Car accidents, slip-and fall incidents, medical malpractice, and even accidents at work could constitute a personal injury accident in Cincinnati. Other common examples of personal injury cases include dog bites and product liability. In these cases, one party must have been negligent, with the negligence resulting in harm or injury to another party.
A personal injury lawyer can clarify whether your case qualifies as a personal injury accident. Call Young, Reverman & Bolotin at 513-400-0000 to discuss your injuries.
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What Are the Most Common Types of Personal Injury Accidents in Ohio?
Personal injury accident types vary widely. That said, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of claims and lawsuits.
Motor Vehicle Crashes
In 2023, about 509 crashes in Ohio involved fatalities. Meanwhile, 1,898 crashes had serious injuries suspected, with minor injuries likely in 8,952 crashes. Injuries were possible in another 4,293 crashes. By comparison, 37,129 crashes featured only property damage. Operating vehicles impaired, speeding, and other traffic violations play a role in many types of crashes and can show negligence resulting in harm or injury.
Slips and Falls
Slips and falls are another prevalent type of personal injury accident. They often occur on unsafe premises, such as wet floors or uneven surfaces. For instance, if you slipped and fell in a neighbor’s yard due to the neighbor’s poor maintenance, you might have grounds for a claim.
Workplace Injuries
As for workplace injuries, workers’ compensation frequently covers these cases. However, some injuries involve third-party negligence, allowing additional claims.
One example could be when defective equipment causes an employee’s injury on a construction site. Workers’ compensation might cover medical expenses and lost wages. However, if the equipment malfunctioned due to a manufacturing defect, it opens up the possibility of the injured worker pursuing a third-party claim against the equipment manufacturer. This could let the employee receive additional compensation, such as that for pain and suffering.
Medical Malpractice
In Cincinnati medical malpractice cases, healthcare providers fall short of reasonable standards of care. These failures result in harm, injury, or death to a patient.
Patients must show that the provider’s negligence directly caused their harm. The negligence could involve diagnosis errors, surgical mistakes, and medication errors.
A wide spectrum of professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, specialists, dentists, oral surgeons, and chiropractors can be subject to medical malpractice claims. Hospitals, clinics, urgent care centers, nursing homes, and other types of medical facilities can be held accountable, too.
Product Liability
Product liability is another common type of claim defining what is a personal injury accident. For instance, defective toys can cause injuries to children and lead to claims against manufacturers or distributors.
Meanwhile, contaminated food items causing food poisoning or allergic reactions can result in liability claims against food producers, restaurants, and retailers. Medications, medical devices, car parts, electronics, appliances, children’s products, tools, and machinery are product types that frequently feature in personal injury claims involving product liability.
What Factors Determine Fault for an Injury?
Ohio uses modified comparative negligence to determine fault for injuries. Compensation varies according to each party’s contribution, and a person cannot recover damages if he or she is more than 50% at fault. If a person is found to be 20% at fault, he or she can recover damages, but the amount of compensation is adjusted to 80% of total damages awarded.
One example could be if a grocery store shopper slipped on the wet floor near the entrance. Staff had recently mopped the floor but had not placed a “wet floor” warning sign. The shopper could be 20% at fault if he or she was not paying attention while walking due to being on the phone. The store, meanwhile, could be 80% at fault.
Photos, videos, and eyewitness statements are valuable types of evidence that can prove negligence. Other common factors that show liability for personal injury accidents include police reports, expert opinions, medical records, physical evidence, and statements of fault or incrimination from the negligent party.
In the grocery shopper and wet floor example, surveillance camera footage, phone records, and eyewitness testimony could indicate that the shopper was on the phone. The shopper might also admit to texting or talking on the phone.
Medical malpractice and product liability cases require special circumstances that show the violation of professional or manufacturing standards. With products, a failure to warn or a design defect making the product unsafe even when it is correctly made typically constitute such circumstances. With medical malpractice, elements such as a breach of a duty of care, a direct link between the breach and the harm, and losses apply.
What Compensation Is Available for Personal Injury Accidents?
Compensation in Cincinnati falls into three categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.
Economic Damages
These are easier to tally since they cover measurable losses, including medical bills, lost wages, and property damage such as vehicle replacement. Economic damages also include future expenses.
In this vein, they can cover current and future medical costs, including hospital stays, surgeries, therapy, and medication. These damages may also include lost wages due to time off work, as well as decreased earning capacity if the injured person cannot return to his or her job. The goal is to directly address the financial impact of the injury or loss.
Non-Economic Damages
These address areas such as pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. Per plaintiff, Ohio caps non-economic damages at $250,000 or three times economic damages, up to $350,000. There is also a $500,000 cap per incident. However, these caps do not apply in situations involving permanent loss of a limb, permanent physical deformity, or injuries that mean the plaintiff cannot care for himself or herself.
Due to subjectivity, non-economic damages are trickier to “measure” than economic damages. However, there are ways to make the point.
- Plaintiff’s testimony: Plaintiffs can describe their physical pain, emotional trauma, and lesser quality of life. They may testify about how their injuries affect their relationships, their hobbies, their work, and other activities important to them. An avid runner who has chronic pain due to injuries from an accident can describe how these injuries have lowered their quality of life. Journals, such as pain diaries, are a way for plaintiffs to track the intensity, frequency, and impact of their pain on their lives.
- Medical experts: Doctors, specialists, and others can talk about the severity of plaintiffs’ injuries and the long-term impact on their mental health. Issues to emphasize could include chronic pain and disabilities. Similarly, psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors could talk about diagnoses of depression, PTSD, or anxiety that have a huge toll on plaintiffs. This testimony works to establish a direct link between the accident and the plaintiff’s emotional suffering.
- Family and friends: Friends, family members, and even co-workers and employers of plaintiffs can testify about changes in the plaintiff’s behavior, mood, and lifestyle after the injury. For instance, a spouse could talk about how his or her partner cannot participate in family activities to the same extent as before the injury and that the partner has anger issues now due to intense pain. Employers can discuss how plaintiffs are no longer able to do their previous job.
- Medical records: These document diagnoses, prolonged and persistent pain and suffering, and plaintiffs’ efforts to seek help.
- Videos and photographs: These can show the plaintiffs’ limitations now versus before the accident. For instance, a video could show how an avid runner cannot run anymore, with an older video demonstrating how successful the runner used to be. Videos and photos can also include visual evidence of injury severity such as bruises, scars, and missing limbs.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are rare, but may be possible in situations involving the other party’s malicious, intentional, or egregious misconduct. They have a cap of twice the compensatory damages (the economic plus non-economic damages), with a further limitation of 10% of the defendant’s net worth for those who are individuals or small employers.
A personal injury accident attorney can help you figure out all of these calculations and maximize your claims. You should not have to pay your lawyer by the hour, as most personal injury lawyers are paid on a contingency basis. They get a percentage of clients’ final settlement or judgment instead of being paid upfront or hourly.
Wrongful Death
In Ohio, those who can file a wrongful death lawsuit include the children, parents, and surviving spouse of the deceased. This representative can file for both monetary and non-monetary damages. Punitive damages usually are not possible, but they could be in a survival action for losses the deceased experienced before death.
Wrongful death lawsuits and other personal injury lawsuits have several other marked differences. For instance, wrongful death cases do not have a cap on non-economic damages. Also, the purpose of a wrongful death suit is to compensate surviving family members for their loss.
Damages in a wrongful death lawsuit can include those found in personal injury suits plus funeral and burial expenses, loss of companionship, emotional distress of surviving family members, and loss of financial support from income the deceased would have provided, among other damages.
A statute of limitations applies in both types of cases, with wrongful death statutes usually beginning on the date of death.
Do All Personal Injury Accidents in Cincinnati Lead to Insurance Claims or Lawsuits?
Under Ohio law, injured parties seeking compensation in court must prove that defendants breached their duty of care and that the breach led directly to the injuries. However, not all personal injury accidents lead to insurance claims or lawsuits.
One example is for minor injuries, in which the injured people recover on their own. Do keep in mind that many injuries that seem minor at first can cause problems days, months, or years down the road. Talking with a lawyer is a good idea, rather than brushing off an injury as too minor.
In another scenario, the injured person might be able to recover the costs of medical bills, property damage, and other expenses from the at-fault party’s insurance company. This could render a lawsuit unnecessary. That said, insurers are notorious for making lowball offers or dragging out the process in hopes of discouraging injured people. A personal injury attorney can clarify whether an offer is good and reasonably covers the cost of anticipated future medical expenses.
For lawsuits in Cincinnati to succeed, liability must be clear. If the negligent party cannot be identified or if the parties cannot clarify liability, then a lawsuit might not be viable. If you are concerned about proving liability, a lawyer may be able to assist.
Overall, settlement negotiations resolve many personal injury cases. With the help of attorneys, the parties agree on compensation without going to court. Settling outside of court can save time and stress, but lawsuits may be necessary if the parties disagree on who is liable, if the insurance company keeps making inadequate settlement offers, or if the insurance company acts in bad faith by delaying or denying claims without valid reasons.
Unfortunately, in some cases, a lawsuit is not realistic due to the statute of limitations having passed. In Ohio, the deadline is usually two years from the date of the injury.
There are exceptions, such as those in cases involving minors or when the injury is not known right away. This can often happen in medical malpractice cases. Cases involving government parties may have a deadline shorter than two years, and your lawyer can clarify the statute of limitations in your situation. Contact us at Young, Reverman & Bolotin to talk about your injuries and the next steps in your case.
