Archive for the ‘Ohio’ Category

90 percent of people killed while riding bicycle not wearing helmet

Bicycle safety includes more than just wearing a helmet. Bike riders have to worry about inattentive drivers, bumpy roads, and dangerous drunk drivers

That is why your friends at Hausmann-McNally S.C. would like to remind bicyclists of some rules of the road that could keep them from getting hurt. We have compiled some safety tips from websites BicycleSafe.com, AdventureSportsOnline, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bicycle accidents can often be fatal, remember to wear a helmet.

For starters, if you are riding your bike at night, wear reflective clothing and install a headlight on the front of your bicycle and a reflector on the back for added protection. Night riding is when bicyclists are most vulnerable because of the lack of visibility, as well as a higher likelihood of less attentive and drunk drivers.

Bicyclists themselves also need to be attentive at all times, obey traffic signs and signals, and be on the lookout for people opening their car doors. Also, riding on the right hand side of the road makes it easier for drivers to avoid bicyclists.

Hausmann-McNally would also like to remind motorists to always be aware of their surroundings. According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, 51,000 bicyclists were injured in traffic in 2009.

However, while the above tips may make bike riding safer, helmets are still a necessity. How important are helmets? Tour de France great Lance Armstrong had a $15,000 helmet commissioned for his last attempt at a cycling championship.

You do not have to spend $15,000 on a helmet, however. Twenty or thirty dollars is more than enough money to buy yourself an adequate bicycle helmet that will keep you safe.

Since 1994, more than 90 percent of people killed while riding a bicycle were not wearing a helmet. So, always wear your helmet, be careful riding your bike at night, and always be attentive on the road.

And, if you are so unfortunate as to have an accident while riding your bicycle, please call Hausmann-McNally, S.C. at 800-227-6699. We will send a representative to your office, home or hospital room. Our special understanding of this area of the law spans over 35 years.

Each spring, as the buds burst into bloom and the air warms, we all want to get outdoors. This is a time when motorcyclists itch to get out and ride.  The excitement is unmatched and, if the bike has been in the garage all winter, worth the wait.

So it is a time for a spring warning from Hausmann-McNally, S.C. personal injury attorneys who are bikers themselves.

The laws of physics and human nature still apply.

• Solid objects traveling at high speeds are more damaged in a crash than those traveling at lesser speeds.
• Solid objects hurtling into stationary objects cause damage both to themselves and humans who are attached to them.
• Rubber spheres are more likely to skid a vehicle out of control if the pavement is wet, freshly gravelled or the tires are worn.
• People’s attention tends to wander.
• People with alcohol in their systems have impaired attention and response times to dangers.
• Individuals in enclosed solid objects [cars and trucks]—especially with radio, noisy passengers or cell phones active–are less likely to hear and see motorcycles.

All the warnings we give to bikers go double for auto and truck drivers. It has been proven that other drivers often do not see motorcycles on the road. We urge drivers to be aware that they share the road with motorcycles and scooters, just as you need to be aware of children playing in the streets in good weather.

We would rather not see our biker friends in casts or wheelchairs or hospital beds. We want to see you on the road. Bikers—like Robins and tulips and asparagus—are signs of spring.

We understand that, if we are in cars, motorcycles can be behind us, passing us, coming towards us around a blind corner or quietly creeping up next to us at a stop sign.

And, if you are so unfortunate as to have an accident while riding your motorcycle, you know you can call Hausmann-McNally, S.C. at 800-227-6699. We will send a representative to your office, home or hospital room. Our special understanding of this area of the law spans over 35 years. We want to help preserve your rights in the matter.

Resourceful Attorney Gets Client 16 Times What Allstate Offers

COLUMBUS, OHIO–A good part of the law business involves dealing with insurance companies. Many times, the insurance company will low-ball a client and make an absurdly low offer which they hope the client will take. Clients without legal representation may fall for the insurance company’s offer to settle quickly, say that the case isn’t worth much, or claim that injuries were pre-existing conditions. Have no doubts, most insurance companies would rather pay you less than more, and would prefer to pay you nothing if they could get away with it. That includes your own insurance company.

A major victory over an unreasonably low offer involved Hausmann-McNally Attorney J. Scott Bowman, who represented a client injured in an automobile accident.  After the accident, she was unable to get the surgery she needed because she did not have health insurance. It didn’t help that Allstate dragged its feet by refusing to make a fair settlement.

The 36-year old woman was injured by an automobile driver who failed to yield at a stop sign. Injuries included tear to her ACL as well as cervical, thoracic and lumbar sprains/strains. Medical bills were projected to top $20,000. Bowman also showed she had lost wages in the amount of $12,000 to $13,000.

Aside from the bad publicity Allstate garners for not adequately paying claims, Bowman had to go before a jury and, during a three-day trial, proved that his client’s injuries and medical bills were worth a whole lot more than Allstate offered her. Allstate’s final offer was $4,181!

After hearing both sides, the jury awarded Bowman’s client $70,124, almost all of what he had asked for. The case was written up in the Winter 2011 issue of the Columbus (Ohio) Lawyers Quarterly.

Interesting news of the Allstate company’s strategy on claims can be seen on the Web site: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982072.htm

Their slogan might be “You’re in Good Hands with Allstate,” but this client believes she was in far better hands with Hausmann-McNally, a personal injury law firm that really looks after their clients’ interests.

Bowman is managing attorney for Hausmann-McNally’s Columbus, Ohio office.