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The person who inspired L. Brooks Patterson to support No Fault

Meet Erica Nader Coulston, car accident  survivor, quadriplegic and founder of Walk the Line to Spinal Cord Injury Recovery

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has voiced his strong and vocal support for Michigan’s No Fault insurance system. And now we learn a little more as to why.

In this latest interview with attorney Steven Gursten of Michigan Auto Law, Mr. Patterson discusses one of the personal inspirations that caused him to become a staunch supporter of Michigan No Fault auto insurance.  Meet car accident and spinal cord injury survivor Erica Nader Coulston, and learn more about the work she’s doing for auto accident victims who are paralyzed and seriously injured at her medical rehabilitation facility in Southfield, Michigan, called Walk the Line to Spinal Cord Injury Recovery.

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Driverless cars: Who’s liable in an accident?

Auto accident attorney discusses crash liability in the future world of driverless cars

Google driverless car

If you could see me now, behind my computer while typing out this post, I would raise my coffee cup to you and drink a toast to my own obsolescence.  How wonderful it will be, hopefully in my children’s lifetime, when the enormous waste of our time, our productivity and our resources, and most especially the tragic cost of human life can all be avoided.  The future world of driverless automated cars holds this promise.  It is a promise that we should all be very excited about.

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National Youth Traffic Safety Month – 2013

Michigan Auto Law attorney speaks to students as part of National Youth Traffic Safety Month – Let’s do our part to prevent teen car accidents today

I think every parent can relate to the anxiety inducing evenings of waiting for teen drivers to arrive home safely.

Summer is upon us.  And for teenage drivers, the highest numbers of car accidents (including car crashes involving injury and death) occurs in the summer. And car accidents are the leading cause of death for teen drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: In 2010 (the latest statistics available), seven teens ages 16 to 19 died every day from motor vehicle accident injuries.

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Michigan House panel votes to end unlimited medical benefits for auto accident victims

Michigan House Insurance Committee approves HB 4612

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled House Insurance Committee approved HB 4612, which would make sweeping changes to Michigan’s No Fault law and specifically, it’s currently unlimited, lifetime medical benefits for auto accident victims.

The committee approved capping No Fault medical benefits at $1 million and $250,000 for injured motorcyclists.

The committee also passed four amendments to HB 4612. All five amendments passed, making the following changes to the bill:

  • Removed the $50,000 cap on vehicle and home modifications.
  • Removed the 7 year limit on home modifications.
  • Removed the 16 hour limit on home care by agencies.
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Michigan among most dangerous states for truck accidents

Michigan ranks among the top 10 states with the highest number of unsafe truck drivers

The reason we have so many truck accidents in Michigan is a direct result of the numbers of unsafe truck drivers. And it is particularly sobering when one considers that these numbers likely represent only the tip of the iceberg.

Michigan is among the nation’s top 10 states with the highest percentage of trucking companies that have “unsafe driving alerts,” according to Amy Roach Partridge, Love it or Hate it, CSA is Here to Stay, InBound Logistics, September 2011.

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Our second Michigan Auto Law Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship Winner

Last week I wrote about the first recipient of our Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship, Jessie Winter.  Today I’d like to tell the story of our second scholarship winner.

Our attorneys decided to start our  annual Car Accident Injury Survivor Scholarship for students who are demonstrating the resolve and determination to rebuild sometimes shattered  lives after automobile accidents.

Michigan Auto Law awarded $500 to two scholarship applicants who were selected from many applicants. We received scholarship essays submitted by college students throughout the country.

Our second  scholarship winner this year is Sarah Gurd.

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Why Michigan’s new elderly driving law does not protect the public or the elderly

How the elderly driving law really protects the doctors

Michigan elderly driving law

On Monday, I was interviewed on the Mitch Albom show on WJR 760am. The subject was the new Michigan law on elderly and unfit drivers.

You can listen to the interview here.

It’s a topic I’ve spoken and written about before, both at legal seminars on the challenges older drivers face, and with the media. It’s a topic I care very much about.

First, what is this new law?

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One year after Michigan’s motorcycle helmet repeal: Too many preventable deaths

During Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, will the GOP Legislature and Gov. Snyder admit their mistake and reverse course on  Michigan’s helmet repeal?

deaths after michigan motorcycle helmet repealHere we are at the start of another Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. This is a national initiative to encourage drivers and motorcyclists to “share the road” with each other.

But sharing the road safely with motorcyclists doesn’t do much if the motorcyclists are not wearing life-saving helmets to protect them in case of a crash. In Michigan, bikers are actually allowed to put their lives in jeopardy and ride helmetless because of the motorcycle helmet law repeal that was signed by Gov. Snyder last year.

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The truth about Michigan No Fault insurance reform

New insurance information resource center explains the proposals to change Michigan’s No Fault Laws

What do the proposals to change the state’s 40-year-old No-Fault auto insurance system really mean? How would these proposals affect you and your family if they become law?

To help people  better understand the truth behind the insurance industry’s proposals to change Michigan’s No Fault insurance system – and what HB 4612 and other legislative proposals would do if they become law – our No Fault insurance attorneys have created a new information resource center:

Michigan No Fault Reform: Everything You Need to Know

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Does Gov. Snyder hate motorcyclists?

How does No Fault reform affect motorcycle insurance? Snyder’s HB 4612 discriminates against responsible motorcycle owners, caps medical at $250,000

Does Gov. Rick Snyder hate motorcyclists

Imagine you are riding a motorcycle safely and responsibly. Suddenly a car swerves into your lane and hits you. You suffer terrible, life-altering injuries. You will never be able to return to work, and you will now require lifetime medical care.

But your medical care will now be arbitrarily capped at $250,000, if Gov. Rick Snyder has his way with proposed No Fault reform bill HB 4612.

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