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Why So Many Truck Accidents In Michigan? No Punitive Damages

The Lack Of Punitives Contributes To The High Rate Of Truck Accidents In Michigan

  • Presented by: Steven M. Gursten, Attorney
  • Description: Steve Gursten, truck accident lawyer and partner of Michigan Auto Law, discusses the reason Michigan has so many truck accidents: The state does not allow for punitive damages. Because Michigan does not have punitives, trucking companies that knowingly hire unqualified truck drivers who commit safety violations and cause crashes, will not be punished. And the most dangerous truckers will continue to come to Michigan to find work, as they cannot legally work in states that have punitive damages and stricter trucking laws. Punitive damages are additional monies awarded to a plaintiff by a court, punishing a defendant that acted with recklessness, malice or deceit.
  • Length: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Video Transcript

Why So Many Truck Accidents in Michigan? No Punitive Damages

Each year, there are over 110,000 Michigan citizens who are injured in accidents involving large tractor-trailers or commercial vehicles that weight over 10,000 pounds. Why does Michigan have so many truck accidents? Geography and economy can be causes of truck accidents, but there’s a third reason you’re not going to be aware of. And that’s because Michigan is a state that has no punitive damages. (Punitive damages are additional monies awarded to a plaintiff by a court, punishing a defendant that acted with recklessness, malice or deceit.) And what that means is every year, some of the worst truck drivers in the United States – the ones that can’t get jobs in states with punitive damages because trucking companies won’t hire them – are coming to Michigan. With that, there’s almost a form of trucking immunity, or corporate amnesty for these bad trucking companies because they know, when they come to Michigan, they aren’t going to be punished for hiring an unfit driver. The worst a trucking company will have to do is have your insurance pay for the accident and the injuries that that driver has caused. And that leads these trucking companies to go on and hire more unfit drivers, and put these drivers on the roads.