What Is a Personal Injury Accident? A Kern County Guide

A personal injury accident is any accident that hurts a person’s body or mind because another party was careless or acted wrongfully. If you’re asking “What is a personal injury accident?” after a crash or a fall, the answer turns on who caused the harm and how. This guide explains the terms in plain language.

What a personal injury accident means

A personal injury accident injures someone and may give that person a legal claim against whoever caused it. The law calls this area personal injury law, also known as tort law. It covers negligence and damages.

In everyday speech, “accident” means something unplanned. In the law, the question is different. Did someone’s carelessness or wrongful act cause the harm? California makes a person responsible for injury caused by a lack of ordinary care, meaning reasonable caution in managing their property or themselves.

Three questions shape most of these cases. Who caused the harm? How did it happen? What is the injury? Each case is reviewed on its own facts, so two injuries that look alike can lead to different paths.

Examples of personal injury accidents

Common examples include car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian and bus accidents. Dog bites, slips and falls on someone else’s property, and catastrophic injuries also count. Wrongful death is the most serious kind. It happens when a family member dies because of another party’s wrongful act.

In a California wrongful death claim, the decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner (meaning a person who, at the time of the decedent’s death, was the decedent’s domestic partner in a registered domestic partnership established in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 297 of the Family Code), children, and issue of deceased children may bring the claim, or, if there is no surviving issue, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the property of the decedent by intestate succession. Under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60, if they were dependent on the decedent, a putative spouse, the putative spouse’s children, stepchildren, parents, or (if the parents are deceased) legal guardians may also qualify. So may a minor who lived in the decedent’s household for the previous 180 days and depended on the decedent for half or more of their support. The decedent’s personal representative may file on their behalf.

Injuries vary widely. Broken bones, head and spinal injuries, and soft tissue damage such as sprains and strains are common examples. For more on crash claims, see our car accident claims page.

Is personal injury the same as a car accident?

A car accident is one kind of event that can lead to a personal injury claim. Personal injury is the wider category. It covers car crashes and many other kinds of accidents.

When a crash hurts someone, the injury is a personal injury matter. Truck, motorcycle, bus and bicycle crashes belong to the same family. They often involve different parties, though. A truck crash may involve a trucking company. A bus crash may involve a public transit agency, which can bring different filing rules.

Property damage is a separate loss. Repairs to a car and replacement of belongings are property losses. Harm to a person is a personal injury loss. One crash can produce both kinds of claim.

Keep a simple list of what you lost. Include medical bills, time off work, damaged property, and out-of-pocket costs. Those records matter whichever claim you bring.

Who pays for injuries in a car accident?

In a car accident claim, compensation often comes from the at-fault driver’s liability insurance. Your own coverage may also play a role, depending on your policy. California requires drivers to carry minimum liability insurance, as the California Department of Insurance explains. Those minimums are a floor, and serious injuries can cost far more.

An injured person’s own share of fault reduces recovery, but it does not automatically bar it. The rule is restated in Daly v. General Motors Corp..

Losses fall into two groups. Economic losses are objectively verifiable money losses, such as medical bills and lost earnings, as defined in Cal. Civ. Code § 1431.2. Non-economic losses are harms like pain, suffering and emotional distress. Where more than one party is at fault, each is liable for non-economic damages only in proportion to its own share of fault.

Some people start treatment under a medical lien. Under a medical lien overview, treatment can begin right away, and payment is deferred until the claim is resolved. Our guide on what not to say after a car accident is related reading for the days after a crash.

Do most personal injury cases go to court?

Many personal injury claims settle through talks with insurers or the other side, without a trial. Some move into a lawsuit, and the parties can settle at any point along the way.

A lawsuit starts when the injured person files a complaint with the court.

Timing matters. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 sets a two-year limit for an action for injury to an individual, or for a death caused by another’s wrongful act. The California Courts deadlines guide notes that exceptions and tolling (rules that pause the clock) can apply. That guide says the two-year rule includes truck and motorcycle injury claims.

Public agencies follow shorter rules. Under Gov. Code § 911.2, a claim for injury to a person generally must be presented within six months after it accrues. This can matter in bus accidents involving a public entity.

Next steps if someone you care about was hurt

If someone you care about was hurt, you may be juggling medical visits, insurance calls and missed work. You don’t have to sort out every question today.

Here is what this guide covered. A personal injury accident involves harm to a person caused by another party’s carelessness or wrongful act. It can include car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian, bus, dog bite, premises liability, catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters. One crash can create both a personal injury claim and a property damage claim. Insurance, shared fault and filing deadlines all shape how a claim moves.

Colvin Accident Lawyers, based in Bakersfield, California, offers a free first consultation. It is confidential and carries no obligation to continue. If a crash or fall left your loved one hurt, reach out through our contact page and we’ll talk through what happened.

Colvin Accident Lawyers, Bakersfield, California — responsible for this site. Responsible lawyer: Donald Norman Colvin.

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