An unexpected Los Angeles car accident can cause painful injuries that negatively affect your life for weeks or even years to come. The force placed on a person’s body in a car accident can cause soft-tissue damage, lacerations, and broken bones. In serious car accidents, a person’s brain, spine, and internal organs are particularly at risk of suffering permanent injury.
If you or your loved one have suffered an injury in a car accident, an experienced personal injury lawyer can help you build a legal claim for recovery. Under California law, drivers are liable for injuries caused by their negligence. At SoCal Injury Lawyers, we have helped many victims of car accidents obtain compensation for their injuries. Contact us as soon as possible to schedule your initial consultation and learn how we can help you.
Common Injuries Sustained in a Car Accident
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) in a Car Accident
Your head can snap forward and back quickly during a serious car accident, causing your brain to slam against your skull. Sometimes debris such as sharp metal objects causes blunt force trauma to a car accident victim’s head. When airbags do not properly deploy, your head can slam into the dashboard with extreme force. In all of these scenarios, traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can result.
Traumatic brain injuries can cause complications that last for many years. Those suffering from traumatic brain injuries often lose the ability to maintain employment and engage in everyday activities. Traumatic brain injuries can also cause headaches, sleeping difficulties, memory loss, and other serious complications. Sometimes the symptoms of traumatic brain injuries do not become fully apparent until days or even weeks after the car accident happens.
Spinal Cord Injuries Including Quadriplegia and Paraplegia in a Car Accident
Like our brains, our spinal cords are fragile. The pressure that a serious car accident places on the body can cause the spinal cord to fracture. Depending on the location of the spinal cord injury, an individual may suffer total or partial paralysis. When victims of car accidents become quadriplegic, they require significant medical care and assistance with daily tasks throughout their lives. The cost of ongoing care for a middle-aged person with quadriplegia can exceed $1,000,000 over a lifetime. Obtaining compensation through a personal injury lawsuit can help you cover your costs of care.
Back Injuries, Neck Injuries, and Whiplash
The human spine and neck are not designed to sustain the serious impact that happens in a car accident. During a motor vehicle collision, a person’s neck becomes thrown forward and quickly snaps back, causing the soft tissue in the neck to become injured and inflamed. In many cases, the full extent of the whiplash doesn’t become apparent until hours or even days after the accident. When the shock of the accident wears off, many car accident victims begin to feel extreme soreness and pain in the neck. Whiplash and back injuries can require extensive treatment. Many individuals who sustained a back or neck injury require ongoing physical therapy and chiropractic care.
Severe Burns
When a motor vehicle catches on fire, or when a car accident victim’s skin comes into contact with hot leaking fluids or chemicals, he or she can suffer severe burns. Severe third-degree burns often require extensive treatment in a specialized burn unit. The burns themselves are often extremely painful and can be disfiguring, and patients with severe burns are always at risk for dangerous and potentially deadly infections.
Internal Injuries
If you’ve been involved in a car accident, it’s always wise to seek medical treatment. Some injuries are not apparent right after the car accident happens. In the chaos of the aftermath of the accident, you might not realize that you’re suffering from dangerous internal bleeding caused by the crash. When internal bleeding goes untreated, the results can be deadly.
Bone Fractures
Airbags help people survive when they are working properly, but when they fail to work properly, victims of car accidents can suffer broken bones. When the pressure from the car accident is too much for your bones to withstand, you can suffer painful breaks. Victims of car accidents can even suffer broken bones when the airbags are functioning properly. Motorcyclists who fall off of their motorcycles during a collision are at an even higher risk of suffering bone fractures.
Disfiguring Scars and Facial Injuries
Facial injuries and facial scars can happen when broken glass from the windshield flies into the victim’s face. They can also occur when the victim’s face comes into contact with the airbag, steering wheel, side window, or any other hard surface. When explosions and fires happen, car accident victims can suffer disfiguring and painful scarring.
Amputation and Limb Loss
During a serious car accident, a victim’s leg, finger, arm, toe, or another appendage can become damaged severely or severed. When limbs become crushed in a car accident, surgeons may have to amputate the damaged limb. Losing a limb has life-altering effects. Some who have suffered limb loss may need to find a different career path, while others may need assistance with daily tasks. Ongoing physical therapy is often a must for those who’ve experienced limb loss.
Bruises, Lacerations, and Road Rash
Bruising and laceration may seem like minor injuries, but they can be severe. Many victims of severe car accidents must cope with extreme bruising where the seat belt pushed into their bodies. Motorcyclists who fly off of their motorcycle during a collision often experience painful road rash from the asphalt scraping their skin.
Contact Our Car Accident Lawyers Today
Suffering a serious personal injury due to a car accident can be financially and emotionally devastating. If you’ve suffered a personal injury, you may be wondering how you’re going to pay all of your mounting medical bills while having to take time off of work to recover from your injuries. The sooner you speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer, the better. Contact SoCal Injury Lawyers today to schedule your initial consultation.