Digital Commons Network^™

Coup De Grace For Personal Injury Torts?, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Doing Away with Personal Injury Law: New Compensation Mechanisms for Victims, Consumers and Business by Stephen D. Sugarman

Motor Vehicles--Legislation--The Michigan Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

With the adoption of the Michigan Act, Michigan has become the fifth state to adopt a comprehensive program utilizing both the insurance and the fund approaches. Moreover, the Michigan Act, apparently inspired by its Ontario prototype, contains some elements which were previously unknown in United States legislation. Consequently, it may prove enlightening to examine the scope and purpose of the Michigan Act, and to compare it with similar legislation in other states.

The Economic Treatment Of Automobile Injuries, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

The automobile has changed more than Americans' ways of transportation. It has changed their ways of housing, of working and playing, of eating, living, and loving. It has also added to their ways of suffering and dying.

The suffering and dying have called forth two kinds of treatment. The better recognized kind is medical treatment, which staves off death and minimizes pain and disability among the living. The less recognized kind of treatment is economic-the restoration to the injury victim or to his dependents of some part of the economic wellbeing that has been snatched away from them by loss …

Private Insurance As A Solution To The Driver-Guest Dilemm, Harvey R. Friedman

Michigan Law Review

The duty of the driver of an automobile to his nonpaying passenger, and liability arising from the breach of that duty, has long presented a troublesome area of litigation for the courts and the parties involved. Application of standards unsuited for the peculiar risks of automotive transportation has produced inadequate compensation in some cases and excessive recoveries in others. Meanwhile, trial calendars are overcrowded with personal injury litigation, and insurance companies must bear the awards of sympathetic juries and those resulting from collusion between passenger and driver. The over-all expense of this method of determination of liability, far too little …

Municipal Corporations-Tort Liability Of Municipality For Injury Caused By Neglect To Perform Mandatory Duty, J. S, Ransmeier S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

By statute the State of New Jersey imposed upon every New Jersey municipality the obligation to insure the drivers of municipal motor vehicles against liability for damages resulting from the operation of such vehicles. The Township of Lyndhurst neglected to procure insurance in favor of plaintiff, and a personal judgment was recovered against him for his negligent operation of a township fire truck while in pursuance of his municipal duties. Plaintiff brought the present action to recover from the municipality for its breach of the statutory obligation. Judgment below was for defendant. On appeal, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. …