Michigan Car Accident Attorneys Blog

MICHIGAN HAS THE BEST NO-FAULT SYSTEM:

The purpose of the Michigan No-Fault System is to put an injured person in the position they would have been in had the accident not occurred. As a general rule, every person injured in an auto accident is entitled to the payment of certain no-fault benefits. This is true regardless of fault and even if you do not own your own automobile. Some of the benefits include; all reasonably necessary medical treatment for life, wage-loss, attendant care and chore services.

The benefits available in Michigan are unprecedented to any other no-fault system in the U.S. While you may be led to believe that our no-fault system results in higher insurance premiums, this is not true. Insurance companies have found ways to remain extremely profitable in Michigan, even in these extremely dark economic times.

No matter what the injury; from bumps and bruises, to traumatic brain injuries and quadriplegia, this no-fault system allows access to nation-wide, state-of-the-art medical treatment facilities for a person's care, rehabilitation and recovery for an entire life-time. Statistically almost everyone will be involved in at least one auto accident within their lifetime. As a result, it is important to know about these important benefits if an auto related personal injury occurs.

If you are injured and do not make a timely claim, you could be forever barred from making a claim for injuries arising out of the accident. If you are involved in an auto accident and sustain personal injury, please do not hesitate: Call us first.........Act second.

-Suzanne M. Kalka, Attorney
-Specializing in aggressively obtaining the best no-fault benefits for the catastrophically injured.

TOP FIVE THINGS TO DO IF YOU ARE INVOLVED IN AN AUTO ACCIDENT:

1. Immediately, make a police report. (even if you have limited information).
2. Seek medical treatment, if you are injured. Follow your doctor's advice.
3. If you own a motor vehicle, call your agent and report that you were injured. If you do not own a motor vehicle, contact our office and we will help get you started.
4. Get expert legal advice from an attorney specializing in Michigan No-Fault law. Do not assume that you are getting all the benefits you may be entitled to receive. Our firm specializes in obtaining no-fault benefits for individuals who sustain personal injuries arising out of auto related accidents.
5. Don't wait. Move quickly, as you only have one year to make a claim and to get your bills paid.

Four Michigan Supreme Court Justices (Young, Markman, Kelly and Zahra) issued a decision changing 30 years of No-Fault Insurance law finding that automobile insurance companies no longer need pay No-Fault benefits to a person who is injured while closing their car door.

In Frasier v Allstate, the claimant, Mona Lisa Frasier had put some personal belongings in the passenger side of her car and was in the process of closing her car door when she fell on some ice and was injured. Mona Lisa made a claim with her car insurance company, Allstate to get her medical bills paid. Why? because the the Michigan No-Fault statute says the car insurer has to pay for your medical care if you are hurt as “a direct result of physical contact with equipment permanently mounted on the vehicle[,]” or if the injury occurs “while occupying, entering into, or alighting from the vehicle.”

Continue reading "WHEN IS A DOOR NOT A DOOR? ASK THE NEW MICHIGAN SUPREME COURT" »

LIFE IMITATES ARE WHICH IMITATES LIFE (Or something like that)

All I want or expect from any court or judge is a fair chance. I want an unbiased judge to look at the facts and the law and call it the way they see it. However, there appears to be a disturbing trend...

In John Grisham's novel "The Appeal" a dastardly corporation works behind the scene (secretly donates large sums of money) to get a state supreme court Justice elected. It turns out that the corporation had a case working its way up to the very same supreme court. To no ones shock the justice then votes in favor of the corporation.

Grisham's novel is loosely based on the the real life case of Caperton v Massey Energy Case where Massey CEO Don Blankenship spent $3 million dollars of his own money to elect judge Brent Benjamin to the West Virginia supreme court who then voted to overturn a $50 million dollar verdict against Massey.

It recently came to light that State Farm allegedly contributed $4 million dollars to get Lloyd Karmeier elected to the Illinois supreme court. Guess who was the key vote to overturn a $1 billion dollar verdict against State Farm? If you guessed Lloyd Karmeier you would be correct. Has State Farm bought its Illinois Justice? You be the Judge. Makes you wonder which other supreme court judges State Farm has worked to elect?

SMDA Partner, Patrick Derkacz, just finished a trial this week for a client who was injured in a 2004 crash. We sued his insurance company for underinsured motorist (UM) coverage. This is coverage which you buy for yourself which should pay if you get in a car crash and the at-fault driver does not have enough coverage.

Our client suffered a serious injury to his ankle called a sub-talar dislocation. He soon developed post-traumatic arthritis. He walks with a limp and has ankle pain every single day. His doctors have offered ankle fusion surgery but cannot promise him that it will relieve his pain.

The Insurance company took the position that the money paid by the at-fault driver's insurer (Allstate-after years of litigation) $100,000 was "adequate compensation." We strongly disagreed.

The case was complicated by the fact that my client is the owner of a small business with strong ties to the auto industry who experienced a significant decline in revenue the year before the crash. The Insurance company argued that his loss of income was solely due to the economic conditions of the industry, rather than his serious ankle injury.

We are glad to report that the jury completely rejected the insurance companies arguments and entered a verdict for more than $900,000.

SMDA client SG suffered devastating and life altering injuries in a head on highway speed collision on May 15, 1987. She was found under the dashboard and life flighted to the hospital. She was insured with State Farm at the time of the collision.

During the ensuing years, SG and her family noticed that she developed progressively worsening tremors. She was eventually diagnosed with Dystonia which is a neurological movement disorder that causes sustained muscle contractions where her muscles will spasm to the point that her body twists involuntarily or engages in repetitive movements or she is paralyzed in abnormal positions for extended periods of time without advance warning.

SG's doctors determined that her condition was due in part to the devastating injuries she suffered in the crash and that she needed help to care for herself when she suffered these tremors. State Farm refused to honor the claim. State Farm again hired a number of highly paid and frequently used doctors who examined SG and not surprisingly testified SG's problems were not related to the crash.

SMDA filed suit and after a 3 week trial the jury determined that SG's Dystonia was related to the car crash and ordered State Farm to pay for her accident related medical care. The jury did not believe the testimony offered by State Farm's highly paid and frequently used doctors.

SMDA client, CT was rear-ended on June 7, 2004. AT the time she was insured with State Farm. CT suffered a herniated disc in her neck and underwent fusion surgery about 6 months later. State Farm paid personal injury protection (PIP) benefits (consisting of medical bills and replacement services) for about two years and then terminated all benefits based on the opinions of several doctors they hired to offer an opinion. Not surprisingly, these highly paid and frequently used reviewers said CT's ongoing problems were not related to the car crash.

SMDA filed suit on CT's behalf in December of 2008 to make State Farm pay for her ongoing medical care and treatment. State Farm waited until the day of trial two years later (December 6, 2010) to offer to settle the case for about 60 percent of the unpaid medical bills. CT and her counsel (SMDA partner Patrick Derkacz) said no thanks to that.

After a 3 day trial the jury returned a verdict in CT's favor and determined that State Farm owed every single penny that CT asked for. The jury also determined that the medical bills were overdue and ordered State Farm to pay penalty interest.

State Farm must spend alot of money on those TV commercials trying to convince everyone that they are "good neighbors." In this firm's experience, State Farm is one of those neighbor's who never cuts their grass, has a broken down old car in the driveway and yells at all the neighborhood kids.

According to USA Today, motorcycle accidents are responsible for the deaths of 12 people every day in the United States. The leading cause of death in these accidents is not surprisingly head injuries. Although nearly every other type of traffic fatality has gone down, motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise for the last 11 years (with the exception of last year which experts attribute to the economy).

Although almost all states have helmet laws, only 20 states require them for all riders (Michigan included). Many states only require helmets for riders under 18. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is urging these states to enact more stringent helmet laws, requiring all riders to wear them.

Many enthusiasts disagree with NTSB and think that awareness and rider education are the solution rather than mandatory helmet laws. Whatever your view, it is clear that unfortunately many fatal motorcycle accidents occur each year and in a disproportionate amount. Although motorcycles only account for 3% of all traffic accidents, they represent 13% of all traffic accident fatalities.

Our client, James Hawthorne was rear ended by a semi-truck owned and operated by a Kentucky based Trucking company. Mr. Hawthorne hired our firm to pursue a claim against the at-fault driver when he was unable to return to work due to a serious neck injury (due to whiplash).

SMDA filed a lawsuit against the trucking company in the Wayne County Circuit Court. Despite being served with the complaint by the local sheriff, the trucking comapny failed to appear in the case and was defaulted. Despite receiving notice of the default, the Trucking company again failed to appear in the case and a default judgment ($942,000) was entered by the Court.

When the trucking company failed to pay the judgment (and later filed bankruptcy) SMDA filed a lawsuit against the trucking companies Insurer based on the language contained in the MCS90 endorsement. Plaintiff was able to obtain a ruling from the court that the Insurer was not entitled to conduct any discovery as Hawthorne's right to recover pursuant to the MCS90 endorsement was due to the Wayne County Default Judgment which could not be collaterally attacked.

The Court then granted SMDA's motion for judgment finding that Plaintiff had established every element required by the MCS90 endorsement and entered a judgment for Plaintiff.

SMDA is available to handle any trucking accident cases or assist in any trucking accident claims that may involve the MCS90 endorsement.

We previously discussed the dangers of distracted driving. Recently, AAA released another study that suggests that falling asleep while at the wheel is also a more common danger than you might think.

In the study AAA found that 2 out of 5 drivers admitted to having fallen asleep or nodded off while driving. A staggering 26.6% of those questioned in the survey admitted to having been “so sleepy that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open” within the last 30 days. Even scarier, 41% explained that they had “fallen asleep or nodded off” while driving at some point.

The study also looked at accidents that occurred as a result of drowsiness or sleeping. It was estimated that 16.5% of fatal crashes involved a driver that was driving while drowsy. This study suggested a higher percentage than studies done before and suggests to me that this is something where more research is necessary.
This study was done to show just how prevalent this problem is. A study correlating sleeping and car accidents had not been done in 15 years. Instead, studies looking at speeding, drinking and driving and not using a seat belt have been more popular. Statistics like this suggest that perhaps we really need to be looking into the implications of sleeping while driving as a more common problem than previously thought.

Remember, in Michigan even if there is a single car accident, the driver (or anyone else injured) is entitled to make a claim for PIP benefits including Wage Loss, Replacement Services, Attendant Care and medical bills.

We know that talking on the phone while driving or texting while driving is distracting. But how distracting is it? According to Car and Driver Magazine, a huge distraction. In a short test they conducted they found that texting and talking on the phone while driving was actually more dangerous when it came to stopping distances than drunk driving. Other studies have come to the same conclusion. This is a staggering fact given that most of the laws in Michigan focus on drunk driving.

The new texting while driving law serves as a slap on the wrist compared to much stricter drunk driving laws. If texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving, shouldn’t there be tougher penalties? It seems that the law is yet to catch up to this new technology.

Michigan should be commended, however, for at least having a texting while driving law. There are still 20 states that do not have laws at all when it comes to texting while driving. The next step will be tougher penalties and better enforcement.

The $100 fine for a first offense in Michigan is small in comparison to what a drunk driving ticket involves once you tack on legal fees. By increasing fines and penalties for texting while driving, Michigan law could try to deter people from this behavior. This would also encourage people to use hands free devices or new technology allowing you to text hands free by voice commands.

Enforcement mechanisms are also easier than you probably think. Devices that detect outgoing radiofrequency signals are cost effective and reliable. Studies also suggest that officers using the naked eye are reliable and effective. If texting while driving and talking on the phone while driving are more dangerous than drunk driving, shouldn’t our laws and enforcement policies reflect it?

Toyota Settles with family killed in car crash.

All of us have seen the news about the problems Toyota was having with their cars last year. According to reports, acceleration would start and the consumer would not be able to stop the car. This led to massive recalls and many lawsuits against Toyota. In particular, many brought product liability cases against Toyota claiming that they made faulty products that caused injury or death.

One of these cases has finally come to a close. According to newspaper reports, Mark Saylor, a California Highway Patrol Officer's 2009 Lexus ES350 accelerated out of control reaching speeds of 120 mph, when it crashed and crashed into a riverbed. Killed in the accident were Saylor; his wife, Cleofe; their 13-year-old daughter, Mahala; and Saylor’s brother-in-law, Christopher Lastrella. All of them lived together in Chula Vista. Saylor was a seasoned officer with years of experience patrolling from behind a wheel.

On Friday, September 17th, Toyota Motor Corp. settled with the family of Mark Saylor, a California Highway Patrol Officer who was killed in an accident that involved unintended acceleration. Mark Saylor’s wife, 13-year-old daughter and his brother-in-law were also killed in the accident. It was this car accident that put the Toyota recalls into the public sphere. The family and Toyota Motor Corp. have not disclosed how much the settlement amount was for.

Continue reading "Fatal Car Crash Suit Settled" »

If you don’t know about uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, you need to.

Uninsured motorist coverage covers you when you are injured as a result of a driver with no insurance, a hit and run driver or a driver of a stolen car. Uninsured motorist coverage is coverage provided by your own insurance company. The cost of this coverage is usually nominal.

Underinsured motorist coverage allows you to recover from your own insurance company, money to pay for damages incurred from an at-fault driver who does not have enough insurance to cover your damages. This is far too common a situation today and not enough people know that this type of coverage is essential.

For example, if someone causes an accident causing you injury and only has the state mandated minimum of $20,000 in coverage, if you are harmed in excess of $20,000 you are probably out of luck. This is despite the fact that you have adequate insurance yourself!

With an underinsured policy (which you also get from your own insurance provider) you first are entitled to the full amount of the other person’s coverage and then on top of that, whatever your underinsured policy amount is. This is an insurance policy that makes sure that you are covered no matter what type of insurance the other person who caused the accident may have.

Continue reading "Auto Insurance-Coverage every driver should have-Uninsured & Underinsured Motorist Coverage" »