Guardian Appointments for Severely Injured Auto Accident Victims

Sadly, it is sometimes necessary to appoint a guardian for person that has been severely injured in an automobile accident in Michigan.  Oftentimes, a guardian is necessary because the adult victim has suffered a traumatic brain injury that has temporarily or permanently caused the victim to be incapable of making day-to-day decisions for them selves.  Michigan law defines an “incapacitated individual” one “who is impaired by reason of mental illness, mental deficiency, physical illness or disability, chronic use of drugs, chronic intoxication, or other cause, not including minority, to the extent of lacking sufficient understanding or capacity to make or communicate informed decisions.”   Mich. Compiled Laws 700.1105.   Other times, the appointment of a guardian is necessary because the car crash victim is less than 18 years old and needs an adult to stand-in-the-place of the minor in the eyes of the law.  When a negligent motorist causes the death of an auto accident victim, then the Probate Court will appoint a personal representative for the estate of the deceased victim.  Michigan Probate Courts appoint guardians and personal representative under the rules and procedures found in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC); however, it is the Michigan Circuit Courts that conduct trials for establishing damage awards for the injured or deceased accident victims.   

It is important that the attorney you choose is experienced in both the Probate and Circuit Courts litigation.  An experienced lawyer can greatly assist grieving family members in choosing a guardian that will best represent all of the victim’s needs.  Additionally, in the case a wrongful death caused by a negligent driver, an experienced trial attorney can guide the family’s selection for a personal representative that will be the best trial witness to represent the deceased victim’s family in the lawsuit.

Michigan Crosswalk Laws - State Rep. Adam Zemke Attempts to Build Consensus

State of Michigan Representative Adam Zemke is bringing the issue of conflicting local and state crosswalk laws to Lansing for discussion and debate.  Representative Zemke will hold multiple meetings across Michigan in an attempt to bring together pedestrian safety advocates and community leaders.  He also plans to meet with representative from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan State Police.  Hopefully, Representative Zemke can end the confusion and gain state-wide consensus as the best way to keep pedestrians safe in our state's crosswalks.  A clear and consistent law throughout the state would ease the mind of many drivers, pedestrians, and university student's parents throughout the state of Michigan. 

Caution: Pothole Season in MIchigan Causing Serious Damages

The polar vortex brought us record cold and snow-fall accumulations during the winter of 2013-14.  Now the freeze and thaw cycle is ravaging our roads.  New potholes appear with each passing day of March.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is responsible for 10,000 miles of state highways.  Thus far MDOT has spent $72 million on total road maintenance through January 2014.  This compares to only $34 million for 2012 and $39 million in 2013 through January.  Additionally, MDOT has paid its staff 187 % more in overtime road maintenance this winter and had expended 85 % more for road salt this winter. 

The City of Ann Arbor's Administrator, Steve Powers, was quoted in the Ann Arbor News saying "We're really getting kicked in the teeth this year" when referring to the weather's toll on the city's streets.  The City of Ann Arbor has used 251 tons of asphalt cold patch this year in February 2014 to repair potholes. Last year the City only used 100 tons.  City residents have lodged 283 complaints requesting pothole repairs in February. This is more than six times the number of pothole complaints last year.

Retired Ann Arbor City Police officer, Rich Kinsey, suggests the following advice for dealing with potholes, avoiding damage to your car, and keeping the City's asphalt cold-patch crews safe:  (1).  drive more slowly than usual; (2). try to memorize the potholes on your daily drive; (3). be watchful for cold-patch crews walking behind their cold-patch dump trucks.

Caution is the watch-word this spring in Michigan to avoid serious injuries and death resulting from the loss of control of your automobile due to potholes or unexpected road-patch repair crews.  


       

Teaching Young Drivers To Drive Safely on Icy Michigan Roads

Young and inexperienced drivers need to gain experience driving in icy conditions.  Parents and guardians need to demonstrate and teach young drivers that in icy road conditions their front wheels will not grip if turns are too tight and taken at too fast a rate-of-speed.  Young drivers need to be shown in a safe and uncrowded parking lot how the car slides straight if the driver continues pressure on the accelerator and how the tires will grip if they take their foot off the accelerator.  Additionally, parents and guardians need to remind young drivers that bridges, overpasses, and underpasses will become icy quicker and stay icy longer. This is due to bridges having a lack of being insulated by the ground and winds being channeled and blowing more forcefully on underpasses and overpasses.  Finally, a reminder to young drivers that cruise control should not be used in icy conditions because the cruise control is likely to throttle up on hills leading to overpasses or on up-hill curves causing a loss of control.   

In the Ann Arbor and Chelsea area, remind your young drivers to be especially careful of icy conditions that occur frequently at the I-94 overpass at Jackson Road, I-94 at Kalmbach Road (west of Chelsea), M-14 and Barton Road exit /bridge over the Huron River, and the Geddes road outbound ramp on US-23.  Drive safe and drive smart.

Are Ann Arbor Pedestrians Safe from being Struck By Automobiles?

Persistent and heated is the debate about Ann Arbor's Crosswalk Law.  Most recently, after the city council voted 6-4 to repeal the ordinance that was put into place in 2011, Mayor Heiftje used his veto power to null the vote.

In its current state, the Ann Arbor City, requires vehicles to stop at a crosswalk if someone is "in the crosswalk" or "waiting at the curb."  The 6-4 vote would have repealed the second part of this law, reverting it back to requiring vehicles only to stop if someone is in the crosswalk. The city council can override Mayor Heiftje's veto with 8 votes but it is unlikely that this will happen; four city council members strongly agree with Mayor Heiftje.

An article on MLive two weeks ago quotes the Mayor as saying "I don't think this is the time for us to be tweaking this ordinance.  I think the city is safer now for pedestrians than it was before.  I think a great deal of progress has been made." The changes made in the law two years ago increase safety for pedestrians. The wording requires vehicles in Ann Arbor to stop more frequently and requires them to be more aware of pedestrians on sidewalks.  It is an ordinance that shifts the focus to be more inclusive of pedestrians.  

Some argue that the ordinance, the way it is worded now, means that drivers have to guess the intent of a pedestrian standing at the curb; however, there should be no guessing involved.  If someone is at the curb then a driver must yield.  If that same person does not cross the crosswalk or walks away from it then the driver can proceed.  But despite all the disagreement, one thing that everyone can agree on is that Ann Arbor can use more education, enforcement, and engineering around crosswalks to avoid the tragic pedestrian deaths that have occurred frequently in the past three years.

Beware of Dangers posed by Numerous Drunk Drivers on Thanksgiving Weekend

Although Thanksgiving weekend is thought of as a special family time, it is statistically the most dangerous holiday weekend due to the high volume of people on the road and 4-day-length of overindulgence that always begins on a Thursday.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's report on motor vehicle deaths, Thanksgiving weekend is number one and July 4th weekend is number two as the most dangerous holidays for drivers.  The other long weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day come in fourth and fifth most dangerous.  New Years is number six because it often does not not fall on a weekend or near the weekend.

Most people don't realize that for the average person, each drink adds 0.02% to the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) per hour and in that hour only about 0.01% is removed by the body's metabolic processing. This is why blood alcohol concentrations build steadily throughout a long day of holiday celebration causing levels to often rise beyond the legal driving limit (0.08% BAC in Michigan).  Be aware that you cannot speed your body's processing of alcohol with coffee or other urban-myth-remedies. 

Be a safe driver and do all you can to prevent a serious auto accident or death related to drunk driving!

Bike lanes on the rise on Michigan

"Bicyclists have a right to be on the road."  This comes from Josh DeBruyn during a recent interview on Michigan public radio, where the bike and pedestrian coordinator for Michigan Department of Transportation explained the rise in bike lanes.  He says that according to state and national laws, bikes are as much a part of the road as motor vehicles.

Recent additions to the number of bike lanes in numerous cities across the state, including Detroit and Grand Rapids, have drivers of motor vehicles anxious and angry about bicyclists.  It is a two-way road; while bicyclists must follow the same road laws that a car must follow, cars have to allow bicyclists the proper space and attention.  DeBruyn says that the two biggest mistakes cars make are not giving enough space when passing a bike and cutting in front of bicyclists.

The data is premature on whether or not bike lanes decrease accidents.  Nevertheless, there is no doubt that both motorists and bicyclists must follow road laws no matter the circumstance, it will reduce accidents and boost vehicle cooperation.