Determining fault in car accidents isn’t always an easy task

When law enforcement officials arrive at the scene of a crash, it is not always easy to discern what happened based on the final resting places of the vehicles. This is often true whether car accidents occur here in Ohio or elsewhere. While officials conduct their investigations, families, friends and injured victims may have to wait for some time to know what really happened, especially if those involved either suffered serious injuries requiring hospitalization or lost their lives.For this reason, a crash that took place on a recent Sunday morning may require an extensive investigation. When police arrived, they found two vehicles and two injured individuals. Preliminary reports only indicate that the two vehicles collided near an intersection around 10:30 a.m.One driver, a 51-year-old man, was rushed to a hospital in the area, but it was too late. He succumbed to the injuries he suffered in the impact. The other driver, a 58-year-old woman, was taken to a different hospital with unknown injuries. Reports do not indicate her current condition, or the nature and extent of her injuries. Police did not indicate whether they suspect that factors such as speed, alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash.Until a thorough investigation is completed, those involved may not know what happened and who police believe to have been at fault. Depending on the outcome of the official investigation, the victim’s family and/or the surviving victim may file lawsuits in an Ohio civil court seeking damages. In many car accidents, more than one party contributed to the incident, and that could be the case here as well, but making that determination may require a court ruling.