Truck accident attorney says in Michigan, it’s likely worse
I had a friend and truck accident attorney from Texas send me an article from the Houston Chronicle about unsafe trucks. It said that Texas inspectors pulled one out of five commercial vehicles — including tractor-trailers and buses — off the road this year because they were unsafe.
The Department of Public Safety in Texas reported that of 331,505 commercial vehicles inspected since Jan. 1, 2011, a total of 66,189 trucks and buses were deemed unsafe. Inspectors also removed 12,301 commercial drivers from the road for safety violations.
Michigan trucker’s driving record shows 40 license suspensions, 5 drug crimes, 2 drunk drivings and 1 operating while impaired
From time to time, I’m going to put some of the really egregious driving records I see online. I’m doing this because I’m tired of seeing how dangerous truckers repeatedly get jobs in Michigan - jobs that they couldn’t get in other states that have punitive damages - and then go on to kill or seriously injure people.
Punitive damages acts as a deterrent. Punitive damages are additional monetary damages awarded to a personal injury victim when the defendant (trucking companies in this case) acted with recklessness, malice or deceit.
Tom wrote in: “I am fat. I have severe obstructive sleep apnea, I also sleep using a CPAP machine. I am also a diabetic and with high blood pressure.”
But Tom also went on to blame poor driving decisions that motorists make around trucks as the real cause of many truck accidents (more on that in a moment).
Truck accident attorney discusses distracted driving among truckers
There’s a new regulation specifically prohibiting interstate truckers and bus drivers from using hand-held cell phones while operating their vehicles. Lawyers who handle truck accident cases should take notice.
The joint rule is from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and it’s the latest action by the U.S. Department of Transportation to end distracted driving.
Here’s the tenth of my series of 13 videos for truck accident lawyers. This one is from a past American Association for Justice seminar for truck attorneys. I’m explaining how a lawyer should properly put the onus on the trucking company when a truck driver causes a serious truck crash.
The takeaway: According to Rule 49 CFR § 390.13, no person shall said, abet, encourage or require a motor carrier or its employees to violate Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations. This means trucking company management cannot pressure truck drivers to speed, drive past hours or break any of the FMCSA rules whatsoever.
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.
