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Charles Boyk Law Offices, LLC Blog

Car Accident Injuries

8/15/2008
Anneke Kurt
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More than 41,000 suffer wrongful death from car accidents each year in America

More than 41,000 people suffered wrongful death as a result of car accidents in 2007, according to a recent report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The report found that for every 100 million miles traveled on the roads, there were 1.37 wrongful deaths in 2007. Wrongful death caused by motorcycle accidents is also prevalent in the United States, with the number of wrongful deaths increasing to 5,154 from 4,837 in 2006.

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident attorneys see the devastation that wrongful deaths from car accidents can have on a family. We urge motor vehicle and motorcycle drivers to always be careful on the roads, in order to prevent car accidents. Obey all posted traffic signs, mind the speed limit, and always wear a seatbelt.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a car accident, order The Ohio Accident Book by contacting our office. This book will teach you the proper steps to take after a car accident, and inform you of your rights under Ohio law, to protect you and your family.

Labels: car accident attorney car accident injury personal injury lawyer,

7/30/2008
Anneke Kurt
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ATV accident takes life of Findlay man

A Findlay man passed away after an ATV accident on Sunday, according to the Toledo Blade. Wood County Sheriff’s Department reported that the 26-year-old man was riding his Polaris Predator when he lost control of the ATV and struck a tree.

Polaris recalled 18,500 Predator 500s made in 2003 and 2004 because the front brake lines can crack and leak brake fluid, possibly resulting in loss of braking capability, according to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

There were 555 ATV-related deaths reported nationally in 2006, but the estimated number could be higher, according to statistics gathered by the United States government. Over 146,600 people suffered personal injuries from ATV accidents that same year, according to the same report.

Many times ATV accident injuries are caused because the rider is not wearing a helmet, or because they are too small to control the all-terrain vehicle. Kids should not drive ATVs, nor should they ride as a passenger on one. ATVs are not built to be driven on pavement, which is why it is important to stay off of roads, and away from cars.

Other models, such as the Yamaha Rhino, are more apt to rollover due to their narrow wheelbase and high center of gravity. ATV rollover accidents have been responsible for crushed legs, broken arms, and even wrongful death.

Our Toledo, Ohio ATV accident attorneys see the devastating effects that ATV accidents can cause. We encourage all ATV riders to follow the proper safety precautions in order to prevent personal injury. If you or someone you love has been injured in an ATV accident, order our FREE Ohio Accident Book to learn what you can do to protect your rights. Click here to order, or call 800.479.8203 Code 9999.

Labels: ATV accident attorney, personal injury lawyer

7/18/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Is driver responsible for car accident if he loses consciousness behind the wheel?

What happens if you cause a car accident because you lose consciousness? Are you responsible for compensating those who suffer personal injury? Our Toledo, Ohio car accident attorney Dale Emch addresses this issue in his “Legal Briefs” column found in the Toledo Blade.

Dear Dale: An acquaintance of my wife recently was involved in a traffic accident after she blacked out while at the wheel. We wondered whether she could be held responsible for the injuries caused to the other drivers or the damage to their vehicles.
Answer: Your question raises an interesting legal issue. It speaks to whether it’s fair, on the one hand, to hold someone responsible for the consequences of events over which they had no control or, on the other hand, to say innocent accident victims are barred from recovering for their injuries.

In Ohio and most other states, a person who loses consciousness and causes an accident generally cannot be found to have acted negligently and therefore won’t have to compensate the injured person. Under what’s called the sudden-emergency defense, the driver who blacked out can only be found negligent if he or she had reason to anticipate the loss of consciousness.

It’s not enough, though, for someone who lost consciousness to simply declare she passed out so she shouldn’t be held liable. The person asserting the defense has the burden of proof to show the loss of consciousness caused the accident and that the blackout couldn’t have been anticipated.

An example might help to illustrate how this could play out. Let’s say that Betty was driving down Monroe Street one afternoon when she had a heart attack, lost consciousness, then crossed the centerline and crashed into Bob, causing serious personal injuries. If Betty can show she actually lost consciousness before the accident, the sudden-emergency defense will work in her favor and Bob will be out of luck.

If, though, Betty was driving down Monroe Street after a visit to her cardiologist and the doctor told her she had severe heart problems and shouldn’t be driving because she could pass out at any moment, she’d have a tough time using the defense. Her cardiologist’s warning would be reason for her to anticipate the loss of consciousness and she could be found negligent.

The rule is understandable and most courts across the country recognize the sudden-emergency defense. People who pass out from a medical emergency aren’t acting irresponsibly or driving dangerously, so they shouldn’t be held liable.

The problem with the rule is that it can produce an unfair result for the person who was injured. As a personal injury attorney, I naturally sympathize with the people like Bob in the example above. Even if the injuries are severe, no recovery is possible, which could be devastating to a family if the injured person was the breadwinner and is no longer able to work or will live in pain for the rest of his life.

Even accident victims who carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage are out of luck as a result of the sudden-emergency defense. This seems particularly troubling given that people buy this insurance to protect themselves when coverage isn’t available from the at-fault driver. But the only way that coverage kicks in is if the other driver could be deemed negligent, which doesn’t apply in the scenario we’re talking about. It would seem that the Ohio General Assembly could tweak the uninsured and underinsured motorist statute so coverage would be available in such circumstances. Bipartisan legislation to do just that has been introduced.

Labels: car accident attorney, car accident injury, personal injury lawyer

7/9/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Study supports idea that cell phone use while driving contributes to car accidents

A recent study conducted by the University of South Carolina found that people are four times more distracted while talking or preparing to talk than when they are listening.

Put this distraction behind the wheel of a car while a driver is talking on their cell phone, and it could easily cause a car accident. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration reported that 25% of all car accidents were caused by distractions, and that 73% of all drivers admitted to talking on their cell phones while driving. Add these statistics to the fact that cell phone sales are at 254 million, and it is not hard to see that there is a definite correlation between distracted driving and car accidents.

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident attorneys have seen the devastating effects that personal injury from car accidents have on victims and their families. We handle hundreds of car accident cases a year, and urge you to order a FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights after a car accident. Call our office at 800.637.8170 to order or to speak with an attorney, free of charge, about your case.

Labels: car accident attorney personal injury lawyer

5/7/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Childrens helmets a must on bicycles, ATVs, to prevent personal injury

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disablement among children, and as many as 3,000 children suffer die from brain injuries, according to the National Safe Kids Campaign.

One way to prevent these personal injuries is to have your child wear a helmet at all times when participating in any wheeled activity such as riding an ATV or bicycle. Safe Kids USA reports that helmets can reduce the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent, when worn properly.

When fitting a helmet for your child, make sure it fits snuggly and close to the head. The chinstrap should be tight to the chin without causing pain, in order to prevent the helmet from sliding back behind the head. The helmet should stay in place regardless of body movement. Never buy a helmet that is too large, with the thought that a child can grow into it. Buy a snug-fitting helmet and replace it as your child grows. If there are gaps between the child’s head and the helmet, the helmet cannot protect properly. Also make sure that the helmet does not obstruct vision, especially peripheral vision.

Our Toledo, Ohio, personal injury attorneys urge parents to wear their helmets and to teach their children how to protect themselves. Not only should children wear a helmet to prevent personal injury, they should always use sidewalks and never ride in the road. Stay visible to drivers backing out of driveways, and never weave in and out of traffic on an ATV or bicycle. If parents allow their children to ride on an ATV, they should be supervised at all times to avoid personal injury from an ATV accident. Children are more likely to rollover or lose control of large, heavy ATVs, due to their small size and weight.

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4/21/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Tip #3 - How to maximize personal injury recovery

If you suffer personal injury from a car accident, trucking accident, medical malpractice, dog bite, workers’ compensation claim, or other accident, our Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorneys encourage you to learn tips that can help maximize your personal injury recovery. We have compiled 10 of these tips, because our office believes that knowledge is power. Here is tip #3:

3. Don’t underestimate the insurance adjusters who contact you.

Insurance adjusters handle claims for a living. They’re judged by their bosses by how they settle claims and how much money they save for the company. This doesn’t make them bad people; they’re just doing their jobs and looking out for the best interests of their employers. It’s up to you and your lawyer to look out for your interests.

It’s no shock that insurance companies often own the tallest skyscrapers in a city. They have powerful lobbies throughout the country and, along with other business interests, have done their best to get legislation passed that makes it hard for accident victims to be fairly compensated. They’ve gotten rich by collecting as much money as possible from all of us while trying to avoid making fair settlements with people suffering from accidents they didn’t cause.

So, when an adjuster representing the person who caused the accident gives you a call, keep in mind where their loyalties lie. They’ll likely be extremely pleasant, but they have one goal: to settle your claim as cheaply as possible. They do this for a living, all day and every day. Because this is probably the first time you’ve been an accident victim, you are at an obvious disadvantage. Be smart when you’re dealing with them – or better yet, hire a lawyer who deals with insurance companies on a daily basis. After all, the insurance companies have professionals working for them, so you should too.

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4/3/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Be cautious when turning on yellow light to avoid car accidents, personal injury

Turning in an intersection at a yellow light can be dangerous, and has the potential to cause car accidents and personal injury. Our Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorney Dale Emch discusses turning on yellow lights in his “Legal Briefs” column published in the Toledo Blade. Read on to learn the liability surrounding these types of car accidents.

Dear Dale: If a driver turns left on a yellow light, then an oncoming car strikes him at an intersection, who is at fault? Note that in this case, the turn was made before the light changed to red. This is a true experience that happened to someone I know, but the person still got cited for turning on a caution light.

ANSWER: Just who would be at fault in a situation like this is the type of issue we deal with in our personal injury law office regularly. And, if the attorneys involved in these types of cases can't agree who is at fault, it's a question they have to put before jurors to decide.

It's impossible for me to give you a definitive answer on whether the turning driver - let's call him Driver A - was at fault here, but I can tell you I'd rather be handling the case for Driver B. It might be helpful to look at the instructions that jurors would receive from a judge in this situation.

According to the standard jury instruction dealing with left-hand turns, a driver making such a turn is supposed to yield the right of way to an oncoming driver who is within the intersection or so close to the intersection as to create an immediate hazard. Failure to yield the right of way is negligence, according to the jury instruction.

Another instruction the jury likely would be given states that a driver facing a steady yellow signal is warned that the light is about to change to red.

In the situation you've described it seems to me that Driver A should have yielded to Driver B if both of them entered the intersection on a yellow light. If I were representing Driver B, I'd argue that the rule is a driver making a left-hand turn must yield to oncoming traffic. I'd tell the jury that according to the instructions given by the judge, Driver A was negligent.

But often there's a bit of a twist in cases like these. Driver A will be waiting to make a left-hand turn on a yellow light and the light will turn red before Driver B enters the intersection. Once the light turned red, Driver B should have stopped and Driver A would have the right of way to clear the intersection.

Your question seemed to indicate that both drivers entered the intersection on a yellow light. So, it looks like Driver A should have yielded to Driver B rather than assuming B was going to stop on the yellow.

Even if Driver A were found to be negligent, he would still have some cards to play at trial. His attorney likely would raise the issue of comparative negligence, which means that the jury would be asked to determine whether each driver shared some fault. Specifically, the jury would be asked to determine if the other driver's conduct also was negligent and, if so, apportion the negligence between the two drivers.

For example, the jury might find that Driver B didn't act as a reasonably prudent driver in this situation by entering the intersection on a yellow when Driver A was indicating he was about to turn. Let's say the jury thought Driver A was 75 percent responsible for the accident by making the left turn and Driver B was 25 percent responsible by not stopping at the yellow light. In that case, any award to Driver B would be reduced by 25 percent.

But, in comparative negligence situations, if the person bringing the lawsuit is found to be more at fault than the defendant, the plaintiff collects nothing. So, in our example, if the jury found that Driver B was more than 51 percent negligent for not stopping at the yellow light and letting Driver A make his left turn, Driver B would collect nothing on his claim.

If there's a practical lesson here, I guess it's that none of us should assume that it's safe to make a left turn on a yellow light until you see that the oncoming traffic has stopped.

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4/1/2008
Anneke Kurt
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Tip #2 to maximize personal injury recovery

Continuing on with 10 Tips to Maximize Recovery from The Ohio Accident Book, here is tip number two. Our Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorneys encourage anyone who has suffered personal injury, such as from a car accident, to follow these tips in order to receive fair compensation.

2. Don’t rush to settle your claim quickly.

If you’re reading these tips because you were recently involved in a car accident caused by another driver, you may already have received a call from an insurance adjuster trying to settle your claim. Typically, an adjuster will wave a few thousand dollars under your nose to settle the claim quickly. It sounds good until you realize you’re hurt more seriously than you anticipated or your medical bills end up eating into that money.

If you’re tempted to settle your case below its value just because you need money for your medical bills, hold off. If you hire an attorney, the attorney usually will be able to work out an arrangement with your health-care provider for your provider to be paid out of the proceeds of your settlement. The doctor or chiropractor will continue to treat you without requiring payment after receiving what’s called a “letter of protection” from your lawyer. This allows you to continue getting the treatment that you need, while ensuring the doctor is paid at the end of your case.

Settling your case quickly doesn’t allow you to be fully compensated for your medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages. It only benefits the insurance company because it won’t ha

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Firm News

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Charles Boyk Law Offices, LLC Blog

Car Accident Injuries

More than 41,000 suffer wrongful death from car accidents each year in America

ATV accident takes life of Findlay man

Is driver responsible for car accident if he loses consciousness behind the wheel?

Study supports idea that cell phone use while driving contributes to car accidents

Childrens helmets a must on bicycles, ATVs, to prevent personal injury

Tip #3 - How to maximize personal injury recovery

Be cautious when turning on yellow light to avoid car accidents, personal injury

Tip #2 to maximize personal injury recovery