Flint Township Semi Underride Crash: Who Can Be Liable Under Michigan Law

By Koussan Law
Published October 17, 2026, 6:33 a.m. ET

Short answer: A 27-year-old Burton man died on October 16, 2026, after his car struck a semi that was turning onto West Bristol Road from Torrey Road in Flint Township and he became trapped under the trailer, according to police accounts reported by ABC12 and WNEM. Under Michigan law, the truck driver, the motor carrier, the owner of the tractor or trailer, and in narrow cases a trailer manufacturer can be responsible for a death like this, but only if the evidence shows fault, and Michigan compares the fault of everyone involved, including the person who died. Police have not said how the crash happened, who had the right of way, or which company operated the truck. The most time-sensitive issue is evidence: federal rules let a carrier discard some driving and inspection records within three to six months.

What happened

Flint Township police responded at about 6 a.m. on Friday, October 16, 2026, to a crash at West Bristol Road and Torrey Road, according to ABC12 and WNEM. Both stations, citing police, reported that a 27-year-old Burton man driving on Bristol Road struck a semi that was turning onto Bristol from Torrey Road. He became trapped under the semi's trailer and died. The 63-year-old Mount Morris man driving the semi stayed at the scene and cooperated, police said. The intersection stayed closed for several hours, and police said the case will go to the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office for review. A man has lost his life, and the questions below are the ones Michigan law asks after a loss like this.

What we know so far

• The crash happened at about 6 a.m. on October 16, 2026, at West Bristol Road and Torrey Road in Flint Township (ABC12; WNEM).
• WNEM reported the closure was on Bristol Road at Torrey Road, just west of Interstate 75 (WNEM).
• The 27-year-old Burton man was driving on Bristol Road; the semi was turning onto Bristol from Torrey Road, police said (WNEM; ABC12).
• He was trapped under the semi's trailer and died (ABC12; WNEM).
• The semi's driver, a 63-year-old Mount Morris man, remained at the scene and cooperated, police said (ABC12; WNEM).
• Flint Township police are investigating, and the case will be presented to the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office for review (ABC12; WNEM).

What has not been established

• How the crash happened. Police have not released a cause, and the prosecutor's review has not been reported as complete.
• Whether the intersection is controlled by a traffic signal or stop signs, and which driver had the right of way.
• Which trucking company, if any, operated the semi, who owned the tractor and the trailer, and whether the load was interstate, intrastate or brokered.
• Whether the car struck the side or the rear of the trailer, and what type of trailer it was.
• Whether any charge will be filed. No charge has been reported.
• Whether any lawsuit has been filed. None has been reported.

Who can be held responsible when a car collides with a turning semi in Michigan?

Right of way depends on facts not yet public

Michigan's right-of-way rules turn on how the intersection is controlled. If a driver enters from a stop sign, MCL 257.649 (explainer) requires that driver, after stopping, to yield to a vehicle that has entered the intersection or is approaching so closely as to be an immediate hazard. The same section says a driver traveling at an unlawful speed forfeits a right of way he would otherwise have. Neither rule can be applied here until investigators say how the intersection is controlled and how each vehicle was moving, and nothing reported so far answers those questions.

Michigan divides fault rather than awarding it to one side

Michigan uses comparative fault. A person's own fault does not bar recovery (MCL 600.2958); damages are reduced by that person's share, and if the injured or deceased person's fault is greater than everyone else's combined, noneconomic damages are not awarded (MCL 600.2959). In auto cases, MCL 500.3135 (explainer) applies the same more-than-50-percent bar to noneconomic damages. A crash in which a car strikes a turning truck is a classic case where fault may be shared, which is why reconstruction evidence matters so much.

A ticket or a charge does not decide the civil case

If the prosecutor files a traffic charge against either driver, that result would not be admissible in a Michigan civil trial: MCL 257.731 bars evidence of a conviction or civil infraction determination under the Vehicle Code in a civil action. The civil case is proved with its own evidence.

Does it matter that he was trapped under the trailer?

Federal rules require rear guards, not side guards

When a car slides under a trailer, the question of underride protection comes up. Michigan adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations, including the parts and accessories rules in 49 CFR Part 393, through MCL 480.11a. Under 49 CFR 393.86, most trailers and semitrailers with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more built on or after January 26, 1998 must carry a rear impact guard that meets federal standards, with exceptions such as pole trailers, low chassis vehicles and wheels back vehicles. There is no matching federal requirement for side guards: when NHTSA denied a defect petition in March 2025, the agency said a federal motor vehicle safety standard requiring side underride guards on semi-trailers does not exist, and that it was handling the issue through a pending rulemaking (Transport Topics, April 2, 2025). That rulemaking could change, so this point should be checked against current federal rules in any specific case.

Why that matters for a claim

Whether the car went under the side or the rear of this trailer has not been reported. If it was the rear, the guard's presence, condition and compliance become evidence. If it was the side, there is no federal side-guard mandate to point to, and any claim about the trailer itself would be a product liability question about design. Michigan sets a high bar for those claims. In a production-defect case the plaintiff must show the product was not reasonably safe and that a practical and technically feasible alternative was available (MCL 600.2946(2)), and a manufacturer whose product complied with relevant federal or state standards gets a rebuttable presumption that it is not liable (MCL 600.2946(4)). Michigan also caps noneconomic damages in product cases under MCL 600.2946a; for 2026 the limits are $596,400, or $1,065,000 when the defect caused death or permanent loss of a vital bodily function.

What can a family recover under Michigan law after a truck crash death?

The wrongful death claim

A death claim in Michigan is brought by the personal representative of the estate under the wrongful death act, MCL 600.2922. Damages can include medical, funeral and burial expenses, conscious pain and suffering before death, loss of financial support, and loss of the society and companionship of the person who died. In Daher v. Prime Healthcare Services-Garden City (Mich. July 30, 2024), the Michigan Supreme Court held that the lost future earning capacity of the person who died is not recoverable; the family's loss of financial support is the measure. Our guide to Michigan wrongful death claims covers how those claims work.

No-fault benefits come first

Because the man who died was driving a car, Michigan no-fault benefits would generally come from the auto policy in his household, not from the truck's insurer (MCL 500.3114). Those benefits include survivor's loss for dependents (MCL 500.3108, explainer) and funeral and burial expenses within the limits of MCL 500.3107. A death satisfies the no-fault tort threshold, so a claim for noneconomic loss can be made against a negligent party, and economic loss above the no-fault limits can be pursued in tort under MCL 500.3135(3)(c).

Insurance behind a commercial truck

For-hire motor carriers hauling ordinary freight in interstate commerce must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage under 49 CFR 387.9; higher minimums apply to listed hazardous materials. How those federal minimums apply to a carrier operating only within Michigan is less settled. The owner of a vehicle driven with consent is liable for negligent operation under MCL 257.401 (explainer), and an employer remains vicariously liable for an employee driver under MCL 600.2956. Our overview of why truck crash claims differ from car crash claims covers how those layers fit together.

Evidence that matters and how fast it can disappear

Federal rules adopted in Michigan set minimum retention periods, and some are short:

• Hours-of-service records and supporting documents, including electronic logging device output: at least 6 months (49 CFR 395.8(k)).
• Driver vehicle inspection reports: 3 months (49 CFR 396.11).
• Inspection, repair and maintenance records: 1 year, and 6 months after the vehicle leaves the carrier's control (49 CFR 396.3(c)).
• Driver qualification file: for the length of employment plus 3 years (49 CFR 391.51).
• Post-crash drug and alcohol testing: federal rules require testing of a commercial driver after a crash involving a death, with alcohol testing attempts ending at 8 hours and drug testing at 32 hours (49 CFR 382.303). Negative results need be kept only 1 year (49 CFR 382.401). Nothing reported suggests impairment by anyone; the point is that the record exists and has a clock.
• Unregulated data: the truck's engine control module, dashcams, telematics, the car's event data recorder, and nearby business or traffic video may be overwritten, sometimes quickly.

Michigan courts can sanction a party that fails to preserve evidence and can allow a jury to infer that missing evidence was unfavorable, which is why written preservation requests usually go out early.

Who could be legally responsible

These are possibilities only. Each depends on facts that have not been reported:

• The truck driver, if the evidence shows he failed to use ordinary care in making the turn.
• The motor carrier, if the driver was its employee or was operating under its authority, or if its own hiring, training or supervision fell short.
• The owner of the tractor or the trailer, under MCL 257.401, if different from the carrier and the truck was driven with consent.
• A freight broker, if one arranged an interstate load and failed to use reasonable care in choosing the carrier. In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II (U.S. May 14, 2026), the Supreme Court held such negligent-selection claims are not preempted; purely intrastate broker claims remain unresolved.
• A trailer or guard manufacturer, only if a defect in the trailer or its guard is identified and contributed to the death.
• A road authority, only if a road condition contributed, which nothing reported suggests. Claims against public road agencies carry their own short notice deadlines.

Michigan will also weigh the conduct of the man who died, under the comparative fault rules described above.

Michigan deadlines that apply

The Michigan injury deadline calculator shows how these periods run from a specific date.

Questions people are asking

Is a trucking company automatically liable when its semi is in a fatal crash? No. A carrier is responsible for its driver's negligence when the driver was its employee or operating under its authority, and for its own failures in hiring, training or maintenance, but each of those has to be proved. Being involved in a crash is not the same as being at fault.

Who pays the funeral bills after a fatal crash in Michigan? Generally the no-fault insurer for the household of the person who died pays funeral and burial expenses up to the limits in MCL 500.3107, along with survivor's loss benefits for dependents. Costs beyond those limits can be part of a wrongful death claim against a negligent party.

Does it matter that the truck driver stayed at the scene and cooperated? It matters for the criminal review, but it does not decide civil responsibility either way. A civil claim turns on whether each driver used ordinary care, which depends on the reconstruction, the vehicle data and witness accounts.

Are side underride guards required on semi trailers? As of NHTSA's March 2025 response to a defect petition, no federal motor vehicle safety standard required them; rear impact guards are required on most trailers built since 1998.

What if the person who died was partly at fault? Michigan reduces damages by that person's share of fault. If that share is greater than the combined fault of everyone else, noneconomic damages such as loss of companionship are barred, though some economic damages may remain.

If you are dealing with a situation like this

A crash involving a commercial truck raises questions that a car crash usually does not: who the motor carrier was, whose insurance applies, and which federal records must be requested before they can be discarded. A free consultation can clarify which deadlines apply, what no-fault benefits are available, and what evidence should be preserved. Koussan Law handles truck accident and wrongful death claims across Michigan, including in Genesee County; see our Flint truck accident guide. Call (313) 800-0000 or request a free consultation. We have offices in Detroit, Dearborn Heights and Marquette, and we speak English, Spanish and Arabic.

Sources

1. ABC12 (WJRT), "Burton man killed in a Flint Township crash Friday morning," October 16, 2026
2. WNEM, "Driver dies after becoming trapped under semi-trailer," October 16, 2026
3. WNEM, "Bristol Road closed at Torrey Road in Flint for crash investigation," October 16, 2026
4. Transport Topics, "NHTSA Denies Side Underride Guard Petition From Nonprofit," April 2, 2025

Primary law cited

• MCL 257.401, MCL 257.649, MCL 257.731, MCL 480.11a
• MCL 500.3107, MCL 500.3108, MCL 500.3114, MCL 500.3135, MCL 500.3145
• MCL 600.2922, MCL 600.2946, MCL 600.2946a, MCL 600.2956, MCL 600.2958, MCL 600.2959, MCL 600.5805, MCL 600.5852, MCL 691.1404
• 49 CFR 382.303, 49 CFR 382.401, 49 CFR 387.9, 49 CFR 391.51, 49 CFR 393.86, 49 CFR 395.8, 49 CFR 396.3, 49 CFR 396.11
• Daher v. Prime Healthcare Services-Garden City, LLC, Docket No. 165377 (Mich. July 30, 2024)
• Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1238 (U.S. May 14, 2026)