March 2014

Several years ago I handled a products liability case against an auto manufacturer that had designed its braking system on one model so that a poorly designed sensor would turn off the antilock braking system without warning. As a result, our client was a brain damaged quadriplegic. It took much expert analysis and discovery of records to figure that out.

This is a great illustration of  why it is so important to preserve the right to thorough discovery to uncover the truth. Without a persistent plaintiffs’ lawyer forcing disclosure, GM would have kept all this secret without regard to the…

When a commercial truck driver is killed or seriously injured due to the negligence of the driver of a smaller vehicle, it is important to find out whether the insurance policy on the commercial truck includes uninsured / underinsured (UM/UIM) coverage. If so, that UM/UIM coverage would be available to compensate the truck driver or his/her family.

Getting that UM/UIM coverage information from the trucking company and its insurer prior to litigation can be tricky. Official Code of Georgia § 33-3-28 does require pre-suit disclosure of insurance coverage information by insureds and insurers. It provides, in part: “Every insurer providing

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We have all seen drivers distracted by their electronic devices behind the wheel. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations now forbid interstate truck drivers from texting or talking on a hand held cell phone while driving. But recently we were hired in a multiple fatality crash on a Georgia interstate highway in which the truck driver admitted to police that he did not see the vehicles he hit because he was distracted by talking on his cell phone.

In January 2014, the National Transportation Safety Board released its 2014 Most Wanted List, the top 10 advocacy and awareness…

Keyless ignitions, introduced in the late 1990’s, were intended to offer drivers convenience. Instead, they have disrupted a well-established set of driver behaviors and expectations, and introduced rollaway and carbon monoxide poisoning hazards that have resulted in injuries and death. Since 2010, there have been eight publically acknowledged deaths and two serious injuries from carbon monoxide poisonings linked to keyless ignition.

Due to this growing problem, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a compliance investigation into 34 recent model-year vehicle that defy the letter and intent of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 114. Vehicle conditions that allow…

Occasionally we see a report of a commercial vehicle crash in which the alleged cause of the wreck perfectly matches the company’s poor safety record. Today, a bus en route from Brooklyn, New York to Doraville in metro Atlanta, operated by Indianapolis-based Princess Tours, Inc., ran off a road in Virginia.  The bus driver, Qilong Xiao, 50, of Flushing, N.Y., was charged with reckless driving.  According to Virginia State Police spokeswoman, speed was believed to be a factor in the crash.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration reports that Princess Tours has an unaccepted 74.8% rating for “unsafe driving” based

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Shigley Law, LLC is pleased to announce that David Nissenberg, one of the country’s foremost experts on trucking law and regulation, has become a consultant and “of counsel” to the firm.

Mr. Nissenberg is author of The Law of Commercial Trucking: Damages to Persons and Property, 3rd Edition, (LexisNexis®), a two-volume text on commercial trucking law supplemented annually.

He is also the author of Discovery/Trial Guide (for truck accident litigation) published by Truck Litigation Resource Center.

A monthly contributor to “Expert Commentaries” on Tort Law for lexis.com, LexisNexis®, his published articles include Trucking in Adverse Weather Conditions; …