As any personal injury lawyer knows, car accidents make up the majority of all personal injury cases here in the United States (around fifty two percent of them, to be exact, followed distantly by medical malpractice cases). Car accidents are common here, with more than six million occurring in any given year. Of these six million motor vehicle accidents, around three million people will sustain varying levels of injuries and more than thirty thousand will lose their lives. And while some car accidents are difficult to prevent (such as in cases of driving in rough weather), many very much are, and any personal injury lawyer can help you to get the settlement money that you deserve should you be the victim of such a case.

Drunk driving and driving under the influence of other drugs (both legal as well as illegal) are to blame for many preventable car accidents, as any personal injury lawyer or car accident attoreny will be well familiar with. In the year of 2015 alone, there were more than one million arrests made of those who were driving while somehow intoxicated, be it on drugs or alcohol. And these arrested people only make up a small fraction of those who drive while under the influence, as there are many as three hundred thousand drunk drivers in a single day in the United States alone. Of these drivers, only around four thousand – or even less, depending on the day – will be caught and then arrested. The typical drunk driver who drives while under the influence on a regular basis will usually get away with driving drug as many as eighty times before finally getting caught. Obviously, the high levels of drunk drivers opens the door to tragedy on a large scale.

But drunk driving is not the only cause of car accidents. Driving while under the influence of a narcotic can also be incredibly dangerous, and people are often very misinformed about these dangers. Unfortunately, many people view driving while under the influence of drugs like marijuana to be much safer than driving under the influence of alcohol, but this is incredibly far off base and far from the case. In fact, it’s estimated that more than fifteen percent (sixteen percent, to be more exact) of all car accidents can be directly linked to driving under the influence of a substance that was not alcohol.

Driving while distracted is also a huge problem here in the United States, especially now that smart phones have become widely utilized by drivers of all ages and abilities. Fortunately, driving while distracted is falling, as many as personal injury lawyer will be happy to here, dropping as much as a half of a percentage in just one year. However, it is still an incredibly dangerous thing to do that all too many people do. We know texting and driving can lead to death, but many of us don’t consider checking our GPS or taking a phone call to be all that dangerous. In truth, however, it certainly can be, and we should always be cautious while we are on the road, paying close attention to our surroundings at all times.

If you have been the victim of such a car or other such motor vehicle accident, you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as you possible can. Personal injury lawyers who work with personal injury law firms will be able to help you form your case as best as you possibly can. They can also help to determine liability for the accident, which can help to determine whether or not you have a strong case to begin with. On top of this, most personal injury cases will never see a courtroom. In fact, only four to five percent of them will ever be seen before a judge or a jury, as the vast majority (up to ninety six percent of all such cases) are typically able to be settled outside of a courtroom setting. Hiring a competent personal injury lawyer will help to make this a reality and get you the money that you need in order to get your life back on track.