Drunk Driving Accidents and Other Situations Where Consulting With a Personal Injury Attorney May Be Beneficial
There are a variety of accidents that occurs on roads, streets, and highways throughout the United States. While some of these may be no fault of the drivers, a large percentage are. The Association for Safe International Road Travel reported that every year, road crashes result in the death of more than 37,000 residents within this country.
In 2015 alone, approximately 32,166 fatal motor vehicle crashes occurred. While a large percentage of these were caused by drunk driving, others included driving under the influence of narcotics. This includes both legal drugs prescribed by a physician as well as illegal drugs. Approximately 1.1 million drivers were arrested for these reasons during 2015. Drunk driving wasn’t the cause of all of the motor vehicles that occurred during that year. In roughly 16% of the motor vehicle crashes that occurred, drugs other than alcohol were involved.
Distracted driving also causes a large percentage of accidents. Even though the percentage of drivers using handheld cell phones or manipulating other types of electronic devices slightly decreased between 2015 to 2016, it is still a prevalent issue. It is important to note, however, that over the course of that year, the percentage did decrease from 3.8% to 3.3%.
While there were a variety of issues that caused motorcyclists to be injured, the number of injuries decreased between 2014 to 2015. In 2014, for example, 92,000 motorcyclists were injured, and 88,000 were injured in the following year. This amounts to a 4.3% decrease in injuries.
Pedestrians are also at risk for being struck by a car or another type of vehicle. During 2015, for example, individuals within the over 65 age group accounted for 13% of all the injuries sustained by pedestrians. Adults over 65 also accounted for 19% of all the pedestrian fatalities during that time period.
If you or someone in your family has been injured or experienced a wrongful death due to a motor vehicle accident, it’s important to contact a personal injury law firm. Since motor vehicle accidents can be handled by personal injury attorneys, they will be able to consult with you about individual your case. It’s important to note that only four to five percent of these cases usually go to trial. There’s a good chance that your case will be settled out of court, or pre-trial.
