Personal Injury Statistics 2022

New trends in personal injury lawsuits

Car accidents statistics

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are around 5.5 million vehicle accidents in the United States each year. These resulted in 3 million injuries and 40,000 deaths. They also discovered that vehicle accidents cause an additional 60,000 injuries and 5,000 deaths each year.

Distracted Driving: One of the reasons that automobile accidents account for so many personal injury lawsuits is distracted driving caused by phones. Car accidents have increased in recent years, with the usage of mobile phones playing a significant role.

• According to a 2018 study, there is a troubling correlation between the rise in mobile phone usage and the number of automobile accidents. In 2013, 55 percent of individuals possessed a Smartphone; by 2017, that figure had risen to 77 percent.
• At the same period, the number of automobile accidents climbed by 12.3%, from 5.7 million to 6.4 million.

Motorbike accident Statistics

• Motorcycles account for 14 percent of all traffic deaths, 17 percent of all occupant fatalities, and 3 percent of all occupant injuries in the United States.
• Although accounting for just 3 percent of all registered cars and 0.6 percent of all vehicle miles travelled in 2019.
• Helmet usage is a factor that has a direct impact on motorcycle fatality statistics.
• From 2018 to 2019, fatalities among motorcycle riders and passengers declined somewhat (by 0.5 percent), while the rate per 100 million vehicle miles driven climbed by 1.5 percent.
• Longer-term trends indicate a 3.1 percent decline in deaths from 2007 to 2019, but a 5.3 percent increase in death rate, from 24.18 to 25.47.
• The total number of motorcycle deaths has now reached 5,014. Motorcycle deaths peaked in 2016 (5,337) and dropped to a 12-year low in 2009.

Bicycle accident Statistics:

• The number of avoidable deaths from bicycle transportation events grew by 6% in 2019 and by 37% over the last decade, from 793 in 2010 to 1,089 in 2019.
• Simultaneously, the number of avoidable nonfatal injuries has decreased by 40%, from 515,861 in 2010 to 308,864 in 2019.
• However, the number of avoidable nonfatal injuries increased by 7% in 2019 compared to 2018.
• According to National Center for Health Statistics mortality data, 712 bicyclists died in motor vehicle collisions in 2019 and 377 perished in other situations.
• Males accounted for 88 percent of all bicycle fatalities, more than seven times the number of female fatalities.

Pedestrian accident Statistics: In the United States in 2017, 5,977 pedestrians were killed in automobile accidents. That equates to one death every 88 minutes.

• In addition, an estimated 137,000 pedestrians were treated in emergency rooms in 2017 for nonfatal crash-related injuries. Pedestrians are 1.5 times more likely than passenger vehicle passengers to be killed in an automobile accident each trip.

Drones: As the usage of drones gets more popular, so does the number of drone-related injuries.

• During the holiday season in 2016, 1.5 million people in the United States received drones.
• Drone abuse, such as flying a drone over forbidden locations, and invasion of privacy, with drones being used to intrude a person’s private space, are two common difficulties. When a drone crashes, personal property might be destroyed.

Work Injury Statistics for the US

• In 2020, the overall number of injuries per 100 full-time employees stayed constant at 2.8.
• In 2019, occupational fatalities increased by 2%.
• Since 1972, occupational accident rates in the United States have decreased by 75%.
• The direct expenditures of the top ten most debilitating occupational injuries in the United States in 2020 were $52.93 billion.
• Overexertion caused by outside causes accounted for 23.5 percent of all job injuries in the United States.
• Exposure to hazardous chemicals or conditions caused about 37,000 job injuries.

Construction accidents statistics: Following that, it is estimated that construction accidents cause 300,000 personal injuries and 1,000 deaths each year.

Nature of personal injury

The United States Department of Justice also emphasized the nature of personal injury claims, which offered genuine clarity on the similarities of various instances. They discovered:

• Motor vehicle accidents accounted for 52% of all fatalities.
• Medical malpractice accounted for 15% of the total.
• Product liability accounted for 5% of the total.

The remaining 28% of instances were classified as “other.” This demonstrates the wide range of personal injuries that might occur. It also emphasizes the relevance of traffic accidents.

Cases that went to trial

The study by the United States Department of Justice then examined the outcomes of cases that went to trial. Surprisingly, plaintiffs prevailed in around half of the cases. There were also significant changes based on the sort of tort case heard. As an example:

• Plaintiffs were victorious in 61 percent of motor vehicle-related events.
• Plaintiffs were victorious 50% of the time in intentional tort proceedings.
• Plaintiffs have a 39 percent success rate in premises liability proceedings.
• Plaintiffs were victorious in 38 percent of product liability proceedings.
• Only 19% of plaintiffs were successful in medical malpractice lawsuits, demonstrating how difficult it is to show medical carelessness.

Surprisingly, judges appear to be more likely than juries to trust the plaintiff (56 percent) (51 percent).

Amount of damages that were paid

However, these numbers are relative, owing to the fact that the amount of damages actually paid out is what most people are concerned with. The US Department of Justice also issued a report on this, which is as follows:

• Half of the litigants got no more than $24,000 in compensation.
• For all cases, the median reward is $31,000.
• In personal injury claims involving motor vehicles, the median compensation is $16,000.
• In premises liability lawsuits, the median compensation was $90,000.
• The median award in intentional tort cases was $100,000.
• The average payout in a medical malpractice case was $679,000.
• The average award in a product liability lawsuit was $748,000.

These findings highlight two key points. For starters, cases that are rarely litigated have greater awards. Second, instances with a higher level of damage or possibility for injury pay out more.

Personal injury cases that went to trial

Finally, the analysis demonstrated that the judicial procedure for those personal injury claims that would get to trial was extremely protracted. Again, there were significant changes based on the kind of instance. As a result, the average for:

• It took 23 months for tort cases to be filed.
• The average length of time for a motor vehicle accident case was 20 months.
• The average length of time for a medical malpractice case was 31 months.
• The premises liability period was 24 months.
• The average length of time for intentional tort lawsuits was 25 months.

Average physical trial time

As a result, it was discovered that the litigation were unusually protracted. Furthermore, as compared to other sorts of cases, the trial itself would be lengthy. The average physical trial time was shown to be:

• A medical malpractice case takes six days.
• In product liability lawsuits, the time limit is seven days.
• Thirteen days for trials involving asbestos claims these, on the other hand, are far more complicated by definition and need a large amount of evidence to be produced in court before conclusions can be reached.

Final Thoughts:

Finally, medical negligence is thought to be responsible for the deaths of around 98,000 people each year. This demonstrates how many unintentional injuries and fatalities occur in USA each year. As a result, responsibility is frequently contested in these situations. When this occurs, a personal injury claim or other type of litigation may be required.

Sources

https://personalinjurysandiego.org/personal-injury/statistics-of-personal-injury-cases-nationwide/
https://legaljobs.io/blog/22-work-injury-statistics/
https://texasjustice.com/blog/personal-injury-statistics/