Many millions of Americans use the urban roads and highways across the United States every day, whether in their cars, trucks, motorcycles, or even bicycles, and this leads to busy and fast-moving traffic day and night. The bad news is that these roads are not always safe, and bad weather or impaired drivers can make roads dangerous, and collisions and injury may happen. Statistics are always being gathered to keep track of rates of injury and collision on American roads today, and the numbers show that while it is often car drivers who are hurt, many pedestrians, motorcyclists, or bicycle riders are injured or killed on the roads every year. Someone who got injured in a crash or a bike accident may want compensation for their injuries and the damage to their property, and after a bike accident or a car wreck, a person will probably enlist the aid of a car accident attorney or a personal injury attorney to start litigation against the at-fault party. What should be done after someone is hurt in an accident or gets in a bike accident, and how often does this happen to Americans?
Rates of Accidents on the Road
Many Americans are hurt or killed on the roads today due to a number of factors, and a person’s mode of transportation may impact their chances of getting in a wreck and their odds of surviving that incident. Across the nation, nearly six million car accidents take place, and nearly three million people get injured as a result. Sometimes, these victims are motorcyclists or bicyclists, and these riders do not have the advantage of an airbag or protective car doors around them in the case of a crash, so a bike or motorcycle rider may face heightened odds of serious injury or a fatality in the case of a collision. Pedestrians are in similar danger; they have nothing but their own bodies being exposed to a speeding car or truck.
Often, drivers are drunk or influenced by drugs while they are driving, and a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is a level of serious impairment, and in fact, driving with such a BAC is a serious crime even if there is no collision. Such drivers have impaired reflexes, coordination, and judgment, and this makes them deadly to themselves and others. In fact, drugs and alcohol are involved in nearly 16% of all motor vehicle crashes, and not even “driving buzzed” is a safe alternative, even if some drivers think so. Alcohol and the road never mix.
Similarly, distracted drivers are those occupied with a handheld electronic device (often a cell phone) or the car’s dashboard while driving, and they too are dangerous since they are not looking where they are going. For this reason, using a cell phone while driving is illegal in many states and areas. Distracted drivers could easily end up hitting other cars, pedestrians, or bicycle riders, and once a crash happens, the victim will want compensation.
After the Crash
After a bike accident or a car wreck, the victim will want compensation, and this often means hiring a lawyer to help them. A lawyer will have the legal skills and the cool head and objective view needed to build a case with relevant law, unlike their emotionally charged client, and figuring out the finances of this case can be difficult without legal aid. If the victim’s injuries are serious enough to prevent them from doing paying work in the future, this can be factored in with a lawyer’s help.
During litigation, an injury lawyer can help their client demand settlement money from the at-fault party’s insurance company, and this legal aid can be valuable if the insurance company is refusing to cooperate or if multiple parties are involved. In a complex case, a lawyer will know best how to assign blame and distribute settlement money fairly. A client can find such a lawyer when they look up local personal injury or car crash law firms and get consultations from the attorneys there (this may or may not incur a fee). The client can then find a lawyer whose skills, expertise, and success rate are to their liking and start their case.