Annually around 20 to 50 million people get involved in car accidents and get injured or disabled in the US. It is a pretty serious number considering the financial, social, mental, and physical loss that you have to bear due to these incidents on the road.
Car accidents can be pretty severe. You are prone to a range of different types of injuries, either to the bone or soft tissue caused by a sudden turn of the steering wheel. In this brief guide, we’ll see what types of car accident injuries one has to worry about.
These injuries can be as mild as a few minor scratches and can be as serious as losing limb or even death. There are different scenarios that cause different injuries with varying severity. Of course, when one goes through this mental and physical trauma, s/he needs an ally in the form of a law firm to stand for their rights with compassion and competence.
And for that, you need to know what type of injury you or your loved one has suffered. Here’s all the information for you in brief detail.
Stats & Facts Associated with Motor Vehicle Accidents Injuries
You can have a look at some of the most common car accident injuries in this video.
Here are some key statistics that you need to keep in mind regarding car accident injuries.
- According to the annual figures provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 3 million people are yearly injured in car crashes in the US.
- These automobile crashes cost more than $820 per individual for treatment on an annual basis.
- Some of these injuries can heal with little to no medical care, others can take many years to heal, and still, others may lead to permanent disability.
Common Car Accident Injuries
Orthopedic Injuries
The human orthopedic system has muscles, bones, and ligaments in it. Even a minor vehicle accident can cause strains, injuries, and whiplash, etc.. These injuries include everything that affects joints, muscles, tendons, bones, and ligaments in car crashes. It can also refer to broken bones or fractures.
With an excessive force on your cranium, brain injuries can occur, resulting in trauma. This type of trauma can be life-altering or permanent for the victim.
Some of these internal head injuries don’t present themselves instantly and not even until days after the crash. Therefore, you have to assess and monitor any variations in the behavior or thought patterns of yourself or your loved one and report them to your doctor without wasting any time.
Similarly, the spinal cord has a bundle of nerve tissue that goes from our brain to all other body parts. It plays a significant role in allowing the brain to communicate with other body organs and limbs.
And any trauma to it can damage the communication system permanently. It results in paralysis where the spinal cord is not able to recover itself from the trauma.
Different types of symptoms of this type of car accident injury include,
- Swelling
- Numbness
- Major bruising
- Bone sticking out at an abnormal angle.
- Inability to move
- A “needles” sensation
- Shallow breathing
- Tenderness
- Crackling, snapping of the injured part
- Bleeding
- Severe pain during breathing
- Inability to lift/rotate the injured part
Skeletal Injuries
A car crash’s impact might fracture even the strongest of the bones in your body. Wrists might experience fractures, and so are your kneecaps, nose, skull, and ribs. These broken bones can take up to 8 weeks to heal.
Even your femur can snap entirely with a crash force in the right direction and magnitude. Broken back or might also occur due to car accidents. The most common causes of broken bones include,
- Femur fracture
- Tibia/fibula fracture
- Hip fracture
- Rib fracture
- Arm fracture
- Back fracture
- Wrist fracture
- facial/skull fracture
- Clavicle fracture
- Pelvis fracture
- Leg fracture
These skeletal fractures are various symptoms as well, and they are,
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Tenderness
- Severe pain that gets worse in case if you move the injured part.
- Deformity
- Inability in movement.
Soft Tissue Injuries
In this case, these injuries occur on the soft parts of the human body. These include tendons, muscles as well as ligaments.
There are acute tissue injuries that occur right after the car accident, and there are chronic injuries that are long-lasting and life-altering. And whiplash is the most common one of them all. Common symptoms of these injuries include,
- Discomfort
- Stiffness
- Selling
- Pain
- Soreness
- Bruising
- Back problems
- Cognitive issues
Neurological Injuries (Nerve Damage)
There are so many nerves present throughout the human body, and any serious trauma or laceration can cause temporary/permanent nerve issues. These injuries can lead to body weakness, muscle twitching, and loss of feeling. These injuries can affect your brain function and the functioning of other parts, including fingers, shoulders, hands, face, feet, legs, toes, etc.
There are different types of nerve damage, as well. Spinal nerve damage influences body movement, while sensory nerve damage interferes with sensation. Digital nerve damage is caused by cuts to the hands. The symptoms associated with these serious injuries include,
- Limbs fall asleep when you press them.
- Difficulty in speaking.
- Paralysis.
- Lightheartedness.
- Loss in muscle strength.
- Abnormal sensitivity and pain.
- Tingling sensation.
Internal Injuries
With a car accident, your body is being shoved into an object, or it is being hit by any surrounding debris, damages to internal organs might occur. These kinds of injuries need immediate medical assistance.
The organs in the cranial, thoracic, and abdominal cavities like lungs, stomach, and various other major blood vessels are prone to these injuries. The most common car accident injuries in this category are internal bleeding, organ injury, broken ribs, and abdominal aortic aneurysm. The most common symptoms of these injuries include,
- Blood urine.
- Hematoma.
- Bruising under the skin.
- Pain in the body.
- Tenderness.
- Limited movement.
Head Injuries
Head injury due to a car accident occurs in case you hit your head to the side of the car, steering wheel column, or headrest. These injuries might range from mild to severe concussions or even traumatic brain injuries.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common head injuries, and it can be life-threatening as well. At times whiplash caused by any sudden movement can cause these injuries as well from resulting high-speed vehicles.
There are different head injuries, which may include a fractured skull, a lesion (primary/secondary), and a concussion or coma. Symptoms of head injuries include,
- Nausea.
- Mild headache.
- Confusion.
- Dizziness.
- Poor balance.
- Small cut or bump.
- Ears ringing.
- Temporary amnesia.
- Blurry vision.
- Convulsion.
- Vomiting.
- Low muscle control.
- Focus inability.
- Severe bleeding.
- Abnormal eye movement
Other types of injuries
Various other injuries are caused by car accidents. Some car crashes might cause loss of a limb or amputation, or they might also cause various life-changing facial injuries and disfigurements.
A car accident can also cause spinal cord injuries, neck injuries, back injuries, pulmonary or chest injuries. And of course, there are mental and psychological injuries, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These chests, limb, and back injuries require long term treatments and surgeries.
In a car wreck, all kinds of debris can fly around within the vehicle. Debris might come from the outside as well. These can cause burns and lacerations. Lacerations are flesh wounds that are irregular in shape, and they occur due to an impact caused by a blunt force.
Burns and lacerations might appear anywhere on your body as it bounces around the vehicle during a crash. Burns will occur due to extreme heat from various car parts. And they both have pretty serious injuries in case if proper and timely medical attention is not given.
Seeking legal assistance from a law firm.
When it comes to car accidents, there are various things at play. You need to go for legal assistance in addition to medical help. It is essential for representing your rights and, of course, your insurance claims as well.
With a legal action or even for an insurance claim, first of all, the cause of a car accident will be identified, and it will be determined who is responsible for it. There are various causes of road accidents that can alter a legal action and allows a law firm to access the situation and find an alternative.
One of the most common causes of car accidents is distracted driving. People often use mobile phones, do makeup, or eat while driving. And speaking of eating and drinking, drunk driving is another primary cause of car accidents.
Many people also overspend on the roads and crash and end up losing control over their vehicle, which results in a crash. Many people are also involved in reckless driving as well. Under all these circumstances, the driver is jeopardizing his/her own safety and others’.
There are no rights to claim here. In fact, the individual is liable to pay for the damages of other car accident victims. But there are times when the conditions are not right such as slippery or wet roads or nighttime driving. Hiring a legal firm to handle these issues for any claims would be a suitable choice.
Some of these first even provide free consultation services to assess the type of injury to the victim, medical treatment sought after, car crash type, drivers, and passengers involved.
Law offices may require you to furnish the medical report of your personal injury to the specific body part in question. Your attorneys may require any paperwork associated with the motor vehicle or personal insurance to handle the accident case.
Sometimes people in a hurry forget to fasten their seat belt as well. It may also result in a serious car accident. But most accident victims don’t accept their mistakes, and this is where attorneys will look for your car recordings as well. Most of the car accident cases have very similar procedures to assess auto accident injury and its cause.
Conclusion
Car accident injuries can be life-changing. You have to be careful out there on the road. Make sure that you don’t drive drunk and are in a perfect physical and mental condition to be behind the steering wheel.
Try to avoid any personal injury and look after others on the road while driving. Attorneys are looking forward to these pieces of evidence at all times to make your case stronger. But it’s not the matter of making your case stronger. It’s about avoiding the whole incident altogether.