Cincinnati Personal Injury Law Blog

When you head to the grocery store or out for a morning of shopping, you are probably not thinking about how dangerous retail stores can be. You may feel perfectly safe, but in reality, there are many hazards that can leave unsuspecting shoppers with painful, serious injuries. If you are the victim of an accident that took place in an Ohio store, it may not be your fault. 

You may think your accident was the result of your own carelessness or clumsiness, but you could be the victim of certain factors that are beyond your control. Instead of making assumptions about fault and your options, you may want to find out if you have grounds to move forward with a civil claim. You could be eligible for financial compensation. 

Many ridesharing drivers in Ohio choose to work during extended periods of wakefulness. However, sleep deprivation can affect one's circadian rhythm and make the early mornings and late nights an especially dangerous time for driving. Unfortunately, ridesharing drivers can feel compelled by salary incentives to underrate sleep and keep working.

According to AAA estimates, roughly 328,000 crashes every year involve at least one drowsy driver. Of these, 109,000 result in injuries and 6,400 in death. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine called fatigued driving in the ridesharing industry a public safety risk.

Ohio residents spend a good portion of their lives on or near streets and highways. Motor vehicles have become the standard mode of transportation in the United States, and it is difficult to completely avoid interacting with them either as a driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian.

One significant concern for many people is that of car accidents. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, traffic accidents are the eighth leading cause of death worldwide. While much has been done in the U.S. and other countries to improve road safety, including strict penalties on driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, involvement in a car accident is still a major risk.

If any Ohio drivers wonder if those fancy automatic emergency braking systems actually work, the answer is an emphatic yes, according to a new study. The study was conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and focused on General Motors vehicles.

Automatic emergency braking, or AEB, systems use sensors to predict impending front-end collisions and alert the driver. If the driver fails to respond, the system can automatically apply the brakes to avoid the collision. The purpose of the study was to determine how well AEB systems work at preventing rear-end striking crashes in real-world conditions. To find out, IIHS researchers asked GM to provide VIN numbers for 2013-2015 models of Buicks, Cadillacs and Chevrolets to cross-reference with police-reported accident data. During those model years, GM made AEB systems optional, so the researchers were able to compare the accident frequency of models both with and without the system.