Legal Win Results in Settlement of Motorcycle Accident Claim
Litigation attorney Jeffrey S. Cook of the law firm Erlich, Rosen, Bartnick & Cook P.C., successfully argued that an uninsured motorcyclist could still win a case for bodily injuries against an at fault driver despite changes in Michigan’s No Fault Act. The favorable written opinion from the Circuit Court Judge agreeing with Plaintiff’s argument then led to a $95,000 settlement of the case.
The facts that gave rise to this lawsuit were that the 35 year old plaintiff was driving his motorcycle on a summer evening at or below the speed limit when a young driver in a large SUV negligently turned right in front of him and caused a collision. The plaintiff was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered a bad fracture to his dominant left hand as well as injuries to both knees. Fortunately no surgery was necessary but Plaintiff was casted and then in physical rehabilitation for nearly a year. His occupation is that of an artist and free hand design specialist for the automotive industry which was severely affected by his hand injury. During his recovery period plaintiff had been offered at least one high paying design job which he was forced to turn down due to his inability to use his left hand. He therefore suffered excess wage loss in addition to his physical injuries.
Plaintiff had been laid off from the auto industry for several months before his accident and made the bad decision to stop paying his the insurance coverage on his motorcycle six weeks before his accident. He was therefore uninsured at the time of his accident and suffered greatly from this decision. Michigan No Fault law requires that the owner of a vehicle, including motorcycles, must carry insurance. If you do not have the required insurance then you cannot claim wage loss, replacement services or payment of your medical bills even against the at fault driver. Even though he was not at fault, and the defendant driver had plenty of insurance, the Plaintiff found himself without any insurance to cover his medical bills and was responsible for over $50,000 in medical bills out of his own pocket. All because of the decision to not pay the $100 monthly insurance premium.
Had Plaintiff been operating his own car uninsured, rather than his motorcycle, he would also had been precluded from bringing a claim against the negligent driver for his severe bodily injuries as a harsh sanction for failing to have insurance under the Michigan No Fault Act. Defendant insurance company for the at fault driver argued that this harsh sanction should also apply to uninsured owners of motorcycles and filed a Motion for Summary Disposition asking the Circuit Court Judge to dismiss plaintiff’s claim. Attorney Jeffrey S. Cook researched the law and statutes and presented an argument to the Judge that a reasonable interpretation of the statutory language excluded uninsured motorcycle owners from the harsh sanctions found in the statute for uninsured automobile owners. The Circuit Court Judge agreed with Mr. Cook’s argument and in a three page written opinion gave a detailed analysis why Plaintiff’s position was correct and therefore denied the insurance companies motion.
This resulted in the defendant drivers’ insurance company agreeing to pay $95,000 to settle the injury claim. Plaintiff was fortunate he was able to successfully bring this claim but had to pay much of his damages award to his physicians to cover the medical bills he owed as a result of failing to have the proper insurance on his motorcycle at the time of his accident. A tough lesson learned about the importance of maintaining insurance on a vehicle driven on Michigan roads but a far better result than not being able to collect anything for an accident he did not cause.
