Wayne County Personal Injury Law Blog

Michigan car crashes happen all too often. If you become involved in one, there are several things you should – and should not – do immediately afterward. The most important thing you should do is stay where you are until law enforcement officers arrive and give you permission to leave. Leaving too soon could put you at risk for officers charging you with leaving the scene and/or hit-and-run, both of which are crimes.

The first thing you should do is determine if anyone is injured. If so, call 911 on your cellphone, give your location and request the operator to send immediate medical and law enforcement assistance. Do not attempt to move any injured or unconscious person unless a hazard exists such as a fire, a downed power line or rising flood waters. Moving an injured person can worsen their injuries, especially if the injuries are to their neck or back.

When you do not have a lot of money, you might get creative about paying bills. One payment that may fall by the wayside is car insurance. Yes, you need a car to get to work, but keeping a roof over your head and the heat on may be more important.

However, there are certain grave risks to driving uninsured in no-fault states such as Michigan. In fact, these risks are so tremendous that they deserve a role when you consider how to allocate your bill payments.

Michigan's no-fault insurance law is designed to ensure that individuals injured in car accidents timely receive compensation for their medical costs and lost income. Because the law also places limits on claims with the intention that individuals who have been injured can quickly receive benefits, it is important for car accident victims to be familiar with the legal options available to help protect them.

The no-fault system provides that car accident victims receive benefits for their medical expenses for a lifetime and significant wage loss benefits on what is referred to as a no-fault basis. The intention is for severely injured car accident victims to immediately receive benefits for the harm they have suffered. Michigan has the highest level of car accident medical benefits in the country.

Because pedestrian accident victims can suffer such catastrophic injuries, it is important for them to be familiar with the legal rights afforded to them following an unexpected pedestrian accident, as can be seen by one recent incident. There, in a Michigan community a couple hours west of the Wayne County area, a pedestrian accident left the victim critically injured. The 41-year old victim was transported to the hospital following the wreck, which appears to have been caused by an alleged drunk driver. The 38-year old driver was arrested at the scene of the accident on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

A pedestrian accident can change the lives of victims and their families forever. Victims may face a long and costly recovery process during which they are unable to work because of the injuries they have suffered. Together, their lost wages and medical expenses may cause extreme financial difficulty, adding to the emotional turmoil they may already be facing.