Suffering a personal injury can lead to physical pain, emotional distress, medical bills, and lost income. While no amount of money can make up for the trauma of an injury, filing a personal injury claim can help secure compensation to cover damages. According to Attorney Rosalio Muñoz, Jr. and insurance data, these are the five most common personal injuries that result in claims.
1. Motor Vehicle Accidents
It should come as no surprise that motor vehicle accidents, including car accidents, are by far the leading cause of personal injury claims. There were 1,593,390 car accidents that caused injuries in 2020, and a further 3,621,681 that damaged property. In 2021, 42,939 people died within 30 days of an injury in crashes that involved 60,904 drivers.
Typical motor vehicle injury claims stem from rear-end collisions, rollover crashes, side-impact crashes, and head-on collisions. Common injuries sustained in these accidents range from mild strains and sprains to traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, broken bones, severe lacerations, and death. Factors like speeding, distraction, impairment, defective parts, and poor weather often contribute to serious crashes. Working with a personal injury lawyer is essential to maximize your compensation, so talk to an experienced lawyer to learn more.
2. Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip, trip, and fall accidents are another top cause of personal injury lawsuits, with CDC data showing that 1.8 million people aged 65+ are admitted to the ER each year because of falls. These often occur in public places like grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, hospitals, and city streets. Failure to clean up slippery substances, uneven walking surfaces, poor lighting, and other negligent conditions frequently cause bad falls. Common injuries include broken wrists, hips, arms, and legs, head injuries, back injuries, sprains, and strains.
3. Medical Malpractice
When doctors, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists, or other health professionals provide substandard care that causes injury or wrongful death, medical malpractice claims may arise. 20,000 medical malpractice lawsuits are filed each year in the US. Surgical errors, failure to diagnose serious conditions, medication errors, anesthesia errors, and delayed treatment tend to be at the root of such cases. Damages like preventable harm, additional surgeries, worsened conditions, and addiction can occur.
4. Dog Bites
One of the most common personal injuries is dog bites. These injuries spark many personal injury claims, with 4.5 million people being bitten each year. Children are most often the victims in public places, and the elderly are vulnerable too. Typical wounds include lacerations, scarring, nerve damage, broken bones, infection, blood loss, and psychological trauma requiring counseling. Even minor bites can lead to complications and permanent impairment. Under dog bite law, owners are usually liable.
5. Assault and Battery
Intentional acts like assault and battery cause serious personal injuries that frequently lead to lawsuits. Common civil cases involve victims assaulted in public areas like parking garages, parks, concert venues, bars, and jogging trails. Injuries like traumatic brain damage, facial fractures, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, internal bleeding, and even death may occur. When negligence contributes to the attack, large pain and suffering awards are common.
Suffering any kind of disabling and traumatic personal injury can lead to immense struggles for victims and families. While holding injurious parties legally accountable can’t undo the damage, it can help injured victims recover and rebuild their lives. Paying close attention to public safety hazards and the careless behaviors of others is key to avoiding preventable injuries that often fuel lawsuits.
