Common Injuries in Car Accidents

Injuries from car accidents are relatively common on New York streets. Whether someone gets a traumatic brain injury, which is a very dangerous—and even life-threatening—injury or suffers scrapes, cuts and bruises, all injuries due to an accident should be checked out by a medical professional as soon as possible.

Causes of Common Injuries in Car Accidents

Because most car accidents cause sudden stops, you could be injured by parts of the vehicle, including the airbags and fixed components, such as the steering wheel, window or headrest as the momentum of your body keeps you moving forward. Loose objects inside your car can also injure you because they become projectiles when you stop suddenly. A purse, groceries or anything else that you’re carrying can cause serious injury during a crash.

Neck Injuries and Car Accidents

Neck injuries are very common after car accidents. Whiplash and neck strain are often inevitable during the sudden stop of a crash, because your head carries its forward momentum; your neck tries to compensate and pulls your head back, which can injure the already-delicate muscles.

Closed-Head Injuries

Concussions and traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, are considered closed-head injuries. Any time your brain hits the inside of your skull, you’re at risk for swelling. Your brain can even bruise, and in some cases, permanent damage can result from a car crash.

Back Injuries During Crashes

Back injuries are very common in car crashes. You could suffer from:

• Sprains
• Strains
• Fractures
• Disk injuries

Any of these injuries can be serious and potentially debilitating, preventing you from participating in your normal, everyday activities.

In severe cases, your spinal cord can be injured. This frequently happens when disks rupture, displaced bone fragments injure the cord or ligaments tear. Because the spinal cord carries messages to and from your brain, these injuries can cause paralysis and a whole host of other problems.

Injuries to the Face

Facial injuries are most commonly caused by the impact of the airbag, the steering wheel or broken glass. You could suffer cuts, scrapes and bruises, but in more severe cases, you could suffer broken bones, dental injuries and deep lacerations.

Internal Injuries Due to Car Accidents

When your seatbelt digs into your chest and stomach during a crash, which is very common when people don’t wear them properly, you could suffer injury to your:

• Bowels
• Heart
• Kidneys
• Liver
• Lungs
• Spleen

Fractured ribs are also common during car accidents, but many people mistake the pain they cause for a general, overall soreness that most people experience in the days and weeks after a crash.

Psychological Trauma After Car Accidents

Psychological trauma isn’t necessarily what most of us would consider an injury, but it is—and it’s often one that needs treatment. Emotional distress is very common, and people often develop post-traumatic stress injuries, or PTSI.

PTSI used to be referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, but as more health professionals began to recognize it as an actual injury, the American Psychiatric Association officially changed its title.

Seeking Medical Care Immediately After an Accident

Some injuries, including those that involve internal organs and the brain, take time to show symptoms. That’s why it’s absolutely essential that you seek medical care immediately after a car accident. A healthcare professional can evaluate your symptoms and check for things that you aren’t even thinking about to make sure you’re okay.

If a medical professional determines that you do have injuries after a car crash, it’s important that you hold on to any documentation you get. Ask the hospital to provide you with digital copies of X-rays, ultrasounds and test results; if you decide to take legal action against the person responsible for your accident, your lawyer will need them as well.

Do You Have a Case?

Every situation is unique. If you feel that your accident was caused by someone else’s negligence, carelessness or bad behavior on Brooklyn roads, it can’t hurt to talk to an attorney who focuses on getting justice for car accident victims.

Your lawyer will evaluate your case by talking to you, reading police reports and poring over your medical records. He or she might even want to talk to witnesses who can provide a different perspective and corroborate your version of events.

If you do have a case, your attorney will talk to the insurance company for you. Many people make the mistake of providing information to their own insurance company and to the other party’s insurance company, but that is usually not in your best interests. Insurance adjusters have one primary duty: to save their company money.

Your lawyer will be able to negotiate a fair settlement if you are entitled to receive one. Because most insurance companies are reluctant to pay enough to cover your medical bills, lost wages and other expenses, it takes a talented professional to negotiate on your behalf.

We’re here for you when you’re ready. Call 718-448-1600.