As any personal injury attorney is likely to be all too well aware of, car accident and other such motor vehicle accident cases make up a simply huge portion of all cases seen by your typical personal injury attorney. In fact, car accidents represent more than fifty percent (fifty two percent, to be more exact) of all personal injury cases seen in this country, followed very distantly by personal injury cases related to medical malpractice. There are many reasons that a personal injury attorney will look to take on a car accident personal injury, and many reasons that such preventable car accidents happen so frequently in the first place.
There are so many personal injury cases handled by your average personal injury attorney that relate to car accidents in part because there are simply so many car accidents all throughout the United States. In the span of just one single year, as many as six million car accidents are likely to take place. And in those car accidents, as many as three million people will become injured. Some of these injuries will be minor, but others will be very serious and have lifelong implications. Deaths in car accidents are also too high, sometimes topping more than thirty five thousand in a single year and almost always exceeding thirty thousand in that same span of time.
And it’s true – some car accidents are difficult to prevent, such as those that are caused by severe weather incidents. However, most are very much preventable and such car accidents can easily lead to a personal injury case that is handled by a personal injury attorney or even a car accident attorney. Drunk driving, for instance, is a huge cause of car accidents in the United States, with more than one million people arrested on drunk driving charges each and every year.
And even more drunk drivers than those that are arrested are actually out and on the road on a daily basis. Over the span of just one day, around four thousand drunk drivers will be arrested. However, it is estimated that around three hundred thousand people will actually get behind the wheel while they are in a state of intoxication. The average drunk driver, data shows, will get away with driving drunk as many as eighty times before finally being caught and pulled over.
Motor vehicle accidents are also frequently caused by those who are driving under the influence of a substance that is not alcohol. These substances can be both legal and illegal, and driving under a substance in either category is often incredibly dangerous. In fact, more than fifteen percent (sixteen percent, to be more exact) of all car accidents that occur in this country do so because of a direct relation to a driver who was under the influence of some substance while behind the wheel.
Aside from drunk driving, there are other causes of reckless driving that all too often lead to someone becoming hurt in a crash or otherwise injured in a car accident. One such cause is that of distracted driving. Distracted driving is an incredibly dangerous thing to do, and heightens your odds of getting into a car accident of some sort by a considerable margin.
There are many different type of distracted driving, more than many people might even realize. For instance, any personal injury attorney would of course consider texting while driving to fall into the category of distracted driving. But distracted driving can also even mean just talking on the phone. In fact, in many places it is even illegal to hold a phone conversation while you are driving unless you can do so in a way that is hands free. New technologies have helped to make this possible, but it is all too likely there is still some risk of becoming distracted by any phone call under any circumstances while you are on the road.
As any personal injury attorney knows, car accidents often lead to personal injury cases here and all throughout the United States. These car and vehicle accidents are often caused by many different factors.