Car accidents lead to more injuries than any other single cause of injury. While some accidents may lead to minor scrapes and bruises, many accidents can lead to more serious injuries and impact your daily life. Florida car accident injury statistics show that 42.13% of accidents in 2017 led to some kind of injury in the Sunshine State. After an accident, it can be extremely nerve-wracking to decide what your next steps should be. It’s important to understand at what point you may need to consult with a car crash attorney in order to move forward in your medical treatment. You may need compensation to help pay for treatment, and a car crash attorney who understands how to work with insurance providers to get you what you need is the smart choice. The sooner you can consult with a car accident attorney after a car accident personal injury, the better.
There are several types of common injuries car crashes can cause. Depending on the impact of the crash and the severity of the injury, some may even require surgery to resolve. Read on to understand the difference between common injuries, more serious car accident injuries, and how a car crash attorney can help you get the funds necessary to help pay for your medical bills after an accident.
Shoulder Injuries From Car Accidents
Shoulder injuries are very common in car accidents. Even minor accidents can cause shoulder injuries because the joints, muscles, and bones surrounding the shoulder are such a complex area of the body. SLAP lesions, rotator cuff tears, fractured bones, strains and sprains, whiplash, and cervical herniated discs are all common issues related to shoulder injuries from car crashes. Depending on the severity of the accident, some of these may require ongoing physical therapy or surgery.
Wrist Injury From Car Accidents
Wrist injuries are extremely common car accident injuries because of blunt force trauma and debris harming your wrists or hands, especially if you were the one driving. Common wrist injuries include fractures, joint dislocation, puncture wounds, ligament injuries, or even amputations in severe cases.
Rollover Car Accident Injuries
Sadly rollover car accident injuries are among the most common and often the most dangerous. Broken bones, brain damage, head injuries, lacerations, disfigurement, paralysis severe spinal cord injuries, and even amputations are among the outcomes of rollover car accidents. How you’re treated and how soon you can get medical attention after an accident has a big impact on how fast your recovery will be after a rollover car accident.
Soft Tissue Car Accident Injury
Soft tissue injuries like strains, sprains, and ligament damage are sadly very common with car accidents, and another reason why it’s important to have experienced representation. Sprains, strains, contusions, and tendinitis are all examples of soft tissue injuries. Many people are aware of whiplash, which is actually a form of soft tissue injury. Soft tissue injury can cause chronic pain and can even impact employability long term. Soft tissue injury car accident settlements in Florida are common and something that Boca Law specializes in because we know how devastating this kind of accident can be.
Serious Car Accident Injuries
While shoulder and wrist injuries, whiplash, and other soft tissue injuries are more common, there are other types of injuries that are much more severe and dangerous.
T-Bone Car Accident Injuries
T-bone accidents, also referred to as broadside and side-impact collisions can cause injuries that are typically very severe because there isn’t enough of the vehicle left to completely protect the driver or passengers. Typically this kind of accident occurs when a driver runs a red light in an intersection or doesn’t stop at a sign, making the impact even more severe because of the speed. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data shows that nearly 3,000 passenger cars involved in fatal crashes in 2011 were involved in a t-bone crash on one side. In Florida, 25% of vehicles involved in deadly crashes were impacted on their sides. T-bone car accident injuries range in severity and type but need to be treated quickly and can often have long term side effects.
Types of Brain Injuries From Car Accidents
Understanding how vital the brain is as the center for everything that makes a person human makes it clear why a brain injury from a car accident can be so serious. Car accident injuries that impact the brain are among the most serious of car accident injuries. There are some brain injuries that are more serious than others. The impact a brain injury may have on a plaintiff’s ability to continue to develop or continue to work can have a huge impact on their case.
There are two main categories of brain injuries: traumatic brain injuries and acquired brain injuries. The first is caused by external forces to the head, while an acquired brain injury is caused by things like tumors, disease, strokes or oxygen deprivation. The most common types of traumatic brain injuries from car accidents include concussions and even skull fractures. Concussions can be caused by whiplash, trauma to the head from impact, or being hit by a piece of debris from the car accident. Typically concussions manifest themselves to loss of consciousness, headaches, confusion, and dizziness. Contusions are also caused by direct impact to the head and need to be surgically removed.
Car Accident Head Injury Statistics
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons estimates that between 50-70 percent of traumatic brain injury accidents are the result of a motor vehicle crash. Of those who die, 50 percent do so within the first two hours of their injury, and overall, death from head injuries accounts for 34 percent of all traumatic deaths, which is why they are such a dangerous type of injury.
Car Accident Settlements In Florida
There are a variety of factors that impact the settlement amount, including lost wages and cost of medical treatment. Florida has notoriously high rates of accidents, with 400,266 total accidents in 2019.
Car Accident Neck Injury Settlement Amount
In Florida, it is typically required that your neck injury be permanent in order to receive damages for pain and suffering from whiplash or related car crash injuries.
This is codified in Florida’s tort law:
“(2) In any action of tort brought against the owner, registrant, operator, or occupant of a motor vehicle with respect to which security has been provided as required by ss. 627.730–627.7405, or against any person or organization legally responsible for her or his acts or omissions, a plaintiff may recover damages in tort for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience because of bodily injury, sickness, or disease arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation, or use of such motor vehicle only in the event that the injury or disease consists in whole or in part of:
(a) Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function.
(b) Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, other than scarring or disfigurement.
(c) Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement.
(d) Death.”
If you have a severe injury, you can proceed with a personal injury lawsuit immediately following your car accident. If not, this means that you will need to wait until you’ve recovered as much as possible in order to move forward with your case. But you’ll need to be careful that the statute of limitations hasn’t been reached, which is typically 4 years after the incident, in Florida.
Boca Law has a committed team of dedicated litigation attorneys that will work with you closely with. We pride ourselves in getting to know you, representing people and fighting for them is our greatest mission.
