Findlay Personal Injury Lawyer - Personal Injury

ATV accidents can cause serious personal injury, wrongful death

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:45:00 GMT

The Yamaha Rhino’s high center of gravity and narrow wheelbase makes it tip easily, which can lead to ATV rollover accidents. The rollbar and seatbelts do nothing to protect the lower legs, which can be ejected during a tip or roll.

Injuries from an ATV accident can include broken arms or legs, including hands and feet. Often during a rollover ATV accident, the driver’s leg becomes pinned under the 1,100-pound ATV, crushing the limb. There have been cases where the injury to the leg leads to amputation.

Children involved in an ATV accident are more likely to suffer wrongful death. Their small bodies cannot control the weight of the ATV, making it easier for them to run into another object, roll the ATV over, or fall off the vehicle.

Severe head wounds are one of many injuries that can happen to kids during ATV accidents. Brain injuries, fractures, and spinal cord injuries can often occur, which could lead to wrongful death.

If you or someone you love has been injured in an ATV accident, order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights. Contact our office today for your free consultation and case evaluation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Yamaha Rhino investigated after ATV accidents

Chuck Boyk — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:40:11 GMT

Our Toledo, Ohio ATV accident lawyers have seen firsthand the types of injuries that ATV accidents can cause, as well as how those personal injuries can affect a family.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the U.S. government is investigating all-terrain-like vehicles, or ATVs, after numerous reports of ATV accidents have surfaced.

In this first segment on ATV accidents, our Toledo, Ohio ATV accident attorneys will address how these accidents happen. Yamaha Rhino accidents, which seem to occur most often, can happen even when a driver is not driving recklessly.

Yamaha Rhinos are tall and have a narrow wheelbase, making it more likely that they will tip over during a turn. Even people who were wearing a helmet and using the factory-installed seatbelt suffered injuries from Yamaha Rhino ATV accidents. The types of injuries that a person can suffer will be discussed in our next blog, “ATV accidents, Yamaha Rhino accidents under scrutiny by U.S. government – Part II.”

Turning quickly, or riding up or down a hill at an angle can cause an ATV to rollover. Until 2008, Yamaha Rhinos were not equipped with doors. If a driver felt the ATV starting to tip, many times they would stick their leg out to prevent a rollover, since there was nothing to keep their legs inside the vehicle. Even seatbelted drivers would have their legs pinned under the 1,100-pound ATV.

If you or someone you know has suffered injuries from an ATV accident, you need information. Order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights. Our attorneys are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can provide you with a free consultation and case evaluation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Final tips to prevent pedestrian car accidents this Halloween

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:45:06 GMT

Our Toledo, Ohio car accident lawyers urge parents to be extra careful when taking their kids trick-or-treating on Halloween, and encourage the children to also be cautious. Prevent pedestrian car accidents by following these tips:

• Carry a flashlight.

The more noticeable you make yourself to cars, the better. Carrying a flashlight will not only help you to see where you are going, it will also help drivers to see you. In the event of an emergency, a flashlight could also aid in signaling for help.

• Wear costumes that fit properly, including appropriate shoes.

Costumes should fit snuggly, with no hanging fabric or objects. Loose material can cause a trick-or-treater to trip and fall. Durable, no-slip shoes should also be worn for the same reason, even if they don't match your costume.

• Plan your route

Following these tips can help keep Halloween fun and injury free, but encourage your kids to also be smart if they are old enough to trick-or-treat without a parent. Here are a few common-sense guidelines: Never enter a stranger's house without a parent, no matter what reason the owner gives you. Wear a watch to keep track of the time, and check in regularly to let parents know you're safe. Never walk alone. Staying in a group will ensure that at least one person can help you if something happens. Remember, if something seems suspicious, trust your judgment. Leave the area and tell a responsible adult about it.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, you need information. Order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights. Contact our office today for a free consultation and case evaluation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Wood County jury awards $1.25 million to trucking accident victim

Chuck Boyk — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:02:00 GMT

A jury in Wood County awarded $1.25 to a truck driver who suffered personal injury and had to have his leg amputated after a trucking accident.

On April 21, 2002, a client our Toledo, Ohio truck accident attorneys, Sean McMahon, an over-the-road trucker, was parked late at night at the Stony Ridge truck stop in Wood County. He left his truck and observed a fight between one truck driver in the parking lot and another truck driver who was within his tractor-trailer. The truck driver behind the wheel lunged his truck forward, and knocked the other trucker to the ground. Our client noticed that downed trucker was in the path of the trailer and managed to push him to safety. Unfortunately, at the same time, the trailer ran over Mr. McMahon’s lower right leg. The trucking accident ultimately caused his leg amputation.

Read “Jury Awards Trucking Accident Victim $1.25 million – Part II” to learn more about the liability surrounding the trucking company who employed the at-fault driver, and the appeal that brought Mr. McMahon the justice he deserved.

If you or someone you know has suffered personal injury from a trucking accident, you need information. Order your FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights. If you suffered personal injury while working as a truck driver, you can also order a FREE copy of The Ohio Work Injury Book. Contact our office today for a free consultation and case evaluation.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorney gives answers to general legal questions

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:24:00 GMT

Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorney Dale Emch answers general legal questions in his Toledo Blade “Legal Briefs” column. Attorney Emch answers questions on all topics, including those on car accidents, dog bites, and wrongful death.

Dear Dale: My sister has been living with a guy for about three years. She has recently been trying to get him to leave because he has become verbally abusive and sometimes destructive, but he refuses. I would think that being abusive, which her neighbors
Answer: My initial take on this situation is that your sister probably can throw the guy out as long as some provision is made for him to retrieve his belongings.

But your question doesn’t address a few key details, so I’ll try to deal with the “what-ifs” in hopes they’ll be helpful to you or other readers. My main concern about booting the guy out and changing the locks would be if he can be construed to be a tenant who is renting from your sister. If he’s the type of guy who would push the matter on a legal front, it could be a hassle for her to get him out.

In Ohio, a tenant is someone entitled by a rental agreement to use and occupy a residence. A rental agreement can be written or oral. A tenant can be evicted in certain situations, but those evictions have to follow rules spelled out under the law.

For instance, a tenant can be evicted for such things as not paying rent or for holding over past the term of the lease agreement. In that event, the landlord must give the tenant proper notice that he’s being asked to leave and that his eviction could be sought. A complaint would then have to be filed in court and a hearing would be held.

Rental agreements also can be terminated without evictions. For instance, a landlord renting to a tenant on a month-to-month basis without a lease can end the agreement by giving the tenant a month’s notice that he has to move.

So, what does that mean for your sister? It really depends on what their agreement was when he moved in. If they formally agreed that he would pay a set amount of money each month to live there, he’d have an argument that he was a tenant. In that case, to be safe legally, she could give him a 30-day written notice that he must leave.

I’m guessing, though, that they didn’t have a formal agreement. If that’s the case, I don’t think he’d be a tenant under Ohio law, and therefore wouldn’t be entitled to the protections available under the law. He’d be no different than a guest, and his refusal to leave would be a trespass. If that’s the situation, my view is that she can kick the guy out today, change the locks, and make his belongings available to him somehow.

The problem is that in these situations there’s always a rub between the legal and the practical. It’s simply bizarre that your sister has told the guy to get out, but he won’t. He may be the type of guy who is going to make things ugly or messy before she can finally get him out the door, regardless of whether the law is on her side. If he has no rental agreement with her, she should ask him to leave again in front of witnesses, and if he doesn’t, she should call the police.

If he is paying rent and he won’t leave after getting written notice, have your sister contact a lawyer who deals with property-law issues so the process can be done in a legally proper way.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Research shows talking on cell phones contributes to car accidents

Chuck Boyk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:12:00 GMT

According to 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 contact our office to order a FREE copy of The Ohio Accident Book to learn your rights after a car accident.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Toledo, Ohio car accident attorney Dale Emch's most recent "Legal Briefs" column

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:46:08 GMT

Check out Toledo, Ohio car accident attorney Dale Emch’s most recent “Legal Briefs” column found in the Toledo Blade. You can also send in your general legal question addressing any legal topic including car accidents, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death to Attorney Emch at 405 Madison Avenue, Suite 1200, Toledo, Ohio 43604 or via email at demch@charlesboyk-law.com .

Dear Dale: The lots in my neighborhood are rather narrow and my property sits about two feet higher than the neighbors’ property. On that side of the house, my sump pump discharges water into my yard, but because my yard is higher the water runs into their driveway. I can’t help it that my property is higher than theirs and I don’t know what else to do with the sump. In the wintertime this could be a problem because it freezes and creates an icy spot. They haven’t complained, but I must think about the future when they sell and someone else moves in who might complain. Also, would I be responsible if frozen water originating from my sump caused someone to slip and fall in their driveway?

Answer: You’ve got a couple of related questions here. The first is whether you’re essentially causing a trespass or nuisance on your neighbors’ property because the way in which the water from your sump pump discharges, and the second being whether you’d be liable for a slip and fall from the resulting ice formation in the winter.

Water drainage issues create tricky questions of law. Generally, the owner of a higher property isn’t responsible if surface water naturally flows to a lower property. The problems come in when the landowner alters the flow of surface water to the detriment of another property owner.

Property owners are not prohibited from making beneficial use of their land. It makes sense that a landowner may want to control surface water and channel it in one direction or another. That said, there can be consequences if the property owner alters the direction of surface water to the detriment of another.

The Ohio Supreme Court has adopted what’s called the “reasonable-use” rule. The gist is that one can interfere with the natural flow of surface water even if it causes some harm to another property owner as long as the use is reasonable. The potential liability occurs only when the land use is unreasonable.

Determining what’s reasonable and unreasonable becomes the key. Some of the issues used to make that determination are the extent of the harm, the utility of the alteration, the financial consequences of the harm, the burden of the harm, and whether the water was intentionally or unintentionally diverted to another’s property. Those are pretty fact-specific questions so it’s impossible to come up with a formula that would allow an outcome to be predicted.

The problem with your situation is that I’m not sure whether water discharged from your sump pump constitutes surface water. While the water collected by your sump pump probably comes from rain or melting snow, I’m not sure that it can still be termed surface water. It seems to me that you’re directing water toward your neighbors’ property by pumping it to a spot that causes it to flow to their driveway. In a similar case, a court found a property owner liable for damages when his sump pump and drain system caused water to collect on a neighbor’s property. Again, it’s a fact-specific situation that would have to be viewed through the prism of the rules I wrote about above. My gut feeling is that your neighbors would have a case against you if they could show harm. A puddle of water in the driveway in the summer isn’t the same thing as a dangerous sheet of ice in the winter.

And that brings us to the issue of whether you’d be liable if someone slipped on a patch of ice created by the water draining from the pump. As a personal injury attorney, I can tell you I’d try to make that case against you if one of my clients fell on the ice. Generally, people who slip and fall on a natural accumulation of snow and ice can’t prove negligence. Here, I’d argue that the ice hazard was man made and that you were the cause of it. The fact that you’re aware of the risk you’re creating would strengthen the case against you.

So, I guess you could take a few approaches. You could try to find a way to direct the hose from the pump in a way that the water wouldn’t flow to your neighbors’ property, or at least wouldn’t flow to their driveway. That way you’d protect yourself from a nuisance suit and prevent a potential injury.

Or, you could hope it never becomes an issue. If it does, a court may find that you’ve made reasonable use of your property and you haven’t created a nuisance just because the water is flowing downward on to your neighbor’s property. And, the possibility of an injury claim is probably pretty remote and I’m guessing you have homeowner’s insurance if you do get sued.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk

Person injury suffered in Toledo, Ohio after E. coli outbreak

Chuck Boyk — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:46:00 GMT

More than 73,000 people suffer personal injury from E. coli infections each year, while 61 of those infected suffer wrongful death, according to newsinferno.com. The E. coli virus is especially dangerous to children and the elderly, since their immune systems are not a strong. Some strains, including the one found recently found in Kroger beef, can lead to blood poisoning, cystitis, or swelling of the bladder, or septicemia, a potentially fatal infection.

Thirty five people have suffered personal injury from the recent E. coli outbreak linked to beef sold at Ohio and Michigan Kroger stores, according to the Toledo Blade.

The recall targets beef that was sold at the stores from May 21 to June 8, and customers are instructed to discard any beef sold during that time, or return it to a Kroger store for a full refund.

Our Toledo, Ohio personal injury attorneys have handled these types of cases before, and urge consumers to look out for warning signs of an E. coli bacteria infection. Symptoms include severe stomachache or cramps, diarrhea, or vomiting. If you have become infected with the E. coli bacteria and need legal assistance, call our office 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 800.637.8170 or 419.241.1395 to set up a FREE consultation with an attorney.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chuck Boyk