Types of Car Accidents that Lead to Personal Injury Claims

March 23, 2022 | Car Accidents

Car accidents come in many varieties, and many of them lead to personal injury claims. Generally, car accident claims, which are a specific variety of personal injury claims, are caused by driver negligence, which comes in far too many varieties. If another driver’s negligence has injured you or someone you care about, it’s time to consult with a car accident attorney.

What Are the Primary Types of Car Accidents that Cause Injuries?

Several primary types of car accidents commonly lead to personal injury claims, including:

• Rear-end accidents
• Head-on accidents
• Sideswipe accidents
• Angle collisions
• T-bone accidents
• Rollovers

These accidents can cause serious personal injuries that require medical treatment and disrupt your life. Below is some additional information about each accident type.

#1. Rear-End Accidents

Rear-end accidents account for 7.1 percent of all fatal accidents on our roads-making these accidents some of the most common and serious. While many people think of rear-end accidents as nothing more than fender benders, this is misleading. The impact generated in rear-end accidents can kill motorists. It commonly causes severe injuries, including broken bones, traumatic head injuries (TBIs), spinal cord injuries, and soft tissue injuries (such as whiplash).

#2. Head-on Accidents

It’s difficult to imagine a car crash more terrifying or dangerous than a head-on accident. About 5,000 fatal head-on crashes happened in a recent year, and they accounted for nearly 30 percent of all the collisions involving more than one vehicle that year. These accidents happen far too often, and impairment or aggression behind the wheel often causes them.

#3. Sideswipe Accidents

Sideswipe accidents occur when two vehicles are traveling in the same direction when one swipes into the side of the other. Driver distraction often causes these accidents, and they are as common and dangerous. Sideswipe accidents accounted for 1,300 deaths a year, which translates to 7.8 percent of all fatal accidents involving more than one vehicle that year.

#4. Angle Collisions

Angle collisions refer to those accidents in which one vehicle strikes the other at an angle between 90 degrees, which is a T-bone accident, and 180 degrees, which is a rear-end accident. Angle accidents are the most common car accidents, accounting for 7,400 deaths annually and representing 44.9 percent of all fatal accidents involving more than one vehicle.

#5. T-Bone Accidents

T-bone accidents are those crashes in which a motorist barrels into another vehicle’s side, forming the shape of a T in the process. T-bone accidents are most common in intersections, and motorists who run red lights often cause them.

#6. Rollovers

Rollovers are about as bad as it gets for car accidents, and they can happen for many reasons. However, sometimes they are caused by drivers who respond as best they can to other drivers’ dangerous maneuvers.

Your Personal Injury Claim and the Other Driver’s Negligence

Car accidents that lead to personal injury claims stem from negligence, and driver negligence can vary from case to case.

#1. Driver Distraction

When a motorist is distracted by anything other than maneuvering safely through traffic, it can lead to severe accidents. With too many dangerous distractions out there, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) calls texting the most alarming of all. When motorists text behind the wheel, their hands, thoughts, and sight are all involved, making it one of the few distractions that incorporates all three primary categories of distraction.

When the driver next to you focuses on a text, it takes them about five seconds. This amounts to driving blind for about the length of a football field at highway speeds. There is no way to interpret such behavior other than as exceptionally dangerous.

#2. Driver Exhaustion

While drowsy driving is thought to be underreported and, therefore, underrepresented in accident statistics, the practice is known to be exceptionally dangerous. Drivers with too little sleep can experience some of the same forms of impairment as drunk drivers do.

Because too few motorists are aware of the concern, not enough take the necessary precautions and avoid driving drowsy. The risks associated with exhaustion behind the wheel are so serious that careful federal and state hours-of-service restrictions restrain commercial drivers.

#3. Excess Speed

When motorists fly down the road with nary a care regarding their speed, they allow themselves less time to react safely to any dangers or risks they encounter, making life-threatening accidents more likely. Motorists who speed also increase the chance that any accidents they are involved in will be deadly.

It’s not enough to simply follow the speed limit and call it good-drivers are responsible for safely adjusting their speed in response to whatever is happening on the road and to the condition of the road generally.

#4. Impairment

We all know the immense risks of getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, but far too many motorists out there refuse to halt the practice. Drunk drivers suffer many impairments-coupled with diminished impulse control-that make them exceptionally dangerous drivers.

#5. Aggression

Aggressive drivers tend to engage in a wide range of dangerous driving practices during any given trip, and as a result, they are some of the deadliest drivers on our roadways.

While the primary form of aggressive driving is death-defying speed, these actions also constitute aggression behind the wheel:

• Tailgating
• Cutting in front of other drivers
• Attempting to annoy and engage other drivers by honking incessantly, flashing one’s headlights, using profane language, using obscene gestures, and more
• Aggressively usurping the right-of-way.
• Passing illegally
• Changing lanes erratically
• Zipping in and out of traffic
• Ignoring traffic signs and signals

Always allow aggressive drivers as much space on the road as possible and do not engage with them.

Your Losses

The losses (or legal damages) you suffer due to another driver’s negligence reach immense proportions. Ensure that you address these losses head-on in your car accident claim to recover as fully as possible.

Consider the following common categories of loss (in addition to property damage to your vehicle):

• Medical expenses that begin with emergency care and extend to surgery, hospital stays, pain management, medical procedures and tests, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and much more
• Lost earnings that, if your injuries are severe, can include lost earning potential
• Physical and psychological pain and suffering that is often exceptionally challenging to adequately address and move beyond

An Experienced Accident Attorney Is Standing by to Help

If another driver’s negligence has injured you, a car accident attorney can help. Regardless of what type of accident you were in, make your first priority your well-being. The best way to ensure your well-being is to seek out an evaluation from a medical professional. They will know how to diagnose you and alert you to injuries that you might not have noticed yet.

After a medical professional has checked you out, Contact a enlist a qualified attorney to seek compensation so that you can pay for your recovery.