Car Accident Attorney in Columbus, Ohio
From April 1, 2014, through March 31, 2015, Columbus roads and highways saw 23,051 traffic accidents. A majority of these wrecks involved cars, and 5,598 left at least one person injured. Fifty-five proved fatal. Add crashes that occurred in surrounding Franklin County and those already depressingly high numbers rise even more.
You can generate similar crash statistics for any Ohio city and county by visiting the state Department of Pubic Safety’s website. The numbers will change depending on the search criteria you use, but the only conclusions you can reach are that too many wrecks happen and far too many people end up hurt, hospitalized, and dead.
An even greater, though often missed, lesson to learn is that no crash is merely a statistic. Every collision represents a person who must pay to have his or her car fixed or replaced, get their wounds treated, or ensure their loved one is laid to rest with dignity. The human toll exacted by traffic accidents cannot be adequately measured or reported.
The Columbus, Ohio, personal injury attorneys with Leist Warner recognize this, and fight for accident victims who need insurance settlements, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and other payments from at-fault drivers and companies.
People and Corporations Cause Car Accidents
There are as many specific causes for car accidents as there are cars and drivers, but everyone needs to understand two undeniable truths about wrecks on the road. First, there really are no accidents. Some act of negligence or recklessness sets the stage for each collision. Even if a set of brakes fail or an airbag does not deploy as designed, a manufacturer, mechanic, or vehicle owner failed to correctly do their job to ensure a victim’s safety. A driver may not be to blame for a mechanical problem, but someone or some company should be made to bear responsibility.
Second, because each new wreck bears some resemblance to an earlier one, almost every car crash can be predicted and prevented. We know so well that speed kills, for instance, that the phrase itself has become a tired cliche. Drinking and driving, as well as texting and falling asleep at the wheel, are such well-recognized dangers that international movements and hundreds of pages of laws have been created to minimize them. When people ignore basic safety rules for driving and the risks to life and limb that such irresponsibility represents become realities, those people must be held accountable for compensating victims.
Here are five of the most frequent causes for motor vehicle crashes:
- Distraction, defined as any activity that takes a driver’s eyes and mind off the road
- Fatigue, which can be caused by insomnia, working long hours, or physical illness
- Alcohol and drug use, including prescription painkillers and suffering typical side effects from medications despite not abusing them
- Aggressive driving, including speeding, running red lights, and weaving in and out traffic
- Bad weather
While that last cause would seem to give a driver who hits another car, person, or even building a pass on paying damages, the legal question an experienced Columbus car accident lawyer will ask is whether the at-fault driver should have known that driving in poor conditions was so dangerous that doing so constituted negligence or recklessness.
Do Not Be Scared Off by Contributory Fault Accusations
Drivers who damage property, inflict injuries, and take lives often try, through insurance companies and defense lawyers, to shift blame onto victims. That rarely works in Ohio, however, because state law recognizes a principle called contributory fault. Also known as comparative negligence and contributory negligence, this legal rule recognizes that an accident victim can share some of the blame but still deserve compensation from a person or company that was even more at fault. Working with a personal injury lawyer in Columbus, OH, to determine degrees of contributory fault is usually a good idea.
Let Leist Warner Be Your Columbus Car Accident Lawyers
When seeking the payments you need to get back on the road, return to work, heal, and recover financially from a car accident, you need an attorney who will work only in your best interest. Call Leist Warner at (614) 222-1000 or use this contact form today to request a no-cost consultation with an experienced lawyer who knows how to handle personal injury cases.
