Some people hear the term “PI” and think of a private investigator. However, “PI” also stands for “personal injury” and refers to a broad legal scope and process. If you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligent actions or inactions, you may need to make a personal injury claim.
Understanding PI accidents and what they entail can help you prepare for your case. Brown & Gessell is a personal injury law firm that represents victims in a variety of PI scenarios. In this blog post, we discuss the definition of personal injury accident, detail types of PI cases, and answer common questions on the topic of personal injury.
What Does PI Accident Mean?
The definition of a personal injury accident is when a person is injured by another person’s negligent or careless actions. The injuries caused can be physical, emotional, or a combination of both. A PI accident can also cause damage to property.
Under personal injury law, injured victims are able to seek compensation for their injuries and financial losses that arise from the accident. The intent is to help make the victim whole in the aftermath of the accident. Personal injury accidents can happen in a variety of ways and in similar cases, unique factors can set them apart.
After a recent injury from a PI accident, it is always smart to speak with a Stockton personal injury attorney who can evaluate your case. They will be able to provide you with legal options and assist in recovering compensation on your behalf.
Common PI Accident Scenarios
Common PI Accident Scenarios often revolve around incidents such as car accidents involving a negligent driver, slip and falls due to unsafe conditions maintained by property owners, or workplace mishaps.
These common types of personal injury situations typically result in personal injury claims or escalate to a personal injury lawsuit when legal disputes arise. Many personal injury cases share similar circumstances, including proving a breach of legal duty that led to physical harm or psychological trauma.
Evidence, such as witness statements, is critical in establishing negligence and securing compensation for damages incurred, such as medical expenses, lost income, and attorney fees. Victims seeking fair resolution often rely on legal expertise to navigate the complexities of PI claims and achieve justice for their suffering.
As mentioned above, understanding PI accidents can help you know what may lie ahead as you move forward with your life. The following personal injury accident scenarios are among the most common that attorneys represent:
Car Accidents
Car accidents are the most common reason why a personal injury case is filed. California uses an at-fault insurance model, which holds the person who caused the crash responsible for paying compensation to the victims.
At best, car accidents are inconvenient and disruptive. However, at worst, they can cause life-threatening injuries or result in the loss of a loved one. In many cases, car accidents are caused by distracted drivers who are texting, eating, changing the music, talking to their passengers, or trying to reach for something. Car accidents can also be caused by drunk or intoxicated drivers, drowsy drivers, and aggressive drivers.
If you or a loved one were seriously injured in a car accident, working with a lawyer can help you protect your best interests.
Truck Accidents
Truck accidents are another common PI accident that has been on the rise in recent years. Due to the increasing demand for goods, more semi-trucks are on the road than ever before.
Truck drivers and the trucking companies that employ them must abide by rules and regulations set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). These rules cover hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, inspections, maintenance schedules, and more. If you get in a truck accident and an investigation reveals a violation of federal laws, you can file a lawsuit to hold the trucking company accountable for its negligence.
Bus Accidents
City buses, school buses, and private tour buses are also frequently involved in accidents. Passengers can suffer serious injuries when a bus driver or the bus company shirks their safety responsibilities. These types of PI accidents can be as complicated as truck accidents when it comes to personal injury claims
Motorcycle Accidents
Accidents involving motorcycles are another difficult personal injury claim. Insurance companies often blame the motorcyclist, even when a motorist is responsible for causing the crash. Motorcycle accidents can cause extensive and permanent injuries due to the lack of protection for the rider. If you ride a motorcycle and get into a wreck, you will want to have a personal injury attorney to help you navigate the legal process.
Workplace Injuries
Workplace injuries, particularly at hazardous job sites in the construction industry, should be covered by workers’ compensation. This insurance coverage is required by all employers, with very few exceptions, from the first day of employment.
Unfortunately, personal injury cases emerge from injuries or illnesses caused by work conditions when employers fail to provide this coverage. They may also fail to report a work accident and take other actions that prevent an employee from collecting their workers’ compensation benefits.
Slips and Falls
Slips, trips, and falls are part of premises liability, which is an aspect of personal injury law. In essence, every property owner, whether a homeowner or business owner, has a duty of care to keep invited guests safe on their premises. When this duty is breached and causes a personal injury accident, they can be held liable.
Slip and falls and other premises liability cases are complex because they require proving that the owner or manager knew or should have known of the danger. With a property hazard, steps should be taken to make immediate repairs. If those repairs will take some time, the dangerous area needs to be clearly marked with warning signs to prevent someone from getting hurt.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice cases involve intricate medical knowledge, which requires experts to testify. Doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, and healthcare facilities may provide a misdiagnosis, wrong medication or dosage, cause a birth injury, leave an object inside of someone during surgery, and other errors.
The key factor with medical malpractice is that the mistake the professional or facility makes causes injury by failing to maintain a reasonable standard of care. It is critical for anyone who has a medical malpractice claim to talk to a personal injury lawyer and secure legal representation.
Pedestrian Accidents
Pedestrians can suffer severe injuries when motorists or even bicyclists fail to pay attention. This PI accident often results in permanent injuries for victims of all ages. With a personal injury claim, you can recover compensation for your medical bills, lost income, and other financial losses from the person who negligently caused the accident.
Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic injuries can occur in any type of personal injury accident. What makes an injury catastrophic is that it causes life-threatening conditions, permanent disability, or the need for long-term medical recovery. If catastrophic injuries were caused to you or someone you love, a personal injury attorney can help with your injury claim.
Wrongful Death
Sometimes, when personal injury accidents happen, they can take a loved one from your life. In some cases, this may happen in an instant, such as in a car or truck accident. In other cases, perhaps medical malpractice, there may be some time between the injury and passing away.
Wrongful death is one of the most difficult PI accidents for surviving loved ones. It is a challenge to deal with immeasurable grief on its own. When you’re contending with grief and trying to seek justice for your loss, it might seem impossible to deal with. For these reasons, it is recommended that you consult a personal injury attorney to represent you and allow you the chance to grieve.
Types of Compensation Available in PI Accidents
When understanding PI accidents, it’s important to consider the compensation required to make your life whole again. The amount of every personal injury claim will vary because they will have differing factors.
You could compare two similar car accidents and have one victim receive higher compensation. This occurs because compensation is calculated based on factors that include the type of injury, severity of the injury, and the impact of the injury on your quality of life. A personal injury attorney can help you evaluate how much compensation you should get by calculating your economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are the tangible losses you have experienced that can be calculated to an exact dollar amount. Medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and out-of-pocket costs resulting from your injuries, such as transportation to your doctors’ appointments, are common examples of economic damages.
Non-economic damages are intangible losses that you have experienced, such as mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium. When you meet with a personal injury lawyer, they can review these aspects of your case and calculate your compensation.
What Does It Take to Have a Successful Personal Injury Claim?
Another thing to consider in PI accidents is whether your injury claim is valid. There may be no doubt that you have been hurt, but to hold someone liable for the injuries and damages you’ve suffered, you must prove the four elements of negligence.
These elements include establishing that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, that they breached their duty, that the breach caused the accident, and that the accident caused your injuries and damages. For example, when you are driving, you and all the other drivers on the road owe each other a duty of care. That duty is to drive responsibly and follow the rules of the road.
A breach of this duty in a car accident could be the other driver texting while driving, getting behind the wheel while intoxicated, or driving aggressively. Proving the breach and that the breach directly caused the accident that resulted in your injuries is very challenging, which is why it helps to hire a personal injury attorney.
There are other reasons a PI accident is best handled by a lawyer from Brown & Gessel because the laws in California could impact your case.
What Should You Know About Fault Laws and Contributory Negligence?
California uses an at-fault model for car insurance and while it only applies to motor vehicle accidents, other laws may affect your case. In any PI accident scenario, contributory negligence might be a factor.
Contributory negligence considers how much fault a victim may have had in their PI accident. It’s easy to see in examples involving motor vehicle crashes but it can also be applied in other circumstances.
States have different rules regarding contributory negligence. California uses a pure comparative negligence model that allows you to receive compensation even if you were 99% at fault for your injuries. However, this also means that the percentage of fault you are assigned will be subtracted from your compensation award.
For example, if you are in an accident with a drunk driver who caused a T-bone accident, the accident would likely be their fault. If you were speeding at the time, it might be argued that you could have avoided the accident if you were driving at the posted speed limit, thereby reducing the amount of your personal injury claim.
In short, a personal injury claim is subject to many factors that can reduce or increase your compensation. This is just a small example of what you can expect after a personal injury accident.
What Is the Statute of Limitations and How Does It Affect PI Accidents?
Many injury victims want to know about the statute of limitations and how it affects their personal injury claim. The statute of limitations is the time limit in which you can file your lawsuit. This is a different time limit than the one for filing an injury claim with an insurer.
The time limit imposed by California to file a personal injury accident lawsuit is two years from the date you were injured. In that time, you will be busy trying to file a claim with the insurance company for a settlement. You may be issued delays during investigations, which then lead to either a denial of your personal injury claim or a low settlement amount that doesn’t provide sufficient coverage for your losses caused by the other party.
Certain situations may shorten this time limit, such as medical malpractice cases, which only have a one-year time limit. PI accidents involving government entities require presenting a claim to the government within six months of your injury, which is the first of many steps. Therefore, it is always prudent to take action quickly before time runs out. Speaking with a personal injury lawyer from Brown & Gessel can help you determine what is the right step for you.
Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney to File a Personal Injury Claim in Stockton?
If you have suffered injuries in a PI accident, it is in your best interests to work with a personal injury attorney during the claim process. Insurers are notorious for the tactics they use to reduce settlements, blame victims, and deny claims.
When you work with Brown & Gessell from the start, you will be able to focus on recovering from your injuries. In turn, your attorney will be focused on recovering your compensation. With our understanding of applicable laws and our considerable negotiation skills, we can help you achieve your goal of getting full compensation for your personal injury claim.