Many people from Pennsylvania travel or conduct business in Michigan, and unfortunately sometimes they are involved in car accidents. 
When this happens, Michigan law applies as the car accident happened in Michigan, even if you are from Pennsylvania. For many people who may have spoken with a Michigan lawyer before July 31, 2010, and were told you had no case, the law has now changed and many people now have important legal rights restored. 

Here is a great blog from my good friend, Steve Gursten (probably the top auto and truck lawyer in Michigan), with important information on Michigan’s new car accident law: Michigan Supreme Court case McCormick v. Carrier gives auto accident victims a second chance to bring pain and suffering lawsuits. 

I hope this is helpful to any of my fellow Pennsylvanians who might have been advised in the past that they had no rights under Michigan law. All I can say is do what I’d do: CALL STEVE!

In addition to reading this blog, I hope you’ll follow my Injury Board blog as well.

• 73% adjusted their CD/MP3 or radio
• 61% have eaten food
• 60% have talked on a cell phone

I applaud AAA and Seventeen Magazine for undertaking this research. We have to ask ourselves, why is this dangerous behavior continuing if the teens know it is dangerous? The study offers some insight: 41% think it’s only for an instant; 35% don’t think they’ll get hurt; 34% think they’re used to multitasking; and 32% don’t think anything bad will happen to them.

Well, we know they’re wrong. Statistics from AAA demonstrate that if you take your eyes off the road for 2 seconds, you double the risk of having an accident. BUT THE KIDS DON’T GET IT!

Isn’t it becoming clear that we need to make distracted driving illegal and heavily penalize those who do it? The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 6,000 people die each year as a result of distracted driving.

Pennsylvania has tried to do it through the good work of legislators like my friend, Representative Josh Shapiro, and his colleague from York, Representative Eugene DePasquale. They worked very hard to pass a meaningful bill only to see it founder in the state senate.

Perhaps it is time for the federal government to take action – much like it did in the late 1970s to force states to raise the drinking age to a uniform age of 21. At least Secretary Ray LaHood of the Department of Transportation seems to understand this issue. Hopefully the rubber will hit the road on teen driving safety and distracted driving during the current administration.

In my practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, we see issues related to distracted driving on a daily basis. Unfortunately, when it happens in truck accidents, the consequences can be even more devastating.

This is a story we see almost daily – falls, fractures, disorientation all leading to a loss of function and diminished quality of life…and worse – for nursing home and assisted living facility residents. I’m really happy to report that this story shows the wonderful recovery – complete with return of physical function, decrease in disorientation, and restoration of dignity – that can result from proper rehabilitation care.

The troubling aspect of this story is that the family had to fight so hard to get the necessary rehabilitation covered by Medicare. After all, Mrs. Bogom had paid into Medicare for her whole life. I urge you to read this story so that when your loved ones face this situation, you’ll be well equipped to fight for their right to receive the health care they’ve been paying for throughout their working lives. Here’s a link to read the story: High Cost, Rigorous Rules Can Trap Medicare Patients.

Beginning in 2011, to be called an assisted living facility (formally known as “personal care homes”) a facility will have to satisfy the following minimums: they will have to have a license; they must offer a defined set of services for defined rates, which will make it easier for consumers to compare facilities and understand costs; except in emergencies, they will be required to have a medical assessment and treatment plan completed prior to admission or the signing of a contract, so residents and their families know what services will be needed and provided; they will have to explain any denials of admission in writing; and they will have to meet additional requirements in special units for people with memory deficiencies.

This is a great start toward providing further protection for Pennsylvania’s elders and others requiring assisted living or nursing home care. If you have concerns about the nursing home or assisted living facility care rendered to your loved one, call the lawyers at Shrager, Spivey & Sachs for a free consultation – 800-568-5868.

First, the sad news. The Philadelphia area woke to sad news of a fatal accident that closed the northbound NJ Turnpike early Friday morning. Reports in the press today indicate that a box truck driven by Leonard Doss, and owned by Seafood Connection in Maryland, hit a dump trailer from behind as the truck in front was entering a construction zone. Sadly, Mr. Doss died at the scene and the driver of the truck he hit apparently was not injured. A third truck carrying 8,000 gallons of  kerosene jackknifed as that driver swerved to avoid debris from the impact ahead of him.

Fatal Truck accident on NJ Turnpike

One thing I’ve learned from handling truck cases over the years is that accidents like this have to be investigated carefully to assess all of the factors that led to the collision. Members of the public often assume that the rear-ending vehicle is automatically at fault. Especially when you are dealing with commercial vehicles that have special added duties as professional drivers, you have to carefully examine the actions (or inactions) of the driver in front as well as the rear-ending driver.

On a brighter note, President Obama announced for the first time ever that the government would impose mileage and fuel emission standards on tractor trailers and work vehicles. While this has more to do with fostering innovation in truck design and power units for big rigs, it is still encouraging that this industry will soon become the focus of trying hard to help wean our country on dependence on foreign energy sources.

If you have concerns about the safety of a loved one  in a nursing home in Pennsylvania, please link to our nursing home site: www.philadelphianursinghomelawyer.com .

So when will Pennsylvania follow New Jersey’s lead? Call your state representative and ask why Pennsylvania is delaying new laws on teen driving safety!

My friend Anthony Tarricone, President of the American Association for Justice (of which I am a Governor from Pennsylvania) has authored a great piece that was carried by the Huffington Post: “Tort Reform Hypocrites: Do As I Say, Not As I Sue”. I commend Anthony’s article to any of you who understand the hypocrisy of the lawsuits filed to challenge the health care bill.

So let me come back to a concept you’ll hear a lot about as these cases churn their way through the courts: pre-emption. It’s the constitutional law concept that is defined as follows by Black’s Law Dictionary (the dictionary that every law student swears by as we are taught in law school): “Doctrine adopted by U.S. Supreme Court holding that certain matters are of such a national, as opposed to local, character that federal laws pre-empt or take precedence over state laws.” In other words, states don’t get to say that a federal law (read: the health care bill) is illegal under state law.

Anthony’s article cited several prominent examples of tort reform hypocrisy in his article. In Pennsylvania we had our own version when Rick Santorum was our U. S. Senator. After he had railed against frivolous lawsuits for years, guess who filed one with his wife after she was injured as a result of health care malpractice? That’s right Mr. and Mrs. Santorum. In the interest of full disclosure I must point out that when it became politically expedient for the senator to continue railing against trial lawyers, he discontinued his part of the suit…while Mrs. Santorum’s claims continued.

This story will be an interesting one to follow.

Austin Ewers, the 16 year old driver, admitted in juvenile court that had had done just that. He will remain in custody as a result and his case will be transferred to Montgomery County for final disposition.

I applaud the trial judge, Chester County Senior Judge, Charles B. Smith, for using the hearing as an opportunity to call from the bench for changes in current Pennsylvania law which allows new drivers like Ewers to drive a car with so many youthful passengers:

Citing the loss of six teenagers in crashes during a recent 90-day stretch, the judge said he hoped Pennsylvania lawmakers would pass legislation to restrict the number of passengers a teen can transport, as most states have done.

He said research indicates that the part of the brain responsible for judgment is not fully developed in teenagers, and said an ad taken out by the Allstate Insurance Co. stated that 4,000 teens died in 2008 in accidents that involved multiple teen passengers.

“Please, somebody do something,” Smith said, urging the audience to lobby for stricter teen-driving laws.

I couldn’t agree more strongly with Judge Smith. As a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania car and truck accident lawyer, I have been lobbying, writing and blogging on this issue for years. Here is a link to my safe driving blogs: Auto Accidents .