Lansing Truck Accident Lawyers

A collision with a commercial truck can turn an ordinary drive through Lansing into weeks, months, or even years of uncertainty. Serious injuries often come with mounting medical bills, time away from work, questions about insurance, and pressure from companies that began investigating the crash on the same day.

Truck accident cases are different from ordinary car accident claims. The evidence may be controlled by a trucking company, a maintenance contractor, or multiple insurers, and some records can disappear if they are not requested quickly. A Lansing truck accident lawyer helps identify what happened, preserve critical evidence, and pursue compensation that reflects the full impact of the crash.

Lansing sits at the intersection of major freight routes including I-96, I-69, US-127, and I-496. These highways bring a constant flow of semis, delivery trucks, and commercial traffic through the capital region every day. For how federal FMCSA standards and Michigan no-fault rules apply across all Michigan truck claims, see our Michigan truck accident lawyers page.

Nicolet Law serves truck accident victims across Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. If you have been in an accident in Lansing, we can work to make sure the evidence is preserved before it disappears.

Lansing Truck Accident Lawyer Statistics

Recent statewide data shows that while overall traffic deaths have declined, commercial truck crashes and deaths have increased.

• 495 heavy trucks and buses were involved in Ingham County crashes in 2024, one of them in a fatal crash and 46 in injury crashes, on the vehicle-type table of the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts Ingham County profile (county level). Michigan counts a vehicle in that category if it exceeds 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, carries eight or more occupants, or displays a hazardous materials placard.
• Michigan commercial motor vehicle crashes rose to 16,689 in 2025 from 15,888 in 2024, and deaths in those crashes rose to 128 from 110, on page 3 of the Michigan State Police 2024 to 2025 year-end comparison (state level). Statewide traffic deaths fell 3 percent over the same period.
• Heavy trucks and buses were involved in 5.5 percent of all Michigan crashes in 2024, killing 110 people and injuring 3,613, per page 18 of the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts 2024 fact sheets (state level).
• Ingham County recorded 33 people killed or seriously injured in heavy truck or bus crashes over the five years from 2020 through 2024, which is 3.68 percent of the county's total, in the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts county ranking (county level). Truck crashes are a smaller share of Ingham County's severe injuries than they are in Wayne or Kent County, and the individual cases are no less serious.
• Ingham County recorded 8,853 crashes and 27 traffic deaths overall in 2025, up from 8,235 crashes and 21 deaths in 2024, comparing the Michigan State Police 2025 County Crash Report with the Ingham County profile (county level).

Behind each of these numbers is a family facing a hospital bill and a corporate insurer that already has lawyers on standby. If a commercial vehicle crash in Lansing has changed your daily life, a Lansing truck accident lawyer from Nicolet Law can investigate what happened, deal with the carrier and its insurers, and fight for compensation that matches what you have been through.

What Hours Can a Truck Driver Legally Work?

Fewer than most people assume, and the limits are federal. Property-carrying drivers operate under 49 CFR 395.3. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration administers those rules and publishes changes to them.

Requirement	The limit
Off duty period before driving	10 consecutive hours minimum
Daily driving window	14 consecutive hours after coming on duty, and the window does not pause for breaks
Maximum driving inside that window	11 hours
Required break	30 consecutive minutes of a break once 8 hours of driving time have passed
Weekly limit, carrier not operating every day	60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days
Weekly limit, carrier operating every day	70 hours on duty in 8 consecutive days

Why the electronic log is only a starting point

Since December 18, 2017, an FMCSA mandate has required most drivers to log their duty status on an electronic logging device rather than on paper. That matters because the electronic record can be compared against fuel receipts, dispatch messages, toll transactions, and facility gate logs. Cases can be won in the gap between what the log says and what those other records show.

Michigan permits some of the heaviest trucks in the country

Michigan adds a factor no other state has. Federal law caps trucks at 80,000 pounds on the Interstate system. MDOT's publication on Michigan's truck weight law explains that on Michigan roads, a properly configured 11-axle combination can lawfully reach 164,000 pounds. That is allowed under a federal grandfather clause preserved from before 1982. Weight drives stopping distance, and stopping distance drives injury severity.

How Long Do Truck Companies Have to Keep the Evidence?

Six months for the core records, and less in practice for everything else.

The six-month floor

49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) requires a carrier to keep records of duty status and supporting documents for "not less than 6 months from the date of receipt." Under 49 CFR 395.11, drivers must turn supporting documents over to the carrier within 13 days. They also have to carry the previous seven days of duty records in the vehicle.

What disappears even faster

Everything else runs on a shorter clock. Telematics and event recorder data can be overwritten within days or weeks of an accident. Commercial video from businesses along Cedar Street or US-127 is usually retained for days rather than months. The tractor and trailer get repaired and returned to service.

One of our first steps in a Lansing truck case is a preservation demand to the carrier, its insurer, and any broker or shipper involved, followed by a request to inspect the vehicle and download electronic data before repairs begin. A case that starts at month seven can be missing records that could have helped establish what happened.

Who Can Be Held Liable Besides the Driver?

Potentially several parties, and identifying them often determines whether enough insurance exists to cover a serious injury. Michigan gives injured people a useful tool: under MCL 257.401, the owner of a vehicle is liable for injury caused by its negligent operation when the vehicle was driven with the owner's consent or knowledge. That is vicarious liability, not liability for the owner's own carelessness.

Responsibility can reach further. A motor carrier can be liable for negligent hiring, training, supervision, or retention. A maintenance contractor can be liable for a brake or inspection failure. A shipper or loading facility can be liable for bad securement or weight distribution. A freight broker can be liable for choosing an unsafe carrier. A parts maker can be liable for a defective component.

Distribution and last-mile work adds another layer. The driver, the vehicle owner, and the company whose freight is on board are often three separate entities with three separate policies.

Fatigue and the records that contradict the log

A truck case examines the driver's hours in a way a car case never does. We cross-check the electronic log against fuel receipts, dispatch messages, gate logs, and toll data. When a driver's log balances perfectly but the surrounding records do not, that can be crucial evidence.

Whether the driver should have been on the road

The carrier's own hiring file answers this. It holds the road test, the medical certification, the prior employer safety history, and the drug and alcohol testing records. We request these files while building truck accident cases. A carrier that hired or kept an unqualified driver can be liable for that decision on its own, separate from the driver's negligence in the crash itself.

What the repair history reveals

Maintenance records tell you how the equipment was treated before the crash. We look at brake adjustment, tire condition, annual inspection reports, repair orders, and driver vehicle inspection reports. Deferred maintenance shows up in the paperwork long before it causes a crash.

In the capital region, one more possibility comes up more than elsewhere. If a state, county, or municipal vehicle was involved, the motor vehicle exception at MCL 691.1405 opens a path to a claim against the agency. Claims against the State of Michigan require a verified notice within six months under MCL 600.6431. If a work zone or road condition contributed, notice to the road agency is due within 120 days under MCL 691.1404, with a two-year filing period under MCL 691.1411.

Do Michigan No-Fault Rules Still Apply to a Truck Crash?

Yes, and a no-fault claim can sit alongside the at-fault claim against the carrier. Your own personal injury protection benefits pay medical expenses and part of your wage loss without regard to fault, capped by the coverage level your policy carries under MCL 500.3107c. Heavy truck injuries routinely exhaust PIP limits, and the excess economic loss can be pursued from the at-fault parties.

For pain and suffering, MCL 500.3135 requires death, permanent serious disfigurement, or a serious impairment of body function. In commercial crashes, the threshold is often less disputed than questions around causation, future care needs, or damages. Working through the layered policies trucking companies carry can take time.

Deadlines apply throughout. A claim for PIP benefits generally must be filed within one year under MCL 500.3145, which also limits recovery to benefits incurred in the twelve months before filing. The claim against the carrier runs three years under MCL 600.5805(2). Exceptions apply and depend on the facts, and government claims have the least forgiving rules. Early involvement is the practical safeguard.

What Is a Serious Truck Injury Claim Built From?

Six categories, each documented separately.

Medical expenses, including trauma care, surgery, and rehabilitation.

Future medical care, supported by treating physician opinions and, in catastrophic cases, a life care plan.

Lost income, including losses beyond the three-year no-fault work loss window.

Diminished earning capacity, where the injury changes the form of employment/work that is possible.

Pain, suffering, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life, subject to the threshold.

Wrongful death damages under MCL 600.2922, including funeral expenses and the family's loss of support, society, and companionship.

Carriers often fight the future-care and earning-capacity categories hardest, because that is where the largest numbers can be. We can build those categories with treating physician opinions, vocational assessment, economic analysis of lifetime earnings, and life care planning where the injuries call for it.

Nicolet Law has recovered more than $500,000,000 for clients and holds more than 2,500 five-star reviews. We have registered medical professionals and former insurance insiders on staff, so we know how to build strong claims. We build every commercial truck accident case as though it may be tried in Ingham County Circuit Court.

How we get paid in trucking accident cases

Commercial cases are expensive to build, and we advance those costs. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover, so you pay nothing up front and owe no attorney's fees if there is no recovery. The percentage and the case costs are put in writing before you sign.

FAQs About Lansing Truck Accident Lawyers

Legal Resources About Michigan Truck Accident Claims

Truck accident claims can be overwhelming, and at Nicolet Law, our attorneys get a lot of questions from families of truck accident victims. Below are some attorney-curated articles that address commonly asked questions and other important topics. We invite you to look through them, but know that their contents in no way serve as a substitute for a one-on-one conversation with an attorney about your case.

• What Is the Truck Accident Claim Process?
• Who Is Liable for a Truck Accident?
• 7 Key Questions About Commercial Truck Accidents
• After a Truck Accident: Facing the Insurance Adjuster
• Truck Accident Injuries: What Compensation Am I Entitled To?
• What Happens if Truck Driver Fatigue Causes an Accident?