At the Law Offices of Sam Bernstein, we work hard for every one of our Michigan personal injury clients, because we understand that bad injuries can change a car accident victim’s life.

For example, we recently helped a young woman who spent several years training for highly-skilled work that requires rock-steady hands. She called us after an auto accident that changed her future.

The terrible car accident happened on her vacation. She was riding along when another driver blew a stop sign, plowed into our client’s car, and rolled it into the next lane. The emergency medical crew needed the “jaws of life” just to get her out of her crushed vehicle.

It’s a miracle our client survived the car accident – but her life will never be the same. The car accident permanently damaged her shoulder and arm. Despite all kinds of medical tests, treatments, several surgeries, therapy, and rehabilitation, the doctors could not restore full use of the hand she needs for the precision tasks of her chosen profession.

It was so unfair.

This nice lady deserved justice – and we were going to make sure she got it. At first, the reckless automobile driver and his insurance companies tried giving us the run around. They should have known better.

Our highly-experienced car accident attorneys got right to work, collected the relevant evidence, and analyzed all the car accident reports and medical records, to prepare the strongest possible case for our client.

Then came the auto accident settlement negotiations. The defense lawyers tried undervaluing our client’s car accident case. No way were we going to let them get away with that.

Finally, the defense lawyers realized that we would not give up. They agreed to settle for a very substantial amount — enough to cover our client’s medical costs, pain and suffering, as well as the future wages that our client did not have the chance to earn because she lost the effective use of her hands.

Although we could not give our car accident client back her old life, we did get her enough compensation to support herself, get whatever medical and other help she needs, and perhaps train for a new profession.

In other words, our car accident client has the financial security she needs. It feels good to know that we made a difference in our client’s future.

Michigan motorists should pay attention to a recent report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This organization studies auto accidents, including Michigan auto accidents, and put minicars and sub-compacts through front, side and rear crash tests.

The results from this series of tests should give pause to Michigan automobile drivers and passengers.

The New York Times recognized that small cars are “back in vogue because of high gasoline prices but most fail to provide the same safety protection that buyers find in bigger vehicles.”

All eight models of small cars tested received passing scores on head-on crash tests, but only one, the Nissan Versa, received high marks in both side and rear crash tests. It appears, according to the report, that the Versa is several hundred pounds heavier than competing models. Three other vehicles scored well in side tests, but receive low ratings in rear tests – Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and the Mini Cooper from BMW.

The cars involved in the auto accident crash simulations included: Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris (with and without airbags), Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, Chevrolet Aveo, Scion xB, Hyundai Accent, and Kia Rio.

For Michigan auto accident victims, the size of the car that they occupy at the time of the Michigan car accident may be the difference between life and death. Fatality rates for drivers in multiple-vehicle crashes are higher for subcompacts than for every other vehicle category – 83 deaths per million registered vehicles, more than double the average for all sizes of cars and trucks.