Common Injuries Car Accident Victims Face

There are about 5 million car accidents every year in the United States. On average, these crashes cause over 37,000 deaths and over 2 million injuries. Many of these injuries require extensive medical care, and may reduce a victim’s quality of life. Let’s take a look at some of the most common injuries caused by car accidents.

Head And Neck Injuries

The impact of a car crash may cause your head and neck to jerk or move in unnatural motions. This can lead to serious and prolonged injuries, some of which may never allow for a full recovery.

Traumatic Brain Injuries

During an accident, drivers and passengers may strike their heads against steering wheels, windows, or dashboards. They also may be struck by foreign objects which fly through the air during impact. This can lead to serious brain injuries, such as concussions, comas, or irreversible brain damage.

Skull Fractures

Victims may also experience skull fracturing when their head collides with a part of the car cabin or is struck by a flying foreign object.

Hearing & Vision Problems

Head impacts may also lead to health and vision problems, which can be either temporary or chronic.

Whiplash

Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries. An unnatural jerking motion of the neck can cause serious muscle and ligament damage, leading to chronic pain for weeks or months after the accident. General neck pain and swelling is also common after a crash.

Back Injuries

Many people suffer from back and chest injuries after being involved in an accident. The impact can lead to a variety of injuries which vary in severity.

Nerve Damage

If the spinal cord has been damaged, the victim may experience nerve damage. This could lead to reduced sensation and a loss of control of extremities and other body parts.

Herniated Disks

A herniated disk is an injury to one of the discs between your vertebrae. Symptoms include numbness, tingling sensations, muscle weakness, and leg and arm pain.

Fractured Vertebrae

Blunt force trauma from an accident may cause broken bones in the ribs, vertebrae, or other parts of the body. Each of these issues are extremely painful and may require extensive medical care.

Internal Organ Damage

Many victims suffer serious injuries to their internal organs. Such injuries are especially common if there has been a serious impact to the victim’s chest or abdomen. These injuries often require surgery and a long recovery process.

Internal Bleeding

Many serious accidents cause trauma to internal organs and the vascular system. In these cases, internal bleeding or hemorrhages may occur. This can lead to disastrous health consequences, such as cardiac arrest or death.

Internal Chest Injuries

Blows to the chest can create a host of serious internal injuries. They may damage the diaphragm, which is a key component of the breathing process. A direct blow to the chest may damage the heart, lungs, liver, and other internal organs. If chest-area bones (such as the sternum or ribs) are broken, bone fragments could pierce organs.

Internal Abdominal Injuries

Abdominal injuries are often caused by blunt force trauma to the region. These include injuries to the spleen, kidneys, stomach, and bowels.

Catastrophic External Injuries

Some victims suffer from catastrophic external injuries which may leave them permanently disfigured or scarred. These lifelong ailments may prevent a victim from ever returning their previous lifestyle, and many victims will qualify for the serious injury threshold.

Burns

Modern vehicle safety standards have made burns less common in car accidents, but they still happen. Those victims who suffer from third or fourth-degree burns may never fully recover and show scarring for the rest of their lives. In a vehicle fire, the manufacturer may be held liable if the vehicle had unsatisfactory safety standards.

Lacerations

Deep cuts and lacerations are some of the most common causes of vehicle fatalities. These injuries induce a tremendous loss of blood. Those who are lucky enough to survive serious lacerations are often left with permanent scarring.

Amputations

In severe accidents, a limb may be traumatically amputated during an accident or damaged enough that it must be removed through surgical amputation. Car accidents are the leading cause of traumatic necessary amputations.

Death

Victims of fatal accidents often leave behind surviving family members who suffer in a variety of ways following the accident. Along with a painful grieving process, these families may be required to complete payment for remaining medical bills, handle funeral and burial expenses, and to continue living with a loss of financial support which the deceased had provided.

Injury Rehabilitation

Many of these injuries require a long, painful, and expensive recovery process. While your insurance company may cover medical expenses during the early stages of this process, a serious injury may require extensive care which exceeds your policy’s cap limit. This often leads to the additional stress of needing medical care without being able to afford it.

In these situations, a lawsuit against the at-fault driver offers recourse for victims. A successful lawsuit will require the at-fault driver to financially compensate the victim for both economic and noneconomic expenses - depending on the details of the accident and the victim’s insurance policy.

Those with full tort coverage are permitted to sue for pain and suffering, while those with limited tort will be required to satisfy the “serious injury” threshold. PA law defines a serious injury as one which causes death, serious impairment of a bodily function, or permanent disability. If you think you may qualify for this threshold and require additional compensation, contact an attorney for more information.

Additional Resources

• Comprehensive car accident page
• What to ask after an accident
• What to do after an accident with an uninsured driver
• Hazards of distracted driving
• Learn More About Our Montgomery County Office
• Learn More About Our Delaware County Office