Top Causes of Personal Injury Claims in California

Car accidents remain one of the leading causes of preventable injury and death in California. They account for a large portion of all personal injury claims. According to the Insurance Information Institute, there are roughly 6.2 collision coverage claims per 100 insured vehicles each year. With roughly 26 million insured vehicles on the roadway in California, that equals roughly 1.6 million collision claims. These claims have continued to increase as California’s population has grown over the last several decades.

Car accidents often result in very serious injuries and financial losses. In many cases, employees will need to take extensive periods of time away from work. Any person injured in a car accident should take a number of steps to preserve their health and rights. One of the most important steps is contacting an experienced California personal injury attorney. The personal injury attorneys at Samer Habbas & Associates are here to help you. Our legal team can examine the unique facts of your case free of cost and let you know if you have a case that can be pursued. You can reach out to us anytime at 949-727-9300.

Common Causes of Personal Injury Claims

There are many other common causes of personal injury claims aside from car accidents. This includes incidents that happen within the workplace. By better understanding all of the potential sources of personal injury claims, accident victims are better able to navigate the legal system and pursue claims when they are warranted. What follows are just a few of the top causes of personal injury claims.

• Car Accidents: Motor vehicle collisions can include many different types of vehicles, such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, and pedestrian accidents. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “In 2022, almost 44,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. That is more than 120 people killed in crashes every day.”
• Premises Liability Claims: Property owners can be held liable for accidents that occur on their premises. Many premises liability claims involve slip-and-fall accidents. Falls account for around 8 million ER visits every year in the US alone. But premises liability claims can include many other types of accidents, such as drowning, fires, electrocutions, and chemical exposure.
• Workplace Accidents: Workers are exposed to a variety of different hazards that result in injuries every year. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that there were 5,283 workplace fatalities and 2,569,000 non-fatal injuries and illnesses within private industry in 2023 alone. The construction industry remains particularly dangerous. Within construction, falls, electrocutions, struck-by accidents, and caught-in-between accidents account for a large portion of deaths and serious injuries.
• Medical Malpractice: Hospitals are supposed to tend to the sick and injured, but many people are seriously injured and killed in a healthcare setting every year. According to one study by Johns Hopkins University, medical errors cause an estimated 250,000 deaths each year. Surgical errors, misdiagnoses, and birth injuries can be particularly harmful or even deadly.
• Product Liability: Defective products that injure consumers can also create the basis for a personal injury claim. There is a wide range of products that could potentially injure consumers, including defective vehicles, dangerous drugs, and products containing lithium-ion batteries. In particular, devices with lithium-ion batteries routinely cause fires.
• Dog Bites: Dog owners have a legal responsibility to prevent their animal from injuring someone. When a dog bites someone in California, the owner will be held strictly liable in most circumstances. There were an estimated 48,596 ER visits involving dog bites in 2022 alone within California.

Accident victims should do their best to seek medical treatment after any injury. They should also collect all relevant evidence related to the incident, such as police reports and hospital records. These pieces of evidence may prove to be enormously useful later on in the event that an accident victim decides to file a personal injury claim.

Demographics and Region Trends

There are four counties within California that account for a large number of the personal injury claims that get filed each year. This includes Los Angeles County, San Diego County, San Jose County, and San Francisco County. These counties have the largest populations in the state. They also have a number of unique features that can increase certain types of claims, such as car accidents. For example, the dense population and winding streets of Los Angeles contribute to a high number of motor vehicle claims each year.

With respect to car accidents, teenagers and very elderly drivers tend to be involved in a disproportionate number of collisions. Though it may come as a surprise to some, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting have the highest fatality rate for workers within California. According to data collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 14.3 fatalities in this sector for every 100,000 full-time workers.

Important Trends Within The State

The number of recorded traffic fatalities within the city of Los Angeles has continued to rise over the past seven years. There were a reported 131 fatalities in the first half of 2017. That compares to 170 fatalities in the first half of 2024. According to Crosstown, “Los Angeles recorded 344 traffic fatalities during the entirety of 2023. It marked the second consecutive year above 300. In the entire 2010s there were never more than 261 traffic deaths in a single year.” There has also been a dramatic spike in felony hit-and-run collisions in LA during that period as well. There were 34 reported incidents in 2017 compared to 62 reported incidents in 2024.

The introduction of rideshare services, such as Uber and Lyft, has been linked to a notable increase in the number of fatal car accidents each year. According to research by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, the arrival of rideshare services has led to an estimated 3% increase in the total number of traffic fatalities every year. Part of the issue is that rideshare drivers face a number of safety concerns on the road, including distractions from their cellphones and driving while fatigued. An estimated one-third of all rideshare drivers have reported being involved in a crash on the job.

Relevant Laws and Regulations

There are a number of laws and regulations that can have an impact on personal injury claims. It is important for accident victims to have some familiarity with these claims. When certain legal requirements are not met, this could even jeopardize a person’s ability to pursue a claim in the first place. Keep these laws and regulations in mind if you are thinking of pursuing a personal injury claim in California.

• Statute of Limitations: According to California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, most personal injury claims in California will need to be pursued within two years from the date of the accident. California Government Code § 911.2 requires that claims against municipal entities be filed within six months from the date of the accident.
• Comparative Negligence: California courts adjudicate claims on the basis of a pure comparative negligence doctrine. Plaintiffs can still pursue damages for a civil claim, even if they were partially at fault for the accident. If a plaintiff was partially at fault for an accident, any award is reduced proportionately by the percentage they are deemed to be at fault.
• Strict Liability for Defective Products: Companies that manufacture and distribute products in California can be held strictly liable for any defective product that causes an injury. It is not necessary for the plaintiff to prove negligence.
• Wrongful Death Claims: Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, family members are able to sue for the wrongful death of their loved one if that death was due to negligence or the intentional acts of another party.
• Car Accident Claims: With respect to car accident claims, California Vehicle Code § 16000 requires that drivers be liable for accidents caused by their negligence. All drivers within the state must carry minimum amounts of liability coverage. This includes $15,000 for incidents that result in the injury/death of one person and $30,000 for incidents that result in the injury or death of several people.
• Premises Liability Claims: According to California Civil Code § 1714, property owners can be liable for the unsafe conditions on their premises that result in an injury. All property owners must maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition.
• Workers’ Compensation: Most workers in California are protected by the state’s workers’ compensation law. According to California Labor Code § 3600, employees injured at work can pursue damages through a workers’ compensation claim. This is a no-fault insurance scheme, meaning a worker does not need to show that their employer was negligent.
• Dog Bite Cases: According to California Civil Code § 3342, dog owners are considered strictly liable for any accident caused by their animal. For liability to apply, the attack must’ve occurred while a person was in a public place or lawfully within a private space. This includes the property of the owner of the dog.

It is important for accident victims to familiarize themselves with these laws to the best of their ability. Even though most claims can be pursued any time within the statute of limitations, it is important that victims take action sooner rather than later. Waiting to pursue any personal injury claim creates the risk that certain evidence becomes unavailable.

Economic Impact of Injuries

The economic impact of car accidents can be enormous for individuals, families, and the workforce. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Motor vehicle crashes cost American society $340 billion in 2019, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced today. […] The $340 billion cost of motor vehicle crashes represents the equivalent of $1,035 for each of the 328 million people in the United States and 1.6% of the $21.4 trillion real U.S. gross domestic product for 2019.” Of course, these costs are felt most acutely by the actual victims of these accidents and their families. Any type of accident may require that the victim take extensive periods of time away from work. In terms of medical bills alone, the average cost to treat a car accident is around $15,000.

Cases Our Law Firm Has Handled

Samer Habbas & Associates has successfully resolved thousands of personal injury claims across California. What follows is just a small list of some of the successful outcomes we’ve been able to achieve for our clients.

• Truck Accident: We secured an $11 million settlement for a man catastrophically injured in a truck accident.
• Sexual Assault: We secured a $4 million trial decision for a minor sexually abused by her caretaker.
• Motorcycle Accident: We secured a $2.25 million settlement for a motorcycle rider who suffered a tibial shaft fracture.
• Wrongful Death: We secured a $2.5 million settlement for the family of a man killed in a Los Angeles semi-truck accident.
• Workplace Accident: We secured a $1.7 million settlement for a worker who suffered a severe arm injury in a forklift accident.
• Medical Malpractice: We secured a $1.5 million settlement for the family of a patient who died due to medical malpractice at urgent care.
• Premises Liability: We secured a $1.25 million settlement against a local homeowner’s association (HOA) after a tree-cutting company allowed a branch to strike an elderly man, which resulted in his death.
• Dog Bite: We secured a $785,000 settlement for a client who suffered physical and psychological injuries from a dog bite in Ventura.

There is no case too small or too complex for our firm to handle. Even if you were partially at fault for an accident, our legal team will do their absolute best to get you a fair settlement for all of your injuries.

Getting Legal Help for a California Personal Injury Case

Suffering an injury due to the negligence of another person or entity can be traumatic and life-altering. Victims often need to take time away from work and are saddled with high medical costs. In many cases, a person’s injuries might be so severe that they permanently impact their ability to live a normal life. It is essential that accident victims seek the guidance of an experienced personal injury attorney if they’ve been injured in California.

Have you or someone that you care about been injured due to the negligence of another party in California? The Orange County personal injury attorneys at Samer Habbas & Associates are here to help in any way that we can. We care deeply that accident victims get all of the medical and financial support that they need in order to recover. There are absolutely no upfront costs to hire our attorneys to evaluate your case or pursue a civil action on your behalf. Whether you just have legal questions or are thinking about hiring an attorney, we are here to help you. You can reach out to us anytime at 949-727-9300.

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