Every type of accident can cause a variety of different car accident injuries. Car accident injuries are mostly due to the incredible force of large metal vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. Most cars are not designed to handle crashes of more than a few miles an hour. While cars do have hoods, doors, fenders, and other materials to help protect the occupants – if a car is struck by a fast car or flips over – the driver and passengers can be seriously hurt or killed.
Death and car injuries
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - Highway Loss Data Institute, 37,133 people died in fatal car crashes in 2917. Thus, 11.4 people were killed for every 100,000 people. Deaths devastate families. There's no bringing the victim back. There is no financial sum that can fully compensate spouses, children, and parents for the loss of someone.
The best that our Vero Beach car accident lawyers can do is to seek all the compensation that the law allows. Compensation, in wrongful death cases, generally includes the loss of financial support the deceased would have provided. It also includes the value of the loss of society, comfort, and companionship the victim would have given each family member. Additional compensation should include payment for any medical bills, funeral costs, and the pain and suffering of the victim.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
When a car accident happens, it’s quite common for the drivers and passengers to collide with the dashboard, with the windshield, with the car seats, with the doors, with the steering wheel, and with other passengers. When someone’s head strikes one of these objects or another person, the brain can violently shake about the skull. The shaking of the brain can cause bleeding and long-term damage. Brain damage can be fatal. Survivors often suffer long-term physical pain and loss of cognitive skills. Many TBI victims also suffer anxiety, depressions, and a range of emotional harm. Many traumatic brain injury victims need immediate surgery. After surgery, they usually need to treat with multiple doctors and therapists. Many traumatic brain injury victims require a lifetime of medical care.
Spinal Cord Damage and Paralysis
The spine is composed of the vertebrae, nerves, discs, and other body parts that support the neck and the back. In severe cases, a car accident victims can suffer full or partial paralysis which can mean confinement to a wheelchair or a bed for the rest of his/her life. Damage to the spine can prevent victims from being able to work. The spinal cord is often accompanied by acute pain which can affect daily functioning, loss of sensations, numbness, incontinence, and other long-term difficulties. Victims often treat pain management doctors, neurosurgeons, and neurologists. Difficulty breathing, infections, and other complications can arise at most any time.
Fractures and Broken Bones
Car occupants often suffer broken arms, broken collarbones, fractured legs. They often suffer breaks to fingers, toes, wrists, and ribs. Any bone in the body can be damaged when bodies fly about the inside of a car if someone flies to the ground. Most fractures and breaks require treatment by an orthopedic surgeon. Many bones do heal after months. Some heal without surgery. Other breaks require an operation. During the healing process, the bones are normally placed in casts that can’t be removed. These casts can be quite uncomfortable. Some victims never fully recover the range of motion they had before the car accident.
Internal injuries
Internal bleeding and internal injuries often require immediate medical attention to understand the full range of damage. If internal bleeding can’t be stopped, the car accident victim will likely die. Internal injuries come about because of the violent forces to internal organs and other parts of the anatomy.
Burn injuries
If a car ignites or ruptures a fuel line or gas tank, the resulting fires and explosions can be catastrophic. Victims will likely need a skin graft and other related surgeries - if the burns are deep enough. Many burn victims also require plastic surgery especially if any part of their body burns. Many burn victims also require psychiatric help because the scars and disfigurement can be extremely hard to cope with emotionally. In addition to fire damage, victims may also suffer lung and breathing damage due to the smoke.
Cuts and Lacerations
Most car accident victims bleed and suffer cuts from the flying glass and other debris. If a cut is severe enough, the car accident victim may require cosmetic surgery to help improve the victim’s appearance and self-esteem. Many cuts heal with time if treatment is quick. Lacerations are generally deeper and more severe than cuts.
Whiplash and soft tissue injuries
A whiplash injury often occurs when a car is rear-ended by another victim. With whiplash, the head and neck move about unnaturally. Many whiplash victims don’t even realize they have suffered a whiplash until hours or days after the accident. Whiplash can cause severe pain which requires extensive physical therapy. Car accidents cause damage to other muscles which also require a lot of medical care to heal properly.
Car accident victims can also suffer heart attacks, damage to joints, and other serious injuries.