Automobile Accidents

• Allstate's Dirty Hands

  Scott Smith | January 04, 2007 7:57 AM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  For years Allstate Insurance has claimed you are in good hands if you are an insured with their company. However, this mantra belies Allstate's deceptive claims practices and defiance of Court Orders. In the early 1990s Allstate retained the services of McKinsey and Company in reengineering its auto accident insurance claims operations. The story of Allstate's scorched earth claims practice...

• New Law Reduces Ohio Consumers Damage Claims

  Scott Smith | January 03, 2007 4:50 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  What the Ohio Supreme Court giveth, the Ohio legislature taketh away. A recent Ohio Supreme Court Decision confirmed that Ohio's Consumer Sales Practice Act (CSPA), a thirty year old consumer protection law, allowed defrauded consumers to sue for non-economic damages like stress, aggravation and humiliation when unfairly taken advantage of by a business. Whitaker v. N.T. Automotive, Inc. 111...

• Study Reveals Use of Cell Phone Causes Auto Crashes

  Scott Smith | December 13, 2006 4:40 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  A study recently released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Virginia Technical Transportation Institute found that a driver's odds of being involved in an automobile crash or nearly crashing are twice as high when the driver looks away from the road for 2 seconds or longer. The study revealed distracted driving is nearly as serious a factor as impaired driving or speeding in...

• What is an Assured Clear Distance?

  Scott Smith | October 23, 2006 12:03 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  Often car collisions occur when a person operating a motor vehicle crashes into the back of vehicle traveling in the same direction. When the police arrive, a citation is usually written stating the person who struck the vehicle failed to maintain an assured clear distance ahead. What does this mean? Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.21(A), as part of the written laws of Ohio, states "No person...

• $20 Million Verdict Against Allstate for Bad Faith

  Scott Smith | October 06, 2006 12:01 PM | 1 CommentColumbus, OH

  An Indiana jury determined Allstate Insurance Company committed bad faith in failing to pay a man for losses due to injuries and damage to his car following a car crash and awarded the man $20 Million. The jury decided Ted Fields was in bad hands after applying for property damage and medical benefits under his Allstate policy following a car crash. Fields, age 50, who is now a retired...

• Child Prodigy Killed in Motorcycle Collision

  Scott Smith | October 02, 2006 2:59 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  Derek Jacobs, who at age 12, became certified by Microsoft to engineer systems for corporate computer networks died when he lost control of his motorcycle crashing into a guardrail and pole. Derek was the first national recipient of an identification chip implant that stores medical data. Derek was wearing a helmet at the time of the collison but was catapulted upon impact. Derek was scheduled...

• What to Do in Case of a Car or Truck Accident

  Scott Smith | September 22, 2006 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  Stop! - Failure to stop can result in serious criminal consequences. Call for Medical Aid- Call an ambulance or a doctor or both; and - Do not move an injured person in any way that could possibly add to his or her injuries. Protect the Scene from Further Damage - You may be liable for damages to approaching drivers, unless they are properly warned. - If the highway is obstructed at night,...