Here in the United States, personal injury cases are hugely widespread, something that just about any personal injury attorney or personal injury lawyer can attest to. A personal injury attorney is likely to see a wide number of personal injury claims when working at the typical personal injury laws firm, and these claims can vary quite tremendously.
For one thing, the majority of all personal injury claims will surround car and other such motor vehicle accidents. After all, such incidents account for more than half of all personal injury claims, something that many a personal injury attorney has seen with frequency. After all, the toll taken by car accidents, of which there are more than five and a half million in a single year, is quite high indeed. Unfortunately, as many as three million people will suffer an injury in such an accident throughout this same span of time, and as many as 40,000 people will even tragically lose their lives to such events as well (according to data representing the year of 2017, at least).
And as the typical personal injury attorney will attest to, there are many reasons behind the root cause of these car accidents that ultimately lead to personal injury claims. After all, drunk driving alone is far more common than the average person might realize. Sadly, as many as 300,000 people get behind the wheels of their motor vehicles after drinking alcohol – a number that occurs on a daily basis. In addition to this, as many as 28 people, on average, will lose their lives to drunk driving related incidents on a daily basis, with a new person becoming injured in such an event for every two minutes that pass. Unfortunately, this number remains consistent throughout the course of the typical year, and is a trend that has only continued to escalate.
Even outside of drunk driving, driving while under the influence is something that is even more widespread. Driving under the influence an involve driving while under the influence of an illegal drug, but it can also include legal medications – even those that have been legally prescribed – as well. Sadly, driving under the influence when you’re on a new medication for which you are not yet fully aware of the side effects can all too commonly lead to tragedy, more so than a great many realize. The data that has been gathered on the subject more than supports this claim, having shown that more than 15% of all car and motor vehicle accidents can be attributed to driving while under the influence of a substance that is not alcohol.
And though, as any personal injury attorney can tell you, car accidents and other such motor vehicle accidents make up more personal injury cases than any other cause, there are still a number of other common reasons that people file a personal injury claim with a personal injury attorney. For instance, cases of medical matpractice alone make up as many as 15% of all personal injury claims filed with a personal injury attorney here in the United States. With as many as 20,000 claims of medical malpractice filed throughout the course of a year in this country, it’s clear to see that, like car accident cases, there are a number of ways in which medical malpractice cases can originate as well.
For instance, cases regarding a botched surgical procedure are more common than one might realize. These surgical mistakes can range from minor to devastating, and present a very viable reason to file a personal injury claim. Ultimately, personal injury claims can relate to other causes of medical malpractice as well, such as in relation to birth injuries as well, especially birth injuries that could have readily been prevented.
At the end of the day, personal injury cases involve many different root causes, though car accident cases and medical malpractice claims are the most commonplace. If you have such a claim, hiring a personal injury attorney will ensure that you get the best result possible for your case and for your claim, as well as the easiest process for filing it.
