Car Injury Lawyer
BIG AUTO

Nationwide U.S. crash statistics reveal the following:

• Approximately 13 car crashes occur every minute of every day.
• Nearly 4.8 million people sustained serious injuries in a car crash in 2020.
• In 2021, nearly 43,000 people died in a car crash, a 10.5% increase over 2020.
• A disabling car crash injury will cost you $101,000 or more in medical expenses, lost wages and other crash-related costs.

Given this staggering amount, you need the services of a competent, qualified and dedicated car injury lawyer to get you the compensation you deserve.

The types of injuries you can sustain in a car crash are almost never-ending. Here are just a few common car crash injuries.

Traumatic Brain Injury

A TBI occurs when you hit your head against a stationary object with enough force to cause your brain to “slosh around” inside your skull. This can happen if your head hits your steering wheel, dashboard or side window during your crash.

TBIs can be traumatic indeed, resulting in such lifelong conditions as the following:

• Vision impairment, up to total and complete blindness
• Hearing impairment, up to total and complete deafness
• Speech impairment
• Balance impairment
• Cognitive impairment
• Emotional control impairment
• Post-trauma epilepsy

You can also sustain a TBI if flying glass or other debris pierces your skull and enters your brain during your crash.

Spinal Cord Injury

Your spinal cord is the “information highway” that sends messages back and forth between your brain and the rest of your body. When this cord is severed or otherwise compromised, the messages can’t get through and your body becomes paralyzed virtually everywhere below your point of injury.

If you sustain an SCI to your lower back, the result is paraplegia, i.e., paralysis of your legs, feet and sometimes your hips and pelvic regions. If your SCI occurs in your neck or upper back, the result is quadriplegia, i.e., paralysis of not only your lower body, but also of your arms, hands and torso.

Either way, an SCI renders you unable to walk and therefore reliant on a wheelchair as your means of mobility.

Crush Injury

A crush injury occurs when part of your body becomes trapped between two stationary objects. A common example is your legs becoming trapped underneath your car’s dashboard during a car crash. Not only are crush injuries extremely painful, they can result in the necessity of amputation of the affected body part.

Burn Injury

Because your vehicle is full of flammable and caustic liquids, including gasoline, brake fluid, steering fluid and antifreeze, you can sustain severe burns in a car crash. Burn injuries also occur if part of your body comes into contact with one of your vehicle’s hot electric wires.

A burn injury can put you in the hospital for months and require multiple skin grafts to repair the damage as much as possible. Even with the most expert plastic surgery, however, your chance of having disfiguring scars remains high.

Bone Injury

As strong as your bones are, they’re no match for the impacts they’re liable to receive in a car crash. Whether broken or fractured, virtually all of these bone injuries require surgery – sometimes multiple surgeries – to put the pieces back together. Depending on the severity of the break or fracture and the necessary methods to mend it, you could be left with scars.

Not surprisingly, the bones in your arms and legs are at greatest risk for breaking during a car crash. Other at-risk bones include your shoulders, collar bone, breast bone, hips and pelvis.

Internal Organ Injury

Car crashes are notorious for producing internal organ injuries, especially to the spleen, liver, stomach and kidneys. Such injuries can cause massive internal bleeding and inevitably require emergency surgery to repair.

Soft Tissue Injury

Finally, you are at high risk of receiving a soft tissue injury in a car crash. Whiplash is the most common of these and occurs when the sudden stoppage of your vehicle causes your head to whip forward and backward. The result is pain in your neck and back, plus a reduced range of motion in those areas. These conditions can last for months.

Other common soft tissue injuries include strains and sprains, particularly to your shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles.

Contacting a lawyer is probably the last thing on your mind after a car crash where your injuries have put you in the hospital and out of work. However, it should be one of the first. Why? Because an experienced and knowledgeable car injury lawyer can make your life easier in a variety of ways. Here are just a few.

Estimate the Amount of Your Damages

Your car injury lawyer knows how much insurance companies in your area generally pay for injuries such as yours. He or she also knows what types of extenuating circumstances increase this payout, and if any of these apply to you. Consequently, he or she is in a much better position than you are to place a realistic dollar value on your injuries.

Investigate Your Accident

Police accident reports are all well and good, but often they neglect to tell the whole story. A car injury lawyer can thoroughly investigate your accident, checking any nearby security cameras for footage showing exactly what happened, He or she can also check out the road conditions at the time of the crash, as well as any construction or other barriers or traffic controls. He or she can then follow through with interviewing any witnesses to the crash. If necessary, he or she can even call in an accident reconstruction expert.

Establish Fault

A car crash can become quite complicated quite quickly because no one wants to admit they caused it. Your car injury lawyer possesses the experience and skills necessary to determine this all-important aspect of the crash. Once he or she determines whose negligence or wrongdoing caused your accident, he or she can then file suit against that person or entity on your behalf.

Adhere to State Laws

Each state has its own laws, called statutes of limitation, regarding how soon after your accident you must file your lawsuit. Your car injury lawyer is well aware of your state’s statute of limitations and can make sure you don’t miss this crucial deadline. He or she can also ensure that you abide by all of your state’s laws concerning how your suit must proceed.

Negotiate With the Insurance Companies

Regardless of who you sue, you’ll really be dealing with that person’s or entity’s insurance company, and possibly your own as well. It should come as no surprise to you to learn that insurance companies are not your friends. They’re in business to pay you as little as possible so as to protect their own bottom lines. Consequently, you need a strong advocate in your corner to take them on and negotiate a generous settlement on your behalf. That is exactly who your car injury lawyer is and what he or she does on a daily basis.

Try Your Case

If the insurance company refuses to offer you a just settlement, your car injury lawyer can try your case to a jury. Here he or she switches gears from negotiator to trial attorney, using his or her courtroom experience and skills to strenuously advocate for you and protect your legal rights.