A Guide to Dealing With Injuries Sustained During a Car Accident

Injuries are what make recovering from a car accident a miserable experience. Cars are replaceable, it might be financially draining, but they’re replaceable. Injuries however are different. They’re not only expensive, but very painful and emotionally difficult. We put together this quick guide to help you understand the legal options for dealing with an injury after a car accident. Remember – if you have any questions you can just call us.

Article Index

• Car Accident Injuries While Pregnant
• Lost Wages From Missing Work Due to a Car Accident Injury
• Red Light Collisions
• Back Injuries from Car Accidents
• Common Face Injuries from Car Accidents
• Vision Changes From Car Accidents
• How to Monitor Your Vision After a Car Accident
• Other Common Injuries From a Car Accident

Car Accident Injuries While Pregnant

Three Possible Outcomes Pregnant Women Will Potentially Deal With After a Car Accident

The last thing you want when you’re pregnant is to get into a car crash. Unfortunately it happens quite often, driving can be more difficult while pregnant. Although the womb does offer your unborn child some protection, you can experience a variety of issues as a result of an accident, even if it is a minor fender bender. Knowing what they are can help you be on the lookout for signs of trouble.

Placental Abruption

One of the worst things that could happen if you get into a wreck while pregnant is placental abruption. This occurs when the force of the impact causes the placenta to detach from the uterus. Placental abruption is serious and can cause a variety of problems for you and the baby.

Miscarriage

Miscarriage is perhaps the most feared outcome of a car crash for pregnant women. An unborn child is particularly fragile and a crash in which your stomach receives a large blow or worse could cause this horrific outcome.Even the severe stress from a crash can raise the risk of a miscarriage. This is why probably the most important item for anyone to follow after a car crash is to not panic.

Early Delivery

Depending on the severity of the crash and how far along you are in your pregnancy early delivery is a possibility depending upon what your doctor thinks is best. If the womb was directly impacted during the wreck your doctor may consider just delivering the baby if after 34 weeks.

We’re a law firm. We help people get the compensation they deserve after an accident. Please go to a hospital if you were in a wreck while pregnant and get medical attention immediately. Our role is to help you get the money to pay for the bills.

Lost Wages From Missing Work Due to a Car Accident Injury

As a responsible motorist, you take all of the proper precautions when you drive, and you expect others on the road to do so too. However, because we’re human and we drive on roads with other humans, we experience drivers being neglectful which results in automobile accidents, which can lead to injuries that put you out of work, making the financial damages even more difficult from an accident.

If you’re injured, you may not be able to work. Missing out on a week’s paycheck may not be too bad, but what will you do if your injuries cause you to miss a month of work, or even a year? How will you and your family survive?

Think about it, if you make an average salary of 48 thousand a year, and you miss one week of work, your accident is a thousand dollars more expensive. That might not seem like much but when you add in the other expenses you’re dealing with a tough loss financially.

Recovering from your injuries is difficult enough, but when you also have to think about how you’re going to make ends meet, things can seem impossible. Fortunately, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel: you may be able to recover your lost wages.

The Insurance Company

When you are injured in an accident, some of your first visitors often work for the insurance company. They will call or visit immediately, whether you are in your home or in the hospital. An agent will do all he can to manipulate you into thinking they have your best interests in mind. On the contrary, the insurance company has the insurance company’s best interests in mind, and they are usually the exact opposite of yours.

That insurance agent will try to get you to settle before you are even aware of the full extent of your injuries. He will attempt to get you to sign on the dotted line before you’ve even seen the doctor. How are you supposed to know how serious your injuries are and how they will affect you in the future? You can’t possibly, and the insurance company knows that, but doesn’t care. They want to give you the least amount of money possible. Even though you might believe its a reasonable amount.

The insurance company will also attempt to leave you in the dark about your lost wages. They will not offer you any compensation of this kind. Instead, you or your attorney will need to request it. You can increase your odds of getting that money if you request for it.

Getting the Compensation for Lost Wages

You can request to receive the wages you lost as a result of the crash in two ways:

• File a lost wages claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
• File a claim based on your own personal injury protection (PIP) coverage.

Upon requesting, you will need to provide proof of your accident, your injuries and the wage loss. The type of proof you will need is documentation. The proper type of documentation includes:

• An accident report from the police department, for proof of the accident.
• Medical records, photographs of your injuries, a medical authorization form completed by your physician and a letter from your physician describing your injuries and how they prevented you from working, for proof of your injuries.
• Paycheck stubs, copies of your previous tax returns and a letter from your employer confirming the time you missed at work and how much income you lost because of the injury, for proof of your wage loss.

Average Wages Lost

According to two studies conducted by MetLife in 2013, the MetLife Accident and Critical Illness Impact Study and the MetLife Accident and Critical Illness IQ Study, accident victims lose an average of $26,900 in income due to their injuries.

The study found that out-of-pocket expenses associated with an accident can be as high as $4,112, while victims of accidents lose an average of $26,900 in income.

Are you able to make ends meet making $26,900 less than you usually do? Probably not, and you shouldn’t be expected to, particularly when the lost income is due to an injuries related to an accident that wasn’t your fault.

Hire a Lawyer

An experienced attorney knows the ins and outs of the legal system, and is well-versed in protecting victim rights. An attorney is aware of what the insurance company is legally able to request from you, and will protect your privacy and rights as much as possible.

The insurance company will do all it can to pay you as little as possible, whereas an attorney will attempt to get you what you are entitled to, which is likely much more.

You should be focused on healing from the injuries you sustained during the crash, not worrying about how to pay your bills.

Red Light Collisions

Traffic lights are there for a reason, but unfortunately, not all drivers abide by them. Instead of stopping when the light is red, some drivers continue to accelerate, often causing dangerous accidents. You may think you know all there is to know about these accidents, but chances are, you don’t. Here, an attorney discusses three facts you should know when dealing with these viscous collisions:

A Majority Result in Injury

According to National Highway Transportation Administration statistics, about one-third of all red light accidents result in injuries. Furthermore, an alarming seven fatalities and 1,000 injuries occur because of red light crashes every day. This staggering statistic likely occurs because most collisions that take place at red lights are side impact, and many vehicles are without side impact safety features.

Red Light Running is the Leading Cause of Urban Crashes

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety revealed that a large percentage of accidents in urban settings occurred at red lights. Additionally, about half of all accidents occur at intersections, which is likely due to drivers running red lights. This means you are more likely to get into an Anne Arundel County car accident at an intersection than anywhere else.

Red Light Accidents Typically Occur During the Day

Drivers typically run red lights more often during the day than at night. This usually occurs because drivers are more pressed for time during the day. For instance, running late to school or work can cause a motorist to drive through a red light and cause a Maryland car accident.

Victims of red light auto collisions are likely injured and will face costly expenses as a result. If you don’t have the help of a lawyer on your side, you may be responsible for these bills yourself.

Back Injuries from Car Accidents

Car crashes make your body move in directions and in ways that aren’t natural. You can also come in contact with parts of the vehicle in a forceful manner. As a result, you can become injured. One of the common injuries that occurs because of a car accident involves the back. Here, our main lawyer Greg Jimeno discusses the three most common back injuries that affect victims of car accidents.

Compression Fracture

Your spine will likely move around in jarring and jerky motions during an auto accident. As a result, you could experience a compression fracture – a tiny crack in the bones of the spine. The fractures can cause the bones to become deformed, or even collapse.

Disc Injuries

Your spine contains small, spongy discs that are nestled in between the vertebrae. Their function is to protect the vertebrae from each other and to provide flexibility. A car wreck can cause the discs to become broken or deformed, which often ends in pain, numbness and weakness.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Your spine is the road in which the brain uses to send messages to your body. The impact from the auto accident can cause the spinal cord to become damaged, which can wreak havoc on your entire body. Paralysis, a lack of sensation in part of your body, a change in posture, pain or difficulty breathing are just a few of the effects a spinal cord injury can create.

As the victim of an Annapolis, MD car accident, your life can change because of a back injury. Along with pain and discomfort, you may also experience costly medical bills. We don’t think you should pay for these expenses. Contact our law firm if you want our help.

Common Face Injuries from Car Accidents

One of the most vulnerable parts of your body that is important to your well being is your face and it will get damaged during a wreck. Many potential dangers lurk in your vehicle and can cause major damage in an accident. Although almost anything can happen, some facial injuries are more common than others.

Impact Injuries

Your airbags are designed to prevent you from becoming seriously injured if you are involved in a car crash. Unfortunately, however, they can also hurt you. Suffering from injuries because of the impact from the airbag to your face isn’t uncommon. The airbags deploy forcefully and could be too strong for your face to handle without experiencing some sort of dangerous consequence, like a break or bruise.

Burns

During a car crash, your vehicle can become unstable because of leaking fluids. Some of these fluids contain chemicals that can cause your skin to burn. Additionally, these fluids are often high in temperature. As a result, your face could become burned and require extensive treatments to heal.

Lacerations

A large amount of your vehicle is made from glass, therefore, it would make sense that the chances of you receiving a laceration from your Maryland car crash are high. Glass from the windows could cut your face and cause you to need stitches. Additionally, you could also experience lacerations from the metal in your vehicle.

Vision Changes From Car Accidents

If you were recently involved in a car wreck, you may think you feel fine, but if anything has changed, you must not overlook it. For instance, any type of vision changes, no matter how minimal, could be a sign of a serious problem caused by the collision. Common symptoms that could indicate a serious issue include:

• Sore, achy, tired-feeling eyes
• Headaches, especially after visual tasks
• Sensitivity to light or glare
• Blurring when changing your gaze from far to near or vice versa
• Double or blurred vision
• Words seem to move while reading
• Losing place while reading
• Loss of reading comprehension
• Problems concentrating, paying attention or tracking moving objects
• Difficulty maintaining eye contact
• Loss of visual field
• Inability to recognize familiar faces or objects
• Inability to judge distance
• Eyes that work separately, rather than together

Experiencing any of these changes means something serious could have happened to your eyes, brain or optic nerve during the Annapolis auto accident. You may assume that these changes are simply exhaustion, allergies or even stress, and although they could be, you’ll need a doctor to tell you for sure.

Going to the doctor helps you determine why you are experiencing the changes, and gets you on the way to resolving them. Additionally, taking that trip also starts a record of your treatments and costs, which could be helpful if you go to court.

How to Monitor Your Vision After a Car Accident

After an accident you may have symptoms of a serious eye injury. If you’re not sure of what to look for, however, you may not know you are suffering from such a condition. Here, we discuss what to look for after your collision.

Changes in Vision

One sign of an eye injury is experiencing changes in your vision. For instance, experiencing blurred or double vision could indicate an eye problem. Additionally, noticing blurring when changing your gaze from near to far and vice versa could also be a symptom of an eye injury.

Pain

Headaches and pain in your eyes can be serious eye issue. These symptoms might occur after concentrating on something, or reading. You could also suffer from achy eyes and even dizziness.

Trouble Recognizing Familiar Objects

If you are experiencing an inability judging distances it can be a big problem, you could have a major vision problem. Experiencing difficulty recognizing familiar faces or objects are also signs you are suffering from an eye issue.

Other Common Injuries From a Car Accident

Although many motorists come out unscathed after being involved in car accidents, some do not. Becoming injured after a collision is stressful, especially if you have costly bills and can’t work. Having a lawyer on your side can help make the experience less difficult.

Neck

Whiplash is one of the most well-known injuries that occur after car crashes. It happens when a person’s neck is moved in a forceful manner, such as during the collision. This painful injury is often a major inconvenience, and can cause a person to have expensive medical bills. Whiplash may also stop the person from being able to work or perform activities he would normally.

Facial

Facial injuries are quite common after car crashes. Airbags can cause injuries, as can the steering wheel and windshield. Those who suffer from these issues may have broken noses or jaws, lacerations or a variety of other ailments. Facial injuries are often serious and could cause lifelong problems for a person.

Brain

If you’ve been involved in a car accident, you may have a concussion. If your head came in contact with the steering wheel, airbag, window or any other object, you may have this potentially dangerous condition. Permanent damage can occur after such an injury, or you may only suffer temporarily.