Personal Injuries – Some Facts and Figures
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No one wakes up in the morning and wonders if they’ll be injured in a car crash, or any other type of accident. It’s the farthest thing from our minds as we shower, drink coffee, check our phones for mail & messages, and head out the door.
But the numbers say there is a reasonable chance we will be hurt in an accident at some time in our lives.
The top five reasons for personal injury lawsuits are:
- Vehicle crashes
- Negligence and Public Liability
- Work-related injuries
- Medical malpractice
- Product liability
For this article, we’ll look at some numbers on vehicle crashes.
In 2013 there were 5,687,000 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes, 32,719 people died in motor vehicle crashes, down 3.1 percent from 33,782 in 2012. Down 3.1 percent is excellent.
The population of the U.S. is about 320,000,000 – therefore, if 32,719 people were killed in car crashes in 2013, about one in every 10,000 were killed in a car crash that year. Obviously your chances were higher driving drunk on a motorcycle at 100 miles-per-hour, wearing no helmet, and lower if you drove in a big safe car, obey the rules of the road, and wear your seat belt.
The point is, 1 in 10,000 is too high. People need to be more aware of the risk of car crashes, wear seat belts, obey the traffic laws, don’t text.
Of total crashes in 2013, 1,591,000 caused injuries and 4,066,000 caused property damage only.
An estimated 21 percent of fatal crashes, 13 percent of crashes resulting in severe injury and 6 percent of all crashes, involve a drowsy driver, according to a 2014 study by the AAA. Results of a November 2013 AAA survey showed that 28.3 percent of licensed drivers age 16 or older said that in the past 30 days they had driven when they were so tired that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.
Even if you’re careful and follow the rules there is a chance you can be injured due to someone else’s carelessness or negligence. When that happens, the law will take care of any criminal issues that may arise, but who will take care of you? You may have injuries, time away from work, pain and suffering.
Fortunately, we live in a country that affords us rights, including the right to sue someone for injuring us. The First Amendment guarantees us access to the courts so we can seek compensation from others who cause our losses and injuries.
A personal injury attorney stands beside you and protects your rights to obtain what is rightfully yours. He or she will make sure that, if necessary, an impartial jury will see and hear the evidence pertaining to your case and then decide on a verdict and a reasonable and fair judgement for damages. This system has proved to be the best in the world for delivering fairness and justice.
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