What Are the Most Common Types of Personal Injuries You Might Suffer?

Personal injuries are no joke. They can permanently debilitate a person, making them unable to earn or, even worse, take care of themselves. What’s worse is that they can occur just about anywhere, from busy highways to an emergency room.

“According to the CDC, approximately 100 million Americans seek medical assistance after suffering a personal injury,” warns Stein Law, a Miami personal injury lawyer. If you think about it, these numbers are pretty staggering, indicating that almost every third person will have to deal with a major mishap.

While we can’t turn back the clock, we can take legal action to deal with some of the ramifications. Victims can file claims against the responsible persons or organizations and receive monetary compensation for their suffering. That way, they can at least cover the medical expenses and loss of work-related profits.

Understanding personal injuries

Personal injury is an umbrella term that refers to any injury to the mind, body, or emotions. Even if there isn’t noticeable damage, you can still file a claim after a life-altering experience. When gathering evidence and preparing for the court hearings, your lawyer needs to establish three main things:

• Culpability
• Extent of injuries
• Potential compensation

During a trial, a lawyer will try to recreate the situation, going through every minute detail. While this might be exhausting for a victim, it’s a necessary step that will determine who was responsible for the accident.

Seeking medical attention immediately after the mishap is crucial for establishing the true extent of injuries. Many people make the mistake of delaying the process, making it hard to showcase the damage to their bodies. So, even if you feel fine, it’s vital that you visit a medical professional who will examine you and write a report.

6 Most common personal injuries

Here’s a breakdown of the most common injuries you might suffer during your lifetime:

1.     Slip and fall

You would be surprised by the number of people who suffer slip and fall injuries. Naturally, if you fall in your house, you can’t expect any type of compensation (unless the slip was a result of third-party’s actions). However, if you slip and fall at the workplace, you have every right to seek a settlement.

These accidents usually occur due to wet floors or some other spilled liquids. They might occur due to numerous other things, such as liquids spilling from industrial tanks or improper disposal of waste.

2.     Car accidents

Despite all the measures taken in the last few decades, car injuries remain one of the leading causes of death in the US. What’s worse is that even if both sides take the necessary precautions, a crash might still occur due to weather or poor road conditions.

In these cases, it’s often hard to determine who was culpable. The best way to tackle things is to save the dashcam video and present it in a court of law. As with other types of personal injuries, you should immediately seek medical attention to establish the extent of physical damage to your body.

3.     Dog bites

Dog bites are, for the most part, a preventable occurrence. Unfortunately, as there are too many dangerous or untrained pets out there, these personal injuries are much more common than they should be.

In case of a dog bite, the owner is fully responsible for the pet’s behavior. These cases are scrutinized under strict personal liability standards and ensure complete protection for victims. Given that it isn’t hard to establish whether a dog bit you, these are some of the legally most straightforward situations.

4.     Intentional behavior

Although many injuries are a result of accidents, there are also a handful of situations where a perpetrator purposefully harmed the victim. Whether we’re talking about weapon assaults or injuries caused by fighting, these are all punishable by the law.

Interestingly enough, even if a person didn’t want to injure you directly, they’re also susceptible to this type of penalty. For example, if someone threw a rock at another person and hit you, they’re still liable for an intentional injury.

5.     Unsafe working conditions

Over the years, many large US companies had to pay major fines for having unsafe working conditions. These types of accidents are dominant in industries with hazardous materials but can also occur in various workshops. Even if we’re talking about corporate offices, you might still get injured due to a faulty guardrail or an old elevator.

6.     Product defects and usage

The last type of personal injury we’ll mention has to do with various product deficiencies. For example, you might suffer just because your machine or car doesn’t work as intended. These accidents are not that common in the US, especially in the last few decades, but they might still occur.

These kinds of mishaps might also occur if a product doesn’t have a proper label or manual. You might use a product in a way it wasn’t meant to be used, and you can still receive compensation in case of physical or emotional damage. Because of this potential issue, companies have become extra careful in regard to their manuals and customer guidance.