It's unfortunate, but accidents due to someone else's negligence can cause serious injuries to another person.
Individuals who suffer personal injuries are allowed by law to recover damages from the one who was found to be at fault. To receive compensation for a loss requires filing a personal injury lawsuit or a claim against an individual and his or her insurance company.
While there are many types of personal injury claims, the most common are vehicle accidents, public liability, work-related injuries and medical malpractice.
Vehicle Accidents
With thousands of cars, trucks and motorcycles traveling each day on major highways, city streets and rural roads, it's inevitable for accidents to happen.
Distracted driving is one of the many causes of vehicle crashes. Distracted driving includes texting, talking on a cell phone without using a hands-free device, eating, putting on makeup, combing one's hair or shaving one's face. Weather-related road conditions, such as heavy snow, rain or fog, have also contributed to accidents resulting in personal injuries.
Failing to pay attention behind the wheel results in driver and passenger injuries that can range from a pain in the neck to becoming paralyzed for life. A high-impact crash can even cause amputation of a limb or loss of life. Survivors of a fatal accident victim can file a wrongful death claim if they can prove that the death of their loved one was due to a driver's negligence. A wrongful death claim is also considered a personal injury.
Personal injury claims can be filed against motorists in accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles. These types of accidents can be just as serious, if not more so, as accidents involving other vehicles. If the trauma to the pedestrian's or cyclist's body is great enough, that individual could sustain injuries that could forever change their lives.
Car insurance companies are heavily involved in personal injury claims. Anyone filing a claim, whether a driver, passenger, or pedestrian, will be contacted by the insurance companies and asked for their version of how the accident occurred. Whichever driver is found to have caused the accident that resulted in the injuries, that driver's insurance company is considered liable for the damages.
Public Liability
Public liability are accidents that happen in a public place due to negligence on the part of an individual or business. The accidents typically occur at businesses, schools, public parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, shopping malls and on public sidewalks.
A well-known example of public liability is what's called a "slip-and-fall." A business, for instance, would be considered negligent if, after a heavy snowfall, the business does not clear its public walks and entryways and someone falls on the pile of snow or ice and is injured. The same goes for a local municipality which has a public parking lot with broken concrete or an uneven sidewalk that causes someone to trip and fall.
Personal injury claims can also be filed against a homeowner whose negligence caused harm to someone who came on their premises. For instance, a visitor can slip and fall at a party or a delivery person can fall through rotten wood boards on the front porch or a dog bites a visitor who did not provoke the dog to attack. Personal injury claims are filed with the homeowner's insurance company.
Work-related injuries
The potential for suffering an injury on the job is high at any workplace, but particularly in jobs where machinery and heavy-duty equipment are used. Injuries are also likely to occur in dangerous jobs such as repairing power lines or sewers and construction of high-rise buildings. Compensation claims can also be filed against employers who consistently maintain an unsafe work environment and hazardous conditions resulting in serious injuries of workers.
Companies are required to have Workers' Compensation insurance, which replaces wages and provides medical benefits to workers who are injured while performing their jobs. Employees are also advised to do their part to avoid being negligent in the workplace.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice has been a controversial personal injury claim for years. On the one hand, physicians contend that frivolous medical malpractice claims have raised their insurance rates and have made some of them reluctant to perform certain high-risk medical procedures. Attorneys argue that patients harmed by doctors' errors should be compensated and doctors should be held accountable for their negligence. The debate continues on with seemingly no resolution in sight.
Although medical malpractice stories in the media usually focus on doctors, physicians are not the only medical professionals that can be held liable for a personal injury. Nurses, nurse practicioners, physician assistants, radiologists, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, dentists and many other medical personnel are all subject to having personal injury complaints filed against them.
People who want to be compensated for their injuries but do not know how to file a claim should seek advice and assistance from a personal injury attorney such as one from a Columbia, Maryland Law Firm.
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