What a Trucking Company’s Paperwork Can Reveal After a Memphis Crash Key Takeaways: Federal law requires interstate motor carriers to maintain driver qualification files proving they verified drivers met 49 C.F.R. Part 391 standards, including age, licensing, medical certification, road testing, annual driving record reviews, and prior-employer safety history. Missing records may evidence breach in…
Understanding the Legal Line Between Serving a Drink and Causing a Death in Tupelo Key Takeaways: Under Mississippi Code § 67-3-73(4), "visibly intoxicated" means a purchaser displayed observable signs of impairment, slurred speech, unsteady walking, glassy eyes, or fumbling with money, at the moment of purchase, not that they reached a specific blood-alcohol level. Mississippi…
Tennessee 24-5-113 Medical Bills Presumption: A Powerful Tool For Injured Memphis Drivers Key Takeaways: A Tennessee statute allows injured people to itemize medical, hospital, or doctor bills and treat them as evidence that charges were reasonable and necessary. Bills attached to a complaint that do not exceed $4,000 serve as prima facie proof of both…
How 49 CFR 393.75 Tire Tread Depth Rules Frame a Brookhaven Truck Death Investigation Key Takeaways: A fatal 18-wheeler collision near Brookhaven has renewed focus on how federal equipment standards and Mississippi law shape truck-crash liability. Federal tire tread-depth rules, state weight limits, and commercial licensing requirements often become central lines of inquiry after a…
The Clock That Starts Ticking the Moment a Semi Hits Your Car Key Takeaways: Federal rule 49 CFR § 382.303 requires motor carriers to test truck drivers for alcohol after qualifying crashes within two hours, or document why testing wasn’t completed within eight hours. That window is critical because alcohol metabolizes quickly, and missed tests…
Why Your Full Medical Bills Still Matter After a Memphis Crash Key Takeaways: Tennessee’s collateral source rule prevents at-fault drivers from reducing damages because your health insurer or auto policy paid your medical bills. Rooted in an 1896 Tennessee Supreme Court decision and reaffirmed in Dedmon v. Steelman (2017), the rule allows injured plaintiffs to…
Suing the City After a Memphis Crash: What the Law Lets You Recover Key Takeaways: Tennessee’s Governmental Tort Liability Act caps recovery against a city, county, or transit agency at $300,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $700,000 for all people hurt in one occurrence, and $100,000 for property damage. The Act grants…
Understanding the Punishment Side of a Tupelo Crash Claim Key Takeaways: Mississippi Code § 11-1-65 caps punitive damages on a sliding scale tied to defendant net worth, from $20 million for defendants worth over $1 billion down to 2% of net worth for those worth $50 million or less, calculated under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles….
Mississippi Seat Belt Defense 63-2-3 and Highway Cab Fire Claims Key Takeaways: Mississippi law treats 18-wheelers, including their trailers, as covered motor vehicles, which shapes how burn injury victims pursue compensation after a highway cab fire. The state follows pure comparative negligence, meaning a partially at-fault victim may still recover a reduced share of damages….