Car accidents involve vehicle collisions on the road, ranging from minor fender-benders to severe collisions resulting in injuries or fatalities. They can occur due to factors like human error, adverse weather conditions, mechanical failures, or reckless driving.
Car accidents can cause different types of head injuries, such as concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and skull fractures, each varying in severity and long-term effects
Concussions are common and can temporarily affect brain function, leading to symptoms like confusion and headaches.
TBIs are more serious and can cause cognitive, emotional, and physical problems due to processes like excitotoxicity (damage caused to brain cells due to excessive stimulation) and inflammation.
Skull fractures, which harm the brain’s protective covering, can range in severity and may lead to complications like bleeding inside the skull.
Car accidents often cause neck and back injuries because of the sudden stop or change in speed. These injuries include whiplash, spinal cord damage, and herniated discs.
Whiplash happens when your neck jerks back and forth suddenly during a crash, leading to neck pain, stiffness, and headaches.
Spinal cord injuries can range from mild to severe, causing paralysis or loss of feeling. Herniated discs occur when the soft tissue between the bones in your spine bulges out, causing pain, numbness, or weakness.
During a car accident, the impact can make your shoulder joint pop out of place or break bones like the humerus, scapula, or clavicle. These injuries usually hurt immediately and make moving your shoulder difficult.
Other common shoulder injuries from car crashes include tearing the rotator cuff, sprains, and strains. How bad these injuries are depends on how hard or severe the crash was. Sometimes, fractures and dislocations need extensive medical care, even surgery, to heal completely.
In car accidents, chest injuries can vary from broken ribs and bruises to damage inside organs. They usually happen because of the force of different vehicle parts slamming into you.
An internal organs can get hurt as a result of chest trauma. This happens when the force of the crash pushes the organ against the ribs or one of the other internal organs. Such injuries can be very dangerous and need quick medical attention, often requiring surgery.
Car accidents can cause different knee injuries, each needing its own treatment. Fractures are common and happen when the force of the crash breaks the bones around the knee joint. Surgery and rehab are often needed.
Tears in ligaments, like the ACL or MCL, can make the knee painful and unstable, and can make it difficult to move. Physical therapy or surgery may be needed for bad tears.
Arm and leg injuries are prevalent in car accident cases, often resulting from the impact within the vehicle or contact with external objects during a collision. These injuries include fractures, sprains, and contusions. Sprains happen when ligaments stretch or tear, while contusions are bruises from blunt force trauma.
Soft tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, and ligaments, can suffer damage in car accidents, resulting in strains, sprains, and bruising. The sudden forces of a car accident can cause ligaments to stretch or tear, which, if left untreated, can result in joint instability, pain, and potential long-term issues.
Blood vessels can break from hitting the inside of the car or other external objects, causing visible bruising and soreness. Getting proper care and rehab is important to prevent lasting effects and ensure you heal fully.
Individuals can claim compensation for economic damages in legal cases related to car accidents. This means getting reimbursed for costs with a fixed dollar amount, like medical bills relating to the accident. Economic damages also include the cost of fixing or replacing your car. You can also recover lost wages if you couldn’t work due to injuries.
The main goal of these damages is to help cover your actual financial losses caused by the accident.
Aside from out-of-pocket financial losses, people may also seek noneconomic damages. These damages include compensation for things like the pain and suffering caused by the accident and how your injuries affected your enjoyment of life. It acknowledges the mental and emotional impact of your injuries on your overall well-being.
In cases where a car accident leads to a fatality, wrongful death damages can be claimed by a spouse or close family member of the deceased person.
Wrongful death damages aim to help the family cover costs like funeral expenses and the money they would have earned if the person was still alive. It’s meant to help with the financial impact of losing a loved one unfairly in a sudden accident.
Punitive damages are not common in car accident cases, but they may be sought when the responsible party’s actions were intentional, reckless, or far exceeded ordinary negligence. Unlike compensatory damages, which cover losses, punitive damages are like a punishment to stop similar behavior in the future.
Although there are various types of car accident injuries, a person filing a legal claim generally needs to have suffered some type of physical injury in order to recover damages.
The most common car accident injury is whiplash, which happens when your head suddenly snaps forward and then backward, often in a rear-end crash. Whiplash can lead to neck pain and stiffness.
Minor injuries might include bruises, sprains, and small cuts. Even though they're not usually life-threatening, they still need medical attention for proper care.
Injuries may appear at different times after a car accident. Some symptoms might not show up right away. It's important to see a doctor immediately after the accident, even if you don't feel hurt, because problems could come up later.
Yes, you can include emotional distress in your compensation claim. Noneconomic damages cover things like pain and suffering, which take into account how the accident and your injuries have affected your mental health.
The treatments you need depend on the type and seriousness of your injuries. For instance, treating different types of back and neck injuries effectively might involve using diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, and pain management techniques to manage symptoms and help in recovery.