan be The Best?
As a lawyer myself, I have always been bothered by how many lawyers advertise.  And the internet seems to make most of these problems worse.  When it comes to selecting a lawyer to help you, there are very few rules to protect the public from false or misleading advertising.  This lack of rules is the reason why so many personal injury lawyers have websites and advertisements calling themselves the “best lawyer in Michigan” or “Michigan’s top personal injury lawyer.”  

Lawyers who litigate serious truck accident injury cases already know how common it is for drugs used by truck drivers to play a role in causing or contributing to many truck accident injury and death cases every year.  Last year, the Department of Transportation reported that roughly 30,000 truck drivers tested positive for drug use.  A recent undercover investigation suggests the problem of truck drivers using drugs and causing serious truck accidents is actually far worse then previously thought.  The investigation shows a widespread failure by drug testing facilities, the sites that test and screen truck drivers.   These facilities consistently failed to use strict guidelines in testing truck drivers, leaving industry experts to wonder just how many more impaired truck drivers there now are on Michigan roads.