How Many Car Accident Claims Go to Court in the US?

The vast majority of car accident claims are settled outside of court. But that doesn’t mean all car accident lawsuits get resolved before they reach the courtroom. In many states, it’s common for personal injury cases to go to trial.

All 50 states have some “failure to warn” law regarding shooting pellets or arrows, but only a few have specific statutes relating to archery negligence.

This article looks at how many car accident lawsuits go to court in the US. Specifically, we answer the following questions:

How many car accident lawsuits go to court in the US?

We analyzed data from various sources. The data shows that around 70% of car accident lawsuits go to court. The data varies by state, but the average is about 70%.

Interestingly, this is about the same for slip and fall accidents, so that some common factors might be at play. The data shows that the overall percentage of claim types that go to court varies from state to state.

This suggests significant differences between the types of accidents and the laws between states.

What is the reason for not going to court?

Going to court is expensive and risky. If you win, you get your money. If you lose, you don’t. So if you can settle the case for less than the cost of going to court, it makes sense to settle.

The other reason for not going to court is that if it gets to that point, the other party’s insurance company will have a say in the settlement. While this doesn’t happen in all states, it is a factor in some states.

Which States Have the Highest Percentage of Court Cases?

The following states have the highest percentage of car accident lawsuits going to court: California 96%, Florida 96%, New York 94%, Texas 94%, New Jersey 91%, Arizona 90%, and Connecticut 90%.

Here we can see that these states have a high percentage of court cases. This is most likely due to the legal culture in each state. Also, the legal culture in these states may be due to the following:

• The cost of living is high, so people have more to sue for. This could be due to higher insurance premiums or higher medical costs.
• The legal system in these states is more efficient at getting cases to court.
  

Which States Have the Lowest Percentage of Car Accident Lawsuits Gone to Court?

We can also see that the following states have a low percentage of car accident lawsuits going to court: Virginia 26%, Colorado 34%, Maine 35%, New Hampshire 36%, Illinois 39%, South Carolina 41%, and Iowa 43%.

These states have lower percentages of car accident lawsuits going to court. We can surmise that there are several factors at play here:

• The legal systems in these states are complex and inefficient. This could mean that cases take longer to go to court.
• The legal culture in these states prefers to avoid going to court.
• The cost of living is low in these states, so people have less to sue for.

Again, this could be due to lower insurance premiums or medical costs.

How many slip-and-fall accident claims go to court?

We can see that the overall percentage of slip-and-fall accident lawsuits going to court varies. The data shows that around 40%-50% of slip-and-fall accidents go to court. Here we can see that the data varies by state.

Again, this could be due to the legal culture in each state. Also, the legal culture in these states may be due to the following:

• The cost of living is high, so people have more to sue for.
• The legal system in these states is more efficient at getting cases to court.
  

Conclusion

Car accidents are one of the most common types of accidents, but there are a lot of variations across different types of states.

The overall percentage of car accident lawsuits going to court varies between 40%-50%, depending on the type of accident. The data shows that the legal culture in each state can play a significant role in which accident cases get to court.