Top Five Causes of Catastrophic Injuries

Catastrophic injuries are life-threatening injuries which are normally disabling as well. A few quick examples include internal injuries, broken bones, and head injuries.

Internal injuries often cause exsanguination (excessive blood loss). Exsanguination is often the official cause of death in fatal motor vehicle crash cases. Broken bones are often indirectly fatal. These wounds create vulnerability, and broken bones have very high infection rates. Head injuries, mostly sTBIs (severe traumatic brain injuries) kill over 50,000 Americans every year.

Usually, the incidents which cause catastrophic injuries are not “accidents.” The negligence of another person or entity usually causes these incidents.

If negligence, or a lack of care, causes a catastrophic injury, a Newark personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation in court. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Almost all personal injury claims settle out of court, and the average attorney-guided settlement is over three times higher than the average non-attorney-guided settlement.

Car Accidents

As mentioned, it’s important to remember that car accidents aren’t “accidents.” People accidentally lose their car keys. They don’t accidentally drive drunk or speed excessively and cause car crashes.

Instead, another aphorism applies to these incidents. You break it, you buy it. If Alan drops a coffee mug in a gift shop, he must pay to replace the mug. LIkewise, if Alan causes a car crash, he must pay the aforementioned compensation. The compensation in a car crash case is much higher because a person is worth infinitely more than a coffee mug.

We mentioned two of the most common causes of car wrecks above. Now, let’s break them down a little more.

• Alcohol (Operator Impairment): Alcohol clouds judgment and adversely affects motor skills. So, people who drink and drive cannot make good judgements, like estimating the distance between vehicles, or react quickly to changing situations, like a car changing lanes. Other kinds of operator impairment include fatigue, drug use, and distraction.
• Speeding (Aggressive Driving): Speed increases the risk of a wreck and the force in a collision. Vehicle speed multiples stopping distance. A speeding car doesn’t stop on a dime. Speed also multiples the force in a collision, according to Newton’s Second Law. Other kinds of aggressive driving include tailgating and running a red light.

Comparative fault, in one form or another, may be the most common defense in vehicle collision matters and other catastrophic injury cases. Basically, comparative fault shifts blame from a tortfeasor (negligent driver) to a victim. For example, an insurance company lawyer might admit Driver A was drunk and argue that Driver B’s excessive speed substantially caused the wreck.

In these cases, jurors must divide fault on a percentage basis (e.g. 70-30) between the two drivers involved in the wreck.

New Jersey is a modified comparative fault state with a 51 percent bar. So, if a victim was 49 percent (or less) responsible for a wreck, a Morris County personal injury lawyer is entitled to a proportionate share of compensation.

Truck Accidents

The liability issues in a truck accident case are very similar to the legal issues in a car crash case, with one important exception.

Most noncommercial drivers have a duty of reasonable care. They must obey the rules of the road and avoid accidents if possible. Most commercial drivers, such as truck drivers and Uber drivers, have a duty of utmost care. They must go the extra mile to avoid crashes.

Passing through an intersection is a good example. When noncommercial drivers have a green light, they may proceed normally. When commercial drivers have a green light, they must still stop, or at least slow down, and look both ways before moving forward.

The injuries are much the same as well, once again with one big exception. A fully-loaded semi-truck weighs over 80,000 pounds. The sheer size of these vehicles means that almost any crash causes catastrophic injuries. There’s practically no such thing as a fender-bender truck crash.

Dog Bites

Large trucks often crash into small cars with disastrous results. Somewhat similarly, large dogs, like pit bulls, often attack small children with disastrous results.

Catastrophic dog bite injuries usually occur in stages. The initial knockdown, when a dog lunges at a victim, usually causes broken bones and head injuries. Next, the dog’s teeth usually cause severe tearing lacerations and deep puncture wounds. The severe tearing lacerations usually require extensive reconstructive surgery and the deep puncture wounds usually cause severe internal bleeding.

Unfortunately, we aren’t finished yet. Animal attacks often cause Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, especially among children. PTSD symptoms, such as depression, anger, and anxiety, are often life-threatening. The number of PTSD-related suicides is alarmingly high.

The injuries are complex in dog bite cases. The legal issues are equally complex, mostly because these victims have several different options, such as:

• Strict Liability: In New Jersey, animal owners are strictly liable for attack damages, even if they did not know the animal was potentially vicious and took reasonable steps to control the animal.
• Scienter (Knowledge): Liability also attaches if the owner knew the dog might attack and didn’t take proper precautionary measures. Evidence of viciousness usually includes pre-bite behavior, such as aggressive barking and loud snarling.
• Negligence Per Se: Most counties and municipalities have leash laws, fence laws, and other animal restraint laws. If an owner violated a safety law and that violation substantially caused injury, the owner may be liable for damages as a matter of law.

Provocation, an offshoot of comparative fault, is a defense in dog bite cases, even strict liability matters. However, the legal definition of “provocation” is different from the everyday definition.

Basically, a victim cannot “accidentally” provoke an animal by making a loud noise or sudden move. In fact, words and actions aren’t usually provocative at all. Provoking a dog is a physical act that’s almost synonymous with torturing a dog.

Work Accidents

Some catastrophic work-related injuries include toxic exposure cancer and falls from a height. Many substances, such as asbestos, are highly toxic. Exposure to this mineral, perhaps during a renovation or demolition job, could cause mesothelioma lung cancer and other types of cancer. As for falls, a fall from as little as four stories above ground is normally fatal.

Usually, workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for these and other work-related injuries. Unlike a negligence claim, fault or responsibility is usually irrelevant in these matters. Instead, an Ocean County personal injury lawyer must only prove that an illness or injury was substantially work related to obtain benefits like lost wage replacement and medical bill payment.

An illness or injury is substantially work-related even if a pre-existing or non-work condition contributed to the risk and/or severity of the injury or illness. Cigarette smoking and lung cancer is a good example. In civil court, a victim’s cigarette smoking could reduce the amount of compensation the court awards. But in a workers’ compensation claim, full benefits are available.

We mentioned that workers’ compensation is “usually” the exclusive remedy for work-related illnesses or injuries. Some victims can bypass the workers’ comp system, file legal claims in civil court, and obtain additional compensation, usually money for noneconomic losses.

If the employer didn’t have a valid workers’ compensation policy and the victim files a civil claim, the employer cannot use contributory negligence and other silver bullet defenses, making it easier for a Passaic County personal injury lawyer to prove negligence and obtain compensation.

Defective Products

To continue with the strict liability theme, manufacturers could be strictly liable for damages if a certain kind of defect causes injury. Defective hip implants illustrate them both.

• Design Defect: Manufacturers like Biomet claimed that metal-on-metal hip implants would practically last forever. But the friction releases tiny metal fragments, causing metallosis (metal poisoning) and, among other things, premature device failure.
• Manufacturing Defect: Many hip implants contain cheap imported parts which contain a high level of toxic heavy metals, such as mercury and cadmium. Metallosis is a strong possibility in these cases as well.

Substantial punitive damages are usually available in these cases, and not just because of the catastrophic injuries these victims sustain. There’s such a large gap between the promised and actual outcomes. Basically, hip implant makers promised people they’d become the Six Million Dollar Man. Instead, they became Ironside on painkillers.

Contact a Savvy Morris County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Newark, contact CourtLaw. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.