Common Injuries Caused by Auto Accidents

Every car accident is different, but as experienced car accident attorneys, we see that many of our clients often suffer from similar types of injuries. A skilled car accident attorney should be able to assess your injuries and talk to you about the value of your case. With the right guidance, you may be able to collect compensation to help put your life back on track.

While auto accidents can range in severity from a minor fender-bender to a high-speed, multi-vehicle pileup, certain kinds of injuries are particularly common. Car accident victims have been known to experience:

• Soft tissue injuries: This type of injury is caused by stretched or torn ligaments, tendons or muscles. Soft tissue injuries can affect a victim’s arms, legs, hips, shoulders, and back;
• Broken bones: A fracture of any kind can leave a victim facing months of healing and rehabilitation to regain mobility in the affected areas;
• Neck and back injuries: This type of injury includes conditions such as herniated discs, strains, sprains and whiplash. Back-related injuries can continue cause problems for many years after the accident;
• Head and brain injuries: This category of injury includes everything from mild concussions to traumatic brain injuries. It also encompasses lacerations, skull fractures and internal bleeding; and
• Spinal cord injuries: These are typically very serious injuries that can result in lower-body or neck-down paralysis and loss of sensation. The severity of the injury depends on where on the spine the injury was inflicted and whether the spinal cord was totally or partially severed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for every person killed in a motor vehicle accident, eight people are hospitalized and 100 people are treated and released from the emergency room. The CDC also reports that Americans spend one million days in the hospital annual as the result of auto accidents.

Such injuries are costly to treat. For example, car accident injuries from 2012 alone have already incurred $18 billion in medical costs. Over 75 percent of these costs were realized in the first 18 months following the injury.

When you are speaking to the insurance company and to your attorney, it is important to keep in mind that any settlement will have to cover all future medical costs. If you settle your claim too quickly, you may not fully comprehend that scale of your injuries and what lifetime treatment costs will be.

While you should not settle if the extent of your injuries is unclear, it is important to keep in mind that in California, you have two years to file a car accident lawsuit. If you wait too long, a court will not hear your case and you will not be able to settle.

Contact an experienced auto accident injury lawyer in Monterey County to discuss your case. Call (408) 298-7200 for a free consultation at Corsglia McMahon & Allard, L.L.P. today. We will work with in analyzing your situation and will help you make the best decisions for yourself and your family.

• Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries