The most common accidents that personal injury lawyers see by far are road traffic accidents and slips, trips and falls, with the latter taking up around a third of workplace accidents. The most common injuries sustained in these accidents are whiplash and broken bones. But what are the most uncommon accidents? Here’s five them:
Plane accidents
The odds of a plane crash are one for every 1.2 million flights and the odds of dying in a plane crash are one in 11 million. However, there are more claims than you might think that arise from plane travel – namely people being injured mid-flight. So while not rare, plane accidents are uncommon. Most personal injury solicitors will have handled at least one plane-related claim in their time, but some can go years without encountering a single one.
Tractor accidents
Accidents involving tractors and other agricultural equipment are rare however they are usually very serious, due to the sheer size and weight of tractors. If a tractor hits a car at 15mph and a car is travelling at 40mph, then that’s tonnes of metal coming together at a combined speed of 55mph. Liability for such accidents is never easy to ascertain however, so putting in a fast claim isn’t usually possible no matter how good your solicitor is.
Tram accidents
You are far more likely to be injured in an accident on a bus or on a train than you are on a tram. The reason being, that there aren’t that many trams in the UK when compared to other modes of public transport. Trams also follow a fixed route and traffic management for trams is highly regulated. Tram crashes as a result are incredibly rare.
Lift accidents
We’ve all seen a film or a TV show where people get trapped in a lift for hours after a power cut or a lift’s mechanism fails causing the lift to plummet to the ground. The good news is such accidents are uncommon in real life and they rarely result in serious injury. A power cut will only knock the lights out for a little bit after all. There are some shocking videos out there of people being killed by a lift failing however, so such accidents are uncommon.
Horse riding accidents
Horse riding accidents are uncommon, because not many people actually partake in this activity when compared to say bike riding. A survey conducted by the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) in 2010-11 found that only 3.5 million rode a horse at least once in 12 months. That’s nothing compared to the 64.1 million people in the UK.
Horse riding is also a relatively safe activity in the grand scheme of things. While being thrown from a horse can result in serious injuries, it is rare for this to happen. Most horse riders go unscathed for many years. As a result, horse riding accidents are uncommon.