Video tip 9 for truck lawyers: There’s no such thing as a bad weather truck “accident”
This is the ninth of my series of 13 videos for attorneys handling truck accident lawsuits, from a past American Association for Justice truck accident lawyer seminar. My latest tip explains how a truck lawyer can prove that hazardous driving conditions and changing weather are never an excuse for a truck accident.
The takeaway: According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Rule 49 CFR § 392.14, a truck driver must use extreme cautions in conditions caused by: snow, sleet, rain, hail, smoke, dust, ice, fog, mist etc.
This article mostly tackles truckers’ health and skyrocketing insurance costs for the motor carriers who employ dangerously overweight truck drivers. But as a truck accident attorney and past-president of the AAJ Truck Accident Lawyer Litigation Group, I noticed that the story did not really focus on the real issue: the lives lost and the people seriously injured in (preventable) truck accidents due to truck driver health issues that cause these wrecks.
Law prohibits retaliation/discrimination against truckers who blow the whistle on trucking companies that are breaking safety laws
As a truck accident lawyer, I am frequently asked for help from good truck drivers. Many of these truckers are pushed or pressured by their companies or the safety directors to break mandatory safety laws.
Sometimes this causes egregious violations of the FMCSRs, such as pushing these drivers to drive way past the hours of service requirements, or pressuring these drivers to skip pre-trip inspections so they can complete deliveries faster.
Here’s the eighth of my series of 13 videos for truck accident lawyers. It’s from a past American Association for Justice truck accident lawyer seminar. This tip explains how a truck accident attorney can prove during the deposition that a trucker performed a negligent pre-trip inspection.
The takeaway: According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Rule 392.9 (one of the most violated truck regulations) a trucker must inspect all of the truck items and cargo, unless it is a sealed load. When a truck accident attorney goes through the truck driver log books, often that truck lawyer will find that the pre-trip inspection is either not being done, or it is being done incorrectly.
Michigan truck accident lawyer discusses Southfield, Michigan crash that killed five, caused by immigrant driving truck the wrong way
There was a recent, very tragic auto accident death that serves as a vivid example of the importance of the FMCSR mandating that truck drivers to be able to read and speak English very well.
A 23-year-old man drove the wrong way on Northwestern Highway in Southfield with a blood-alcohol level more than three times Michigan’s legal limit. He collided with another vehicle, killing himself and four other men in the fiery crash.
This is the seventh tip of my series of 13 videos for truck accident lawyers from an American Association for Justice truck accident attorneys conference. In this video, I was talking about different ways to show when a trucker was dangerously fatigued or ill when a serious truck accident occurred. This could be through deposition, or by inspecting the truck cab.
The takeaway from this tip is that there are certain questions truck accident lawyers can ask the truck driver during a deposition that will prove he was unfit when the truck accident occurred - that the driver was sick or overly tired when driving.
Letter to truck accident lawyer from Michigan Trucking Association suggests commitment to preventing truck accidents and safety is empty talk
I’ve been a truck accident lawyer for nearly 20 years. I’ve won an award as a “Leader in the Law” from Michigan Lawyers Weekly for my efforts to promote truck safety, when I was national president of the American Association for Justice Truck Accident Lawyers Litigation Group. And I have donated hundreds of hours talking about safety and preventing truck accidents with everyone from trucking companies to motor carrier regulators in Washington about the subject.
This is the sixth tip from my series of 13 videos for truck accident lawyers on how to handle truck lawsuits. This video is from a past American Association for Justice truck accident attorney seminar. I’m discussing the importance of GPS black boxes (also called on-board hours of service devices).
Here’s the fifth truck attorney tip from my series of 13 videos on handling truck accident lawsuits. This video is from a past American Association for Justice truck accident attorney seminar, and it emphasizes the truck company’s responsibility to keep a complete truck driver qualification file.
The takeaway: If a trucking company has not included all of the mandatory documents in the truck driver qualification file, then the trucking company has broken the law.
Onto the fourth tip from my series of 13 videos for truck accident attorneys, on handling truck lawsuits. The video below is from a presentation I did during the American Association for Justice Truck Accident Lawyers conference in New Orleans.
