Personal injuries happen when a victim gets hurt due to an unexpected and dangerous accident. If a personal injury was caused by the negligence of another and not because of the victim, the accident victim can hold the other party responsible for their actions. Personal injuries can create many economic damages, resulting in costly medical bills, property damage, and income loss. In the case of wrongful death, the damages become even more expensive because the victim lost their life, and their contributions to their family can’t always be replaced.
There are many ways that a personal injury can happen. In the most common cases, they can occur because of:
An injury on someone else’s property constitutes a case of premises liability. Slip and fall accidents typically happen because of a hazardous condition on another’s property. Suppose the owner of the property didn’t provide warning signs to ward off visitors from a dangerous region of their premises. In that case, this can also be a reason that they are responsible for a visitor’s injuries. It is their job to maintain, repair, clean, and manage their property to keep visitors safe.
A car, motorcycle, truck, bike, or pedestrian accident can be fatal. Car accidents are a frequent occurrence and one of the most common personal injuries in the nation. Traffic accidents are commonly caused by distracted driving, inclement weather, speeding, improper lane changes, intoxication, aggressive driving, ignoring traffic signs, and more. If one party is at fault and the other is due compensation, the liable party’s insurer must pay the damages.
Products that malfunction for any reason and cause physical damage to you or your property may require you to seek damages from the product manufacturer. Products should be checked for quality, tested before being marketed, and should not threaten the health of consumers. When a product malfunctions, in most cases the manufacturer can be held responsible for damages. In some cases, it can be the warehouse or delivery company that may owe damages.
Healthcare practitioners owe a duty to their patients to provide the best possible medical care. When healthcare providers fall below quality standards or neglect to provide appropriate care, the patient can recover damages from them or their facility. For example, patients may receive the wrong dosage of medicine, get an incorrect diagnosis, be given the wrong prescription, receive poor follow-up, get the wrong lab tests, receive the wrong surgery, or experience a birth injury. These are just some reasons medical malpractice might occur.
When a dog owner doesn’t properly monitor their dog to keep people safe, this can result in a dog bite attack that leaves a victim injured. Even if a dog never had a previous instance of aggression and this was new behavior, the owner will still have to pay damages. Dog bite attacks can result in bacterial infection, scarring, muscle tearing, fractured bones, and more.
Personal injuries occur for a number of reasons, and in some cases, the victim may be partially responsible for their damages. There are two main types of damages that you could claim as a personal injury victim; they are economic and non-economic damages, also known as special and general damages respectively, which include any loss that was caused by the other party. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering and other emotional damages. Economic damages include wage loss, medical bills, and property damage. Speak with a personal injury attorney to find out if you have a personal injury that requires compensation.
