Michigan City Man Injured in Truck Accident on US 12 in Berrien County, MI
Berrien County, MI -- February 22, 2023, a Michigan City man was injured following an accident where he crashed with a semi-truck on US 12.
Investigators said that the incident happened along US 12 between the Bakertown Road and Redbud Trail intersections. Initial details say a 48-year-old Michigan City man was westbound along US 12 at the time. While doing so, a semi truck "turned east" in front of him. As a result, the vehicles collided.
Due to the collision, the Michigan City man was taken to a hospital in critical condition. No other injuries were reported, and the cause of the crash remains unconfirmed.
One thing media did include is a Bertrand Township fire fighter warning the public about "questionable" weather conditions. Footage from the scene does show slick roads, and maybe that was a significant factor here. That said, it's always important for investigators to treat weather as one contributing factor rather than the cause of the accident. That's rarely ever true.
When it comes to inclement weather, investigations almost always show that it played no role whatsoever or that a driver's inability to adjust their driving for those conditions was the cause of the crash. Unfortunately, the tendency of some authorities to blame the weather gives insurance companies and trucking companies a target to shift the blame to.
That's how I end up in situations like one I handled not long ago where a trucking company blamed rain for their driver sliding across the center line and getting someone killed. Once we pulled ECM records, examined the truck, and reconstructed the crash, it was clear that the truck was going too fast for conditions and also had worn tires. As simple as that sounds, it took a team of experienced attorneys and crash reconstructionists to make sure there was no room to question that truck driver's mistakes.
Maybe this particular incident isn't going to be the same—two crashes rarely are. But there are some familiar red flags I can't help noticing, which is why I wanted to point them out and help folks understand that there are important steps to take after a serious truck wreck if the victims and families are going to get the answers they deserve.
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