UberCab, now known as Uber, began in 2009 by founders Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in San Francisco. Over the years, the company has increasingly gained popularity with Millennials as a form of transportation and a convenient way to avoid DUIs. There are over three million Uber drivers in more than 600 cities.
The coverage issue
The Ohio Department of Insurance provides the following guidelines to help you decide if paying for the extra insurance is right for you.
What are you really paying for when opting for rental coverage?
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
It is important to remember that this is not insurance. Rather, the rental car company is offering to waive the provision in the rental contract that makes you legally liable for loss of or damage to the rental car while it is in your possession, regardless of fault.
If you are being questioned by the police and want a lawyer, you need to make a clear statement indicating you want a lawyer before your right to counsel is triggered.
Criminal defense lawyers are dismayed at the dismantling of constitutional rights in recent years. We were reminded of our frequent heartache in the recent case of State v. Hammett Marette, where the court held that a defendant had not properly invoked her right to counsel (i.e. her right to not be interrogated without a lawyer present).1 Specifically, the Court held that a suspect who was being questioned did not unambiguously invoke her right to counsel when she said "I want some advice; I want to get up out of here, sir" and "[w]hy shouldn't I have a lawyer at this time?"
Ride-sharing options, such as Uber, have exploded in popularity since Uber's release date in 2009 (originally called Ubercab). The increase in popularity means more and more automobile collisions involving Uber and other ride sharing vehicles. Motor vehicle collisions can be caused by the Uber driver or by another driver on the road (third party). Either way, you want to make sure you are covered. In addition to using standard defenses, Uber has been known to fight lawsuits using coverage defenses.
What type of insurance coverage is available if you are injured in an accident while riding in an Uber?
When pursuing a defective ear plug claim against 3M for its Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2), you have at least two potential states you could file your lawsuit. The first state is the state where you used the defective Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2) and/or sustained your injuries. The second state is where 3M is headquartered. Each state has different laws on when a lawsuit against 3M for its Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2) has to be filed. In Ohio, the statute of limitations (time to file your lawsuit) for product liability and negligence claims is two years from the date that you knew or should have known that the Combat Arms Earplugs caused your hearing loss or tinnitus. In Minnesota, however, where 3M is headquartered, the statute of limitations is 6 years for negligence claims and 4 years for product claims alleging strict liability.
On May 12, 2016, Moldex-Metric, Inc. ("Moldex"), in the name of the United States Government, filed a lawsuit against 3M company for false statements it made to the government regarding the safety of the dual-ended Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2), which 3M sold to the U.S. Military for over 10 years. The Government, through Moldex, claimed that 3M knowingly sold the government Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2) that 3M knew did not work properly. In fact, Moldex claimed that 3M employees were aware that 3M's Combat Arms Earplugs did not work as safely at 3M claimed as early as 2000. Specifically, amongst many allegations, Moldex, asserted that 3M or its affiliated companies knowingly sold Combat Arms Earplug (Version 2) to the military without disclosing that the design of the earplugs were defective, the testing of the earplugs 3M relied on were flawed, and that the noise reduction rating that 3M claimed for the earplugs was not accurate.
Laws and regulations can be passed at the city, county, state and federal levels. Laws tend to pile up in the dark and dusty corners of government. We rarely go back and clean out these old laws by officially repealing them. As a result, there are some truly strange laws that stayed on the books long past the point where they were useful. Here is just a sliver of the odd laws that apparently made sense to officials at the time.
The Hose Detour
Oxford, Ohio, made it illegal to drive over a hose that was laying on the ground to be used to put out a fire. There was an exception in the law, however. The Fire Marshall had the power to give you the OK to drive over the hose.
After an injury or tragic death, the last thing a family wants to do is look for a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer quickly is important but can be difficult. Even when a person has ample time to conduct due diligence, finding the best lawyer can be difficult because of the number of lawyers who inundate our televisions, radio, and billboards with lawyer advertising.
A lot of lawyers claim to get great results for their clients. A lot of injury attorneys claim to litigate and try cases. The reality is, very few injury lawyers try cases. In fact, most so-called "injury attorneys" do not even file lawsuits and will push their client to take quick settlements.
This is a continuation of an ongoing blog series we are doing related to the evidence that should be collected following serious traffic crashes. The blog serious illustrates how we find and preserve critical evidence in truck accident and car crash cases including evidence that is overlooked by the police and evidence that other law firms do not even know exists.
Witnesses' Statements
As we explained earlier, we always obtain witnesses' statements from every available resource including the police, social media and the news agencies. In serious injury and disputed liability cases, however, we go one step further. We attempt to personally interview all the major witnesses to a crash to ensure that they did not leave out any details of what happened to the police, 911 or the news media. Sometimes, we have found that these witnesses have a lot more to say and some have even taken photos or videos of the scene of the crash leading to new information about how the crash occurred.
Kentucky is one of several states that uses a "No-Fault" system for motor vehicle accident. What this means is that if you're involved in an accident in Kentucky, you will have coverage for medical bills, lost wages and other costs, no matter who is at fault for the accident. Also, if you are a Kentucky resident with No-Fault coverage and are involved in an accident in any U.S. state, you are entitled to No Fault benefits no matter who is at fault. In Kentucky, No-Fault benefits are known as Personal Injury Protection, i.e. PIP.
Rittgers & Rittgers answers its phones 24/7. Call us anytime to secure your consultation with one of our award-winning lawyers. You can rely on us for elite representation from our deliberately small, family-run law firm.
Lebanon Office
12 East Warren Street
Lebanon,
Ohio
45036
Phone:
513-932-2115
Fax:
513-934-2201
Lebanon Law Office Map
Cincinnati Office
312 Walnut St., Suite 1600
Cincinnati,
OH
45202
Phone:
513-932-7375
Cincinnati Law Office Map
Oxford Office
121 West High Street
Oxford,
OH
45056
Phone:
513-524-5000
Fax:
513-524-5001
Oxford Law Office Map
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