Unfortunately, car accidents are all too common everywhere in the United States, with as many as six million occurring in just one year. There are many reasons for car accidents and while some are purely accidental, often due to severe weather conditions and similar factors out of anyone’s control, some lead people to hire a personal injury lawyer and a personal injury law firm. Some of the causes for car accidents that require the guidance of a personal injury lawyer are those of driving under the influence as well as driving while distracted. There were nearly 40,000 deaths related to road accidents in the last year and even more who were injured. In 2015 alone, there were more than thirty thousand car accidents that ended in at least one fatality, if not more. Many of these cases ended in personal injury suits, for which hiring a personal injury law firm is highly recommended.
Distracted driving is driving while distracted by anything other than the road, but it typically occurs when drivers are busy looking at an electronic device, most commonly a cell phone. Even just looking at a cell phone for a little as five seconds can be extremely dangerous, as those driving at or above fifty five miles per hour will cover the distance of a football field before they are paying attention to the road again in the way that they should be. This means that even looking quickly down at a maps app can have potentially deadly consequences. Fortunately, however, thanks to public service announcements and, in part, personal injury cases, rates of distracted driving are slowly but surely dropping. In 2015 around 3.8% of all drivers regularly used a handheld cell phone. By the next year, 2016, that percentage had fallen to 3.3%, showing small but definite progress in the crusade against distracted driving.
Driving under the influence (drunk driving) is another common cause of motor vehicle accidents that a personal injury law firm will specialize in, as they often lead to personal injury cases. Many people drive under the influence, either of drugs or of alcohol, and more than one million were arrested on DUI charges in 2015 alone. Unfortunately, it is estimated that a driver will drive while intoxicated on average around eighty times before they are first pulled over and arrest on DUI charges.
Personal injury lawyers along with a personal injury law firm can help to make a personal injury case go as smoothly as possible. People can seek a settlement after filing a personal injury case if they can prove that they were not liable for the accident but that the other person was. It is important to hire a personal injury law firm with a good track record, one experienced in personal injury cases. Fortunately, the vast majority of personal injury cases will never go to trial and can be adequately settled outside of a courtroom setting.
