Short answer: If a semi or another large truck hit you in Grand Rapids or anywhere in Kent County, your own auto policy, or a policy in your household, pays your medical bills and lost wages first through Michigan no-fault, whatever the truck's insurance (MCL 500.3114(1)). The claim for pain and suffering and for losses above your PIP limit runs against the truck's side: the driver, the motor carrier that put the truck on the road and, depending on the facts, the truck's owner (MCL 257.401). A for-hire interstate carrier hauling general freight must carry at least $750,000 of liability coverage under 49 CFR 387.9, a federal floor rather than a measure of what a claim is worth. The lawsuit must be filed within three years (MCL 600.5805). Koussan Law handles Grand Rapids truck accident claims on a contingency fee, so you pay nothing unless we win.
Kent County truck crash numbers
From 2019 through 2024, 33 people were killed in 31 Kent County crashes that involved a large truck, and 30 of them were not in the truck: they were in cars, on motorcycles or on foot. In 2025 alone, 1,223 trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds were in reported Kent County crashes, 182 of them in crashes that injured someone.
| People killed | 33 in 31 crashes |
|---|---|
| Killed who were not in the truck | 30 of 33, 91% (statewide 87%) |
| Crashes on an interstate | 3 of 31, 10% (statewide 20%) |
| Crashes involving a truck-tractor (a semi) | 18 of 31 |
| Crashes after dark | 11 of 31 |
| Crashes by year, 2019 to 2024 | 7, 4, 6, 7, 3, 4 |
NHTSA FARS, 2019 to 2024. Statewide comparisons are Michigan as a whole over the same years. A large truck is a medium or heavy truck over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating: a single-unit truck, a truck-tractor (semi) or another medium or heavy truck (FARS body types 60 to 64, 66, 71, 72 and 78).
| Reported crashes | 19,214 |
|---|---|
| Crashes with injuries | 3,676 |
| People injured | 4,942 |
| People killed | 58 |
| Trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds in crashes | 1,223 (182 in injury crashes, 7 in fatal crashes) |
Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, 2025 Kent County profile (Michigan State Police crash data, compiled by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute).
Where Kent County's deadly truck crashes happen
Mostly not on the interstates. Only 3 of the 31 fatal truck crashes from 2019 to 2024 were on an interstate, all of them on I-96, against one in five statewide. The road with the most was a state highway in the north of the county.
| 14 Mile Road (M-57) | 4 |
|---|---|
| I-96 | 3 |
| US-131 | 3 |
| 28th Street | 2 |
| East Beltline Avenue (M-44) | 2 |
| M-37 | 2 |
| M-6 (Paul B. Henry Freeway) | 2 |
| Wilson Avenue | 2 |
NHTSA FARS, by the road recorded for each crash; each count covers the whole road within the county, ramps excluded.
These are roads where trucks turn, merge, stop for signals and cross traffic at intersections and driveways. On a surface road the fight is usually about right of way, speed and visibility; on a freeway it is more often following distance, lane changes and fatigue. The evidence that settles either kind of case sits with the motor carrier, which is why the parties and the records matter from the first week. Our Grand Rapids page covers the US-131 corridor, the Kent County courts and every type of case we handle in the county.
Who pays when a truck hits you in Grand Rapids?
Two separate systems pay after a Michigan truck crash, and they come from different places:
- Your medical bills and lost wages come from personal protection insurance (PIP) under your own auto policy or a policy of a spouse or relative you live with (MCL 500.3114(1)), up to the PIP medical limit on that policy (MCL 500.3107c). If you were walking or riding a bicycle, the same household policy applies, and with no policy at all, the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan (MCL 500.3115, MCL 500.3172).
- Pain and suffering comes from a claim against the people and companies responsible for the truck, once the injury meets Michigan's threshold of death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement (MCL 500.3135(1)).
- Medical bills and wage loss above your PIP limits can be claimed from the same defendants as excess economic loss (MCL 500.3135(3)(c)), which is often where the motor carrier's liability coverage matters most.
Your damages are reduced by any share of fault assigned to you, and pain and suffering is barred only if you were more than half at fault (MCL 500.3135(2)(b)).
Who can be responsible besides the driver
A truck crash usually has more than one defendant, and each may carry its own insurance:
- The motor carrier. The company whose operating authority the truck was running under generally answers for an employee driver acting in the course of the job, and can be liable for its own negligence in hiring, training, supervising or scheduling. The federal safety rules treat a driver who is an independent contractor as an employee for safety purposes while operating a commercial motor vehicle (49 CFR 390.5), and Michigan adopts most of those rules for trucks operating within the state (MCL 480.11a).
- The truck's owner. Michigan makes a vehicle's owner liable for its negligent operation by someone driving with the owner's consent (MCL 257.401). When the tractor or trailer is leased to a carrier, the lease must give the carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment for the lease term (49 CFR 376.12).
- A freight broker that hired a carrier with a poor safety record. The U.S. Supreme Court held in May 2026 that a negligent-selection claim against a broker on an interstate load is not preempted by federal law (Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC). Whether that reaches a purely in-state load is not settled.
- A shipper, loader or maintenance company when an unsecured load, a bad brake job or a worn tire caused the crash.
Each of these is a question of fact that the carrier's own records answer, so finding out who was actually involved is the first piece of work in a Kent County truck case.
The records that decide a truck case, and how long they are kept
A motor carrier must keep its drivers' hours-of-service records for at least six months (49 CFR 395.8(k)) and its drivers' daily inspection reports for three months (49 CFR 396.11). Dashcam loops and engine control module data may be overwritten as the truck keeps running. A written preservation demand sent in the first days puts the carrier on notice, and a Michigan court can let a jury infer that evidence a party failed to keep would have hurt it (Brenner v. Kolk). The driver's traffic ticket, by contrast, is not evidence at all: Michigan bars evidence of traffic convictions and civil infraction findings in a civil action (MCL 257.731). The reconstruction, the logs and the video make the case.
Talk to a lawyer about a Grand Rapids truck crash
Koussan Law represents people hurt in Grand Rapids and Kent County truck crashes, and families who lost someone in one, on a contingency fee, so you pay nothing unless we win. Our main office is in Detroit at 821 W Milwaukee St. Call (313) 800-0000 or request a free consultation. For a rough sense of value first, the case value calculator takes about a minute.
Grand Rapids truck accident questions
Does the trucking company's insurance pay my medical bills?
Not first. Michigan no-fault makes your own auto policy, or a policy of a relative you live with, pay your medical bills and wage loss regardless of fault. The carrier's liability coverage answers for pain and suffering and for medical bills and wage loss above your PIP limits.
How much insurance does a semi truck have to carry?
Under 49 CFR 387.9 the federal minimum for a for-hire interstate carrier hauling general freight is $750,000, with $1,000,000 for oil and listed hazardous materials and $5,000,000 for certain high-hazard loads. Many carriers carry more. The minimum is a floor, not what a claim is worth.
The truck driver got a ticket. Does that prove my case?
No. MCL 257.731 keeps traffic convictions and civil infraction findings out of a civil case. Fault is proved with the crash reconstruction, the truck's electronic logs and engine data, video and witnesses.
How long do I have after a Kent County truck crash?
Give your insurer written notice of a PIP claim within one year and file a lawsuit against the at-fault parties within three years. Act much sooner on the evidence: some federal record-keeping periods are as short as three to six months, and video and engine data can be overwritten.
More for Grand Rapids and Kent County
- Grand Rapids personal injury lawyer: the US-131 corridor, Kent County courts and every case type
- Michigan truck accident lawyer
- Why Michigan truck accident cases are different
- Grand Rapids car accident lawyer
- Michigan traffic crash data by county
Sources
- NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), national data files for 2019 to 2024; the 2024 file is the most recent release and may be revised. County and city figures computed by Koussan Law from the crash, vehicle and person files.
- Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, 2025 county profiles and the 2025 Traffic Crash Summary for County/Communities.
- Michigan Compiled Laws, legislature.mi.gov: MCL 500.3107c, 500.3114, 500.3115, 500.3135, 500.3172, 257.401, 257.731, 480.11a, 600.5805.
- Code of Federal Regulations, title 49: 376.12, 387.9, 390.5, 395.8, 396.11 (eCFR).
- Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1238 (U.S. May 14, 2026); Brenner v. Kolk, 226 Mich App 149 (1997).
Updated October 18, 2026. General information about Michigan law, not legal advice for your situation; the deadlines and coverage rules that apply to you depend on your facts and your policy.
