PERSONAL INJURY LEAD GENERATION AND CAR ACCIDENT LEADS FOR ATTORNEYS: A GUIDE OF CLAIMS AND INJURY TYPES

by Robert Wilson | Last updated Oct-16-18

Personal Injury Lead Generation and Car Accident Leads for Attorneys: A Guide of Claim and Injury Types

Auto accident claims are the most common type of personal injury case in the United States.  That might explain why personal injury lead generation heavily emphasizes car accident injury leads.

The most common type of auto accident injuries is soft tissue, which involve the body’s connective muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Of that category, the leading soft tissue injury is whiplash.  This injury type involves a quick and sudden force that causes the head and neck to move forward and backward in quick fashion, like what may be experienced when a car is hit.  Typically, the body is restrained with a seatbelt that leaves the head and neck unprotected and unstablized.  Injuries sustained from a collision move from the neck to the mid and lower-back areas causing sprains and other serious damage to the spine.

The most common type of motor vehicle accident is rear-end collisions.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are roughly 6 million car crashes in the U.S. every year, and 40% of them (2.5 million) are rear-end collisions.   Put into perspective, that’s about one out of every 8 seconds.  Interestingly, although most of these collisions involve vehicles traveling under 10 mph, they still result in serious injuries to the neck, face, head, legs, and spine.

The type of claim a law firm would file would be negligence, which have the following four elements: (1) duty, (2) breach of that duty, (3) causation, and (4) harm.  In other words, a driver has a duty to drive carefully and when he or she fails after being distracted while texting behind the wheel it could result in a crash that causes physical harm to another.

Types of Personal Injury Attorney Lead Generation

According to the Insurance Information Institute, over 550,000 people get injured every year due to rear-end collisions.  This amounts to one-third of harmful car wrecks.

In fact, the typical U.S. citizen likely will be involved in in three to four motor vehicle accidents in their lifetime.

There are a few accident injury types that are common with cars.  To learn more about them, take a look at the information below.

Rear-End Collisions Provide Opportunities for Attorney Leads

Due to the fact that the average person will be in an auto accident in their lives, and rear-end collisions are the most common, it is quite likely that it will be virtually impossible to avoid such a situation.

More corroboration for this assertion can be found from the Triple A Foundation for Traffic Safety, which determined that rear-end collisions cause almost 30% of all car collisions. Other studies have shown rear end collisions resulting from distracted driving occurs between 76% to 87% of all rear end crashes.

Check out the following reasons these occur.

Tailgaiting:  When a driver follows a car too closely, he or she could be violating the law when not “following at a safe distance.”  There is a direct correlation between how close a driver is to the car in front of him and the likelihood of crashing. The problem that arises is the reaction time decreases with proximtity, and if the in-front driver slams their brakes it will be more difficult for the other car to stop.  Additional issues can present themselves when bad road conditions, bad weather, and poor visibility enters.

When attorneys contact auto accident leads to discuss the drivers situation, there are some preventative measures they can provide.

• Drive at a safe speed. Naturally, driving the speed limit is the first task a person should consider.  Speed limits are set to prevent accidents and are based upon many factors.  Always give yourself proper time to react by obeying traffic laws.
• Keep a safe distance. The general rule for drivers is to keep a distance of 10 feet for every 10 miles-per-hour driving.  When poor road conditions and weather are present, consider more distance.
• The larger the car the more distance required. Heavier motor vehicles require more pressure from their brakes to come to a stop.  Also, motorcycles may not be able to slow down as fast cars.  They can skid and crash easier when brakes are applied strenuously.
• Bad weather conditions. Rain, sleet, and snow can decrease tire traction and prevent your car from decreasing speed and stopping.  When inclement weather arises, consider doubling the space normally given as a means to avoid an accident injury.

Below are some standard tips based upon timing that drivers may follow to avoid rear-end collisions

• Two-second Rule:  If the roads are clear and dry, the standard timing rule is two seconds. One way to determine this is to count the number of seconds that pass when the in-front car passes an object, like a sign or tree.
• Four-second Rule: On the other hand, when roadways are wet you should double the standard two-second rule to accommodate for the decrease in stopping ability.
• Ten-second Rule: When road conditions unmistakably difficult, which could be weather related, the best option is to be a full ten-seconds away from the car in front.  This could occur when road conditions and visibility are at their worst.

Distracted Driving: When a driver stops paying attention to the road and gets on their phone, begins eating, putting on makeup, talking to passengers, and listening to loud music, they can cause a dangerous and sometimes fatal accident.  The NHTSA defines distracted driving as “anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving.”  The unfortunate result is the deaths of 3,450 people and 391,000 in 2016 injuries.  The problem seems to be difficult to deter, as 2013 saw about 400,000 people hurt or killed due to distracted drivers. Sending text messages is the most common type here, and driving for 5 seconds without looking at the road can take a person blindly down the length of a football field.

Each state has different sets of rules to handle this problem, and below are some guidelines among them.

• Hand-held cell phone use: There are 16 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that prohibit drivers from using cell phones when driving.  In these jurisdictions, police officers may issue a citation to drivers regardless of whether another traffic violation occurred.
• Categorical cell phone use restrictions: There are no states or jurisdictions that prohibit cell phones usage for all drivers.  However, 20 states plus Washington, D.C. restrict school bus drivers from using cell phones while driving, and 38 states and Washington, D.C. disallow inexperienced drivers from them.
• Text messaging: A solid 47 states currently prohibit texting while driving with Washington leading the way. Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands prohibit text messaging for all drivers.

DUI and DWI:  There is no question that substance abuse from drugs and alcohol can seriously impair a driver’s reaction time and reflexes.  The problem with intoxicated drivers is their inability to properly determine distance and speed, and they may fall asleep while driving.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over one million people have violated driving under the influence and driving while intoxicated laws each year, and that doesn’t come close to the 111 million incidents of self-reported drunk driving annually.

Below are some statistics covering the result on society due to these types of automobile accidents.

• In 2016, 28% of all traffic-related fatalities in the U.S. resulted from intoxicated drivers, which totaled 10,497 people.
• From the 1,233 fatal traffic accidents involving kids between 0 and 14 years old in 2016, 17% involved an intoxicated driver.
• 16% of motor vehicle accidents involved drugs.
• 13% of weekend and evening drivers have marijuana in their bodies.
• Smoking marijuana results in a 25% higher likelihood of being involved in an auto accident.

Weather Conditions: Inclement weather can reap havoc on attempts to stay clear of an accident.  Bad conditions such as rain, slush, ice, snow, and fog can reduce a driver’s ability to see clearly and drive without issue.

Bad Driving: One of the most common instigators of rear-end collisions are sudden stops. This can be more likely when drives are too close to each other. Road conditions, road hazards, and construction are all situations that present increased risk for collisions.

Rear End Collisions Can Provide Personal Injury Leads to Attorneys

Traffic accidents can cause all types of opportunities for personal injury lead generation for attorneys. Significantly, rear end collisions seem to generate more soft tissue type damages.  See some of the more common injuries below.

• Whiplash. As mentioned above, this is the most common soft tissue injury type. Following an acute impact from a car collision, the neck, shoulder, and back can move in ways unaccustomed to the human body.  Violent shaking beyond what the body is capable of experiencing can cause hypertension and hyperflexion, which is like a snap of the neck like a whip.  One-fifth of the population is expected to be a part of an auto accident that causes a whiplash injury.  And about four-fifths of those people will experience pain for beyond the first week, while half of those experience discomfort and pain for over one year.
• Back injuries. Rear end collisions with enough force can cause herniated and bulging disks. The compression of the spinal column and associated disks can distort the way the body is aligned, causing serious and potentially long-lasting pain.
• Head and facial injuries. Forceful impacts from even slow-moving vehicles can occur even when traveling under 20 miles-per-hour.  Although airbags have helped tremendously, when they do not deploy a driver or passenger’s face and head can make contact with the steering wheel.  This could lead to a broken nose, fractured cheek and jaw, cuts, and bruises.  Moreover, if the airbag successfully deploys it could result in cuts and bruises on the face and scalp.
• Hand and arm injuries. When one car hits the back of another at an odd angle, it can cause them to spin.  That movement can shift people’s bodies around causing them to hit different parts of the interior of a car.  And, successfully deployed airbags can cause harm to the hands and arms.
• Bodily injuries from seat belts. Although the protection from a seat belt can be enormously helpful by keeping the torso stable, rear end crashes can push the body forward. The subsequent pressure can cause scrapes and bruises to the neck, torso, and shoulder.

Head On Collisions Provide Opportunities for Personal Injury Attorney Marketing

Head on collisions are widely considered to be among the most dangerous of car accident types.  The most common version is when two vehicles that are traveling towards each other collide at their respective front ends.  Notably, head on collisions can also involve an object like a tree or a wall wherein the driver’s front end crashes into the object.

Even though these major wrecks comprise of only 2% of all collisions, they represent over 10% of all fatal car crashes.  Even scarier is the fact that less than half of the people involved in a head on collision survive.

For those that survive these accidents, which can occur at slow speeds too, their lives moving forward can be devastating and debilitating. Victims can incur massive medical bills for surgery, therapy, medications, and pain and suffering.  Not to mention untold amount of future wage losses from not being able to maintain employment.

Common Causes of Head-On Auto Accident Collisions

These often-deadly accident injury situations can be curbed by understanding how they are caused.  Below are some situations that lend themselves to head on collisions.

• Intoxicated drivers. Driving under the influence decreases a person’s ability to properly manage a car with the roadways and causes a decrease in reaction time and judgment.  Two common collision issues that occur here are departing from the driving land and driving the wrong way.  When drugs and alcohol prevent a driver from steering straight, they begin to swerve, lose control, and may cross their lane.  This leads to the second problem, which is driving the wrong way.  Because inebriated drivers have a decreased degree of special awareness they miscalculate where their car is relative to the lanes and oncoming traffic. Ultimately, driving into the oncoming traffic from this lack of awareness can be devastating especially when driving at higher speeds.
• Unsafe passing. Head on collisions can be more susceptible in rural areas where there are more two-way roadways. The reason is because the passing car must drive into the lane designed for oncoming traffic. When the passing driver miscalculates speed, distance, or awareness of this traffic, their mistake could prove deadly.
• Driving the wrong way. Naturally, this could be the result of distracted, intoxicated, or unsafe driving. When passengers put their lives in the hands of those who lack proper judgment to drive the result could be devastating.
• Distracted drivers. Cell phone by drives has been among the deadliest of situations.  Remember, it only takes a few seconds for a driver to travel hundreds of feet.  Legislators in many states have passed laws banning cell phone use, especially texting, which has garnered the most attention.
• Drowsy drivers. According to the NHTSA in 2013, 72,000 collisions, 44,000 injuries, and 800 fatalities occurred as a result of drowsy driving.  However, there are sources that suggest the true number of deadly vehicle accidents from drowsy driving is as high as 6.000 per year.  Don’t drive drowsy.
• Bad road conditions. Inclement weather, pot holes, and construction zones could all have an impact on driver safety. When drivers swerve to avoid objects or other cars they may slide or hydroplane, especially in bad weather.

Common Injuries from Head-On Collisions

Some of the most catastrophic injuries can occur from these accident types, and they impact both drivers and passengers.  Due to the nature of the accident that could involve high speeds, an array of injuries can occur. And, lost wages and significant medical bills can be debilitating to victims.

• Whiplash. Overall, this is the most common injury among all collision types. Although the body and torso may be stabilized from a seat belt, the head and neck could be susceptible to sudden impact injuries.  Upon impact, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments could be strained from abnormal motions between the head and neck. Further, the neck and shoulders and also twist and stretch beyond their typical threshold causing tears. Although not often considered as serious, whiplash can have long lasting effects.  For more information about symptoms and treatments regarding whiplash accident injuries, check out the Cleveland Clinic.
• Spinal cord injuries. Powerful head on crashes can effect the spinal cord when the discs become compressed from the accident impact. That compression can result in ruptured, bulging, or herniated disks.  In fact, the vertebrae can become cracked and harmed.  The worse case scenario is paralysis or partial loss of sensation in parts of the extremities, and sometimes the legs and torso.
• Head trauma. Thanks to the evolution of seat belts and air bags, there has been a reduction in head trauma injuries.  However, these safety precautions are not enough to prevent head injuries.  Cuts, bruises, and broken cheeks and jaws could also occur.  Significantly, closed head injuries and skull fractures can escalate from a concussion to coma to death.  Depending upon the severity of the impact, condition and age of the victim, and safety level of the motor vehicle will play a part in the outcome.  Severe overweight motorists are considered high risk for brain and head trauma in head on collisions.  Nonetheless, some accident injury victims could have life-long effects and never fully heal from the severe brain trauma associated with these lethal crashes.
• Blunt force trauma. Like other injury types, seat belts and airbags may not prevent injuries from a motor vehicle accident.  Blunt force trauma to the chest and internal areas are the most common, and sometimes the safety features are the reason for the trauma.  Damaged lungs and broken ribs are also common, and victims may also see damage to their organs such as liver, kidneys, spleen, and diaphragm.
• Cuts and bruises.  Head on collisions cause serious property damage, which causes cuts and bruises from flying glass and debris. Also, these accidents may cause the vehicle to roll and generate more injuries.

Side-Impact Auto Accidents and Personal Injury Attorney Marketing

Side impact car crashes are also referred to as “t-bone accidents” and “broadside collisions.”  These occur when the front end of one vehicle collides with the side of another vehicle.  Roughly 25% of all motor vehicle collisions are side impact.

T-bone accidents are most commonly found at intersections where drivers run red lights and fail to stop at stop signs.  Due to the manner in which the cars collide, these accidents can cause some of the most damaging injuries, according to Monash University Accident Research Centre. In fact, side impact car accidents kill between 8,000 and 10,000 people annually.

How Do Side Impact Car Crashes Occur?

Understanding how these types of car crashes occur is important when determining fault, something auto accident injury law firms need to know. Ultimately, the plaintiff’s goal is to demonstrate the other driver was negligent, which is violating the obligation to drive safely and not cause harm to other motorists.  Below are some causes to side impact collisions that may be helpful for preventative purposes as well as designating fault.

• Running stop signs. When drivers fail to halt their car at stop signs they put others at risk.  “Rolling” through stop signs obviously is a traffic violation.
• Not yielding to others. Similar to not halting at a stop sign is failure to yield. When drivers are distracted are in a rush, bad things can happen.
• Running red lights. Nothing could be more dangerous for drivers than a car running a red light.  When a car is traveling fast – say through a yellow light – broadside collisions can be the most deadly and injurious.
• Right turns at intersections. Each state requires drivers wait until it is safe to merge with traffic. Although we always are taught to look in all directions, a fast driving vehicle may be moving too quickly to avoid if the proximity was misjudged.  Liability often resides with the car turning into traffic.
• Reckless driving. Aggressive drivers are more than just intimidating. They’re very dangerous. When angry and impatient drivers get behind the wheel and take their frustrations out on others, they submit themselves to danger and liability.
• Distracted driving. Cell phone use while driving is one of the most dangerous combinations. When drivers are distracted by their phones and are less focused on driving, they make themselves susceptible to serious car accidents.  The same goes for alcohol and drug use, which can play a part in reducing the attention span of drivers.
• Road conditions. Bad weather, especially rain, sleet, and snow, can cause bad t-bone accidents. The reason is because car tires often have less grip during inclement weather, which can cause failure to yield.  Passing a stop sign or running a red light due to failure to see could result in catastrophic injuries.