Truck accident attorney explains why Michigan residents are put at such great risk

Yet another wrongful and completely senseless death has occurred at the hands of an extremely negligent truck driver. This trucker was watching streaming porn on a laptop over a period of several hours and while “distracted,” he crashed his tractor-trailer into the vehicle of a young mother named Julie Stratton – killing  her.

I received a great personal note recently from the vice president of safety and claims management at a large commercial truck company.  He requested I not use his name or name his trucking company, and I will of course respect his request.  “John”  and I just concluded a very substantial truck accident personal injury case together, and even though I’m a plaintiff’s truck accident lawyer who fought him, he had some nice things to say.

Auto accident lawyer reminds you to buckle up in the summer months – when car accidents in Michigan are rising

I always say that car accidents are not really accidents.  A true accident is an “Act of God” and no one is truly responsible.  Almost all car accidents, on the other hand, are preventable, as the vast majority of crashes are caused by peoples’ carelessness.  It doesn’t make these people bad, but it shows that at a critical time, they exercised really bad driving judgment or weren’t being attentive; and an innocent person was hurt by their negligence. That’s what auto insurance is for.

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:

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.

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.

Rule of the Road No. 9 – How Trucking Companies Aid and Abet Bad Drivers in Breaking Laws

One of the most important federal safety regulations that many truck accident attorneys have never heard of is Rule 49 CFR § 390.13, which states that no person shall aid, abet, encourage, or require a motor carrier or its employees to violate the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

Rule of the Road No. 8 – Truck Accidents Under Hazardous Driving Conditions

Weather is almost never a valid excuse for causing a truck accident.  I’ve taught at several trucking seminars and case workshops for lawyers around the country, and I’m always surprised by the number of lawyers bringing truck accident cases that occurred in bad weather; and how worried they are about a “sudden emergency” argument from the defense at trial.

Let’s nip this misconception in the bud right now.

Rule of the Road No. 7 – How to poke holes in a dishonest truck driver’s story during the deposition

Pre-trip inspection requirements are probably the most violated mandatory safety rule by the trucking industry today. Unfortunately, most lawyers who handle truck accident cases have no idea what those inspection requirements are. Most lawyers think a pre-trip inspection is one inspection by the driver before he gets behind the wheel.

Wrong.

As required by 49 CFR § 392.9, a truck driver must inspect his truck and cargo: