Could Dan Gilbert Be The One Who Reforms No-Fault Auto Insurance in Michigan?

Welcome to a Car-a-Palooza edition of your Daily Detroit.

Today, we dive into the news that Dan “Dantroit” Gilbert is lining up a petition drive effort to force the issue of reforming Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance system.

If successful, it could allow Republican lawmakers, who already have passed essentially the same proposal, to approve it with simple majority votes. Will this ratchet up pressure on Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers to cut a deal?

Staying with cars, Ford employees came to work Monday to an email in their inboxes from CEO Jim Hackett outlining plans to wack 7,000 white-collar job cuts by September. And we discuss Michigan Auto Law’s list of the most dangerous intersections for 2018.

We run down some non-cars stories as well:

• The University of Michigan might open a manufacturing R&D center in Detroit … on the #FailJail site? [Crain’s]
• Livonia could get Aloft and Element hotels as part of a proposed six-story development. [Hometown Life]
• Madonna University broke ground on a new welcome center over the weekend.
• Royal Oak is offering free weekend parking in June in its under-utilized parking decks, which are going up as part of the larger Rethink Royal Oak project — hear our previous episode about that here.

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