Personal Injury Claims Among Friends & Family: A Delicate Situation
Posted in: Ohio Personal Injury
KNR Legal Blog
When driving, there are few things more terrifying than seeing the headlights of another car approaching you head-on. When a car is driving in the wrong direction, be it on a road or interstate, it can bring panic to both drivers involved. If they collide, they become victims of what is known as a wrong-way crash. Wrong-way driver crashes, which frequently end in fatality, are surprisingly common in Ohio—and they are recently on the rise.
At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we have represented numerous individuals whose loved ones were injured or killed as a result of a wrong-way driver crash. Our Ohio personal injury attorneys know the pain and damage a wrong-way collision can cause, which is why we find their recent rise in Ohio especially alarming.
According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, wrong-way or wrong-side driver crashes occurred an average of 386 times per year from 2012-2015, resulting in hundreds of injuries and dozens of fatalities. While statistics for 2016 have yet to be released, some expect 2016 to be the most dangerous year in recent history for wrong-way driver crashes.
Data shows that most wrong-way or wrong-sided driver crashes occur as a result of either drivers operating motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol or as a result of confused drivers who are unaware that they’ve turned onto an exit or one-way street. While the phenomenon of unaware drivers can be mitigated through better warning mechanisms, such as clear, well-illuminated road signs, the phenomenon of drunk driving will require greater resources on the part of the state, such as through increased sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.
Officials are also concerned about a third cause of wrong-way driver crashes—intentional wrong-way drivers. In cases where a person drives a car the wrong way for the thrill of creating a high-speed chase, he or she could be charged with murder, if a fatality occurs, or a felony and years of incarceration for putting the lives of countless others at risk.
Wrong-way and wrong-side driver crashes take the lives of numerous people in Ohio every year. The recent rise of wrong-way and wrong-side crashes is alarming, because such crashes should be preventable.
If you have a family member who has been injured or killed as a result of a wrong-way or wrong-side crash, contact one of our experienced Ohio personal injury attorneys at Kisling, Nestico & Redick today at 1-800-HURT-NOW.