The Types of Personal Injury Cases: An Informative Guide

Personal injuries. They can be a big inconvenience for the victim and a nightmare to get justice from. 

In fact, there are over 200,000 unintentional injury deaths per year in the United States. 

However, it does not take a death to be the victim of a personal injury. There are many different ways to become a victim of this. 

So, you may be wondering what types of personal injury cases exist? Well, here is an informative guide on some of the most common ones. 

Car Accident 

One of the most common examples of personal injury comes from car accidents. Let’s face it, people are not the safest drivers sometimes, and the statistics back that up. 

From car accidents alone, there are about 4.4 million injuries per year that require medical attention. It is certainly enough to get a hospital’s attention, and it should be enough where a personal injury lawyer has seen that type of case a thousand times. 

The reason that car accident cases can become complicated for personal injury cases is that sometimes, it can be complicated to prove who is at fault. This can be from the person driving the other car or even the car insurance companies involved trying to determine who is responsible for payment. 

Car accidents can result in bad injuries such as a concussion, whiplash, sprained neck, broken arms, and legs, plus other possible open wounds.

With those types of injuries possibly resulting from a visit to the hospital, the medical bills can add up. On top of this, it does not even get into the possibility of having to pay for the damage to your car yourself. 

Do not be afraid to go over your options with a personal injury attorney here if the other driver or a car insurance company is giving you a hard time paying out what you are rightfully owed from a car accident. 

Slip and Fall 

Another common type of personal injury is a slip and fall incident. This occurs when someone takes a fall either in a place of business or on someone else’s property that was preventable by the owner. 

An example of this in a business would be if there was a wet floor. Another customer may have spilled a drink that left a wet spot, or a janitor may have been mopping the floor, and it had not dried up yet. 

Let’s say another customer walks in, not seeing this wet spot, and takes a fall. This customer may have had a bad back, and the fall may result in them breaking their hip. 

The business could be held responsible for that injury because, in this situation, they did not take proper caution to make sure another customer would not become a victim of that fall. One way a business can prevent fault in this situation is to put up a wet floor sign. 

On someone’s private property, an example of this can be during the winter when a blizzard hits. Normally, a house owner is responsible for shoveling and salting the sidewalk that is on their property. 

If someone walks by and takes a fall on ice that was not properly salted, the house owner can be held responsible. 

A house owner can be responsible for injuries inside of their house too. One situation where this can happen is if there is a loose banister that happens to break while someone is using it, and it results in them falling down the stairs. 

If you had a fall similar to the ones above, you might have a case for a personal injury settlement. 

Workplace Injury 

If you get injured at your place of work and you were not reckless, you may be entitled to not only a workman’s compensation but also a personal injury settlement. 

There are specific jobs where employees are working in less safe conditions, such as a factory or a construction site. What happens if a piece of equipment falters and causes a serious injury to an employee? 

That can leave an employee in the hospital for a few days and then unable to work for a few weeks. They may be able to get workman’s compensation in some situations, but they could have a hard time getting the money back for any medical bills that they might have incurred because of that. 

This is where a personal injury case comes in. If there is sufficient proof that the injury was through no fault of the employee, then they could be eligible to seek additional compensation for their pain and suffering in a lawsuit. 

It is something that you need to be aware of if you become a victim of an injury at work because if not, you are getting affected in multiple ways. It affects how much you are able to work and bring home, plus the inconvenience of potential medical bills and doctor’s visits. 

Plus, the place you work is the place that you are paid to show up and, therefore, should be a safe place for you to carry out that obligation. 

Medical Malpractice 

Now, this type of personal injury can have a big umbrella because of all of the possible ways that this can happen. For example, medical malpractice can happen when a doctor recommends medication for a certain injury or condition that may not be the most recommended by other medical experts.

If this happens, it can lead to someone either developing further medical problems or failing to recover from a serious injury, illness, or medical condition. In either case, the victim of this could be eligible to receive compensation if they do this in a timely matter. 

Unfortunately, these types of cases can be difficult for victims sometimes because they have to figure out the root of the cause and do it within a certain timeframe to be eligible for a lawsuit. 

Sometimes, doctors are simply negligent when it comes to medication, a certain surgical procedure, or knowledge of a condition that can lead to death. If you can prove this, you can sue a doctor for negligence and for failing to live up to their professional duty. 

Wrongful death, unfortunately, occurs on a regular basis because of medical malpractice, and in this situation, the family or next of kin of the victim can certainly act on the victim’s behalf. 

Assault

Perhaps this should be obvious, but you are definitely eligible for a personal injury case if you have been assaulted. By definition, assault is physically attacking someone else and causing bodily harm. 

As long as you did not attempt to physically harm your attacker first, you would be eligible for a personal injury case and to seek out any damages that were caused by this assault. 

Similar to the above cases, this can be any medical bills that resulted from the assault along with any wages that you lost out on because you were not able to work with your injuries. 

Luckily for the victims, this can be one of the easiest potential personal injury cases to identify because it is such a direct attack compared to the other situations above. However, it can also leave someone the most scarred and potentially the most hesitant to move forward against their attacker. 

Keep the above in mind, and remember that you have this option for an assault. 

Bite From a Pet 

Finally, another way that you may be eligible for a personal injury case is if someone else’s pet bites you. The most common example of this is from a dog because of how many people own dogs and how deep they can bite you. 

Of course, this type of personal injury is not limited to dogs. It can be cats and any other unique pet that may be able to attack a human lethally. 

These bites can potentially cause infections if the pet is not up to date on their shots or if the wound is deep enough into the victim’s skin. This can result in medical bills or at least a doctor’s visit that would come out of the victim’s pocket. 

In this case, they may have to sue the owner of the pet to recover those costs if they are high enough. 

Find Out More Types of Personal Injury Cases

These are just six types of personal injury cases that you should be aware of. If you find yourself in one of these situations, you may be eligible for compensation if you proceed with hiring a lawyer. 

Do you want to see more types of personal injury cases? Check out our Health section.