Accidents happen every day, and often result in some sort of personal injury. Sometimes these instances inevitably end up requiring the aid of a personal injury lawyer to help the victim sort through the sometimes complex arena of personal injury law in order to receive a personal injury settlement. What are some types of personal injury cases? Medical malpractice and motor vehicle crashes are just a few.

Vehicle crashes are one of the most common types of accidents out there, and they also result in a huge loss of life. In fact, in 2013, 21,132 passengers lost their lives in vehicle accidents, while another 2.05 million sustained some sort of injury. 3,154 fatal vehicle crashes involved distracted drivers, often linked to texting. Drunk driving is also a big culprit in vehicle crashes. It’s estimated that about every two minutes, one person is injured due to a drunk driving accident.

Medical malpractice is also a leading cause of personal injury that often results in the aid of an attorney. Whether it’s a surgery gone wrong or a bad medical decision that led to a birth complication, accidents happen all the time in the medical community that prompt patients to file medical malpractice claims. For example, surgery errors account for an estimated 34% of medical malpractice claims for inpatient incidents, while errors in diagnosis account for an estimated 46% of medical malpractice claims for outpatient incidents.

Once a medical malpractice claim is filed, the average wait time is about 27.5 months before a resolution is found through negotiated settlements or jury verdicts. While sometimes the process for filing a claim can be lengthy, it’s often worth it in the end. According to a study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the paid claims from 2005 to 2009 and found that inpatient claims received an average compensation of around $363,000. On the outpatient side of things, the average compensation for healthcare mistakes was about $290,000.

For those unfortunate enough to find themselves saddled with some sort of injury from an accident, be it vehicle related, medical related, or even work related, they can rest assured in knowing that there are legal avenues to take in order to get justice or compensation for being the victim of an accident.