In the modern age, distracted driving is statistically the most common cause of auto accidents, not only in Ohio but across the entire United States and many other countries worldwide. Drivers who try to operate vehicles while using a cell phone, smartphone, tablet, or other mobile communications device are especially likely to cause serious harm to people around them.

Despite the frequency of such incidents, filing suit over injuries sustained in texting while driving car accidents in Lima can be difficult. If you try to sue or demand an out-of-court settlement without the support of a seasoned car accident attorney from Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, you may have trouble obtaining the full compensation you deserve for your crash-related damages.

What Does State Law Say About Texting Behind the Wheel?

Thanks to changes in state law, Ohio now has one of the most strict and wide-reaching bans on texting while driving in the United States. In addition to prohibiting people from using any electronic wireless communications device to read, write, or send text-based messages while operating a motor vehicle, Ohio Revised Code § 4511.204 universally prohibits using, holding, or physically supporting such a device with any body part for any reason while behind the wheel.

Furthermore, texting while driving, as defined under this statute, is now a primary offense in Ohio. This means that police officers in Lima and statewide can pull people over and ticket them solely for texting and driving without needing to see them commit another kind of traffic violation or cause an auto accident first. However, there are some specific circumstances in which using this kind of device behind the wheel is permitted, including when making an emergency call for police or medical services and when using a dashboard-mounted phone as a GPS device.

Texting While Driving as Grounds for a Personal Injury Claim

Of course, if you have recently been hurt in a Lima car crash caused by a texting driver, your most pressing question is whether texting and driving can serve as the basis for a civil lawsuit over your injuries. Fortunately, because texting and driving is illegal, in most situations, the answer to that question is “yes.”

Holding someone financially liable for the consequences of a car wreck generally requires proving that they caused that crash through some form of legal negligence—in other words, proving that the crash would likely not have happened were it not for a specific reckless or careless act by the defendant that violated a duty of care they owed you. Since every driver has the same duty of care to pay attention to the road and to obey traffic laws at all times behind the wheel, texting and driving is a textbook example of a breach of duty, which means it can justify a lawsuit if it is the main and direct cause of an otherwise avoidable wreck.

That said, it is only possible to file a civil suit over an auto accident of any kind if that accident was the main and direct cause of an injury requiring some form of professional medical care. While you should be able to recover through a claim against the at-fault party’s auto insurance policy for property damage alone, the absence of a significant physical injury would mean you have not met all the criteria needed to file suit on the grounds of negligence, as a qualified attorney can explain in more detail.

What Damages Could Be Recoverable?

If you have suffered an injury through a texting and driving motor vehicle collision in Lima that needed professional medical treatment, you can demand compensation through an ensuing lawsuit or private settlement proposal for every negative effect that accident may have on you. This can include, but is not limited to, things such as:

• Costs of medical bills and related expenses, such as travel to and from appointments,
• Physical pain and discomfort,
• Car repair/replacement costs and other expenses related to personal property damage,
• Emotional and psychological suffering,
• Lost working and earning ability
• Loss of short-term income, and/or
• Lost overall quality and enjoyment of life.

However, if you have already received or can reasonably expect to receive compensation for certain damages through a related insurance claim, you cannot include those same damages again in a personal injury lawsuit. For instance, if your own comprehensive insurance coverage reimburses you for emergency medical bills after a wreck caused by a texting driver, you could seek reimbursement through an ensuing lawsuit for long-term medical bills that were not covered by insurance, but not for those original medical bills that you have already been reimbursed for.

Caps on Non-Economic Damages

Another potential limitation on your right to seek civil restitution after a Lima texting and driving auto accident comes in the form of damage caps placed on personal injury claims by state law. These caps only apply to non-economic damages such as physical pain and psychological trauma, which have purely subjective financial values, but calculating the cap applicable to a specific case can sometimes involve economic damages with objective values such as medical bills and lost work income.

Under O.R.C. § 2315.18, you generally cannot demand more than $250,000 or three times the total value of your economic damages—whichever is greater—for all your non-economic damages. Additionally, it is not possible under any circumstances to demand more than $350,000 in non-economic damages from a single defendant named in your claim or more than $500,000 from all defendants combined, even if the value of your economic damages multiplied by three is greater than those figures.

However, if you suffer a catastrophic injury that results in some form of permanent disability or disfigurement, such as the loss of a limb or a severe brain injury, none of the aforementioned caps would apply to you. A skilled lawyer from Charles E. Boyk Law Offices can discuss what limits, if any, may affect your unique case during a free initial consultation.

Getting Around Legal and Procedural Obstacles

These caps on non-economic recovery are not the only legal roadblocks you may encounter as you try to seek fair financial recovery in the wake of a texting and driving car wreck in Lima. For example, even if you have suffered a lifelong and life-altering injury through another person’s negligence, you typically have to file suit over that injury no more than two years after initially sustaining it, or occasionally no more than two years after first discovering—or the point by which you reasonably should have discovered—that you were injured.

Furthermore, you may miss out on much-needed compensation if you are accused of being partly at fault for your accident through your own negligence. Even something as seemingly minor as driving a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit when a texting driver sideswiped you could be considered comparative fault on your part.

In accordance with O.R.C. § 2315.33, courts—and insurance companies acting with the knowledge that a court would support them if needed—can reduce the total amount of compensation available to a personal injury victim by whatever percentage of total fault for their own injuries they are found to hold. Moreover, any person found to hold more than 50 percent of the total fault for their own injuries is barred from receiving any civil compensation for losses stemming from those injuries, even if someone else was also partially to blame.

Discuss Legal Options With a Lima Attorney After a Texting While Driving Auto Accident

A texting driver is one of the most serious hazards you can encounter on a public road. Regardless of the specific circumstances of your wreck or what damages you need to seek recovery for, pursuing legal counsel should be among your top priorities. A skilled attorney can help you achieve the best possible outcome from your personal injury claim and protect your best interests in the years to come.

At Charles E. Boyk Law Offices, we put everything we have into every case we take on. Our “No Fee Promise” to you means that we will not charge you anything for our services unless we get you a fair settlement for your claim first. Call today to schedule a free and confidential initial consultation and learn more about your recovery options following texting while-driving car accidents in Lima.