Major Bodily Injury From a Relatively Minor Car Accident
by
Christopher Hoffmann on May. 07, 2014
Accident & Injury Car Accident Accident & Injury Accident & Injury Personal Injury
Summary: Even the seemingly simplest of car accident cases can become complicated by greedy insurance companies trying to save money. Don’t fall victim to their tactics. Instead, have an astute car accident attorney at your side, to make sure you receive your full compensation.
The varying degrees of injury resulting from car accident are immense. Even when given the same circumstances, the outcome is always vastly different. While one driver may walk away seemingly uninjured, another may need months of medical care before fully recovering. This poses a problem for those involved in minor crashes such as a rear end collision, where the defense expects that the injury will match the minor damage to the vehicle. This is not always the case. If you are suffering major injury from a minor accident, consult a car accident attorney immediately. In these cases you need to be prepared for strong opposition from the defense.
The best example of a minor accident where the injuries vary tremendously are low speed rear end collisions. These almost always occur at intersections where the lead car is stopped and waiting for clearance to move forward when an oncoming car hits them from behind. These are not normally high speed collisions since they are taking place off of the major highways. The most common injury to the driver and passengers of the lead car is whiplash, a neck injury resulting from the head being suddenly jerked forwards and back, but other types of injuries have also been known to occur.
Insurance companies expect that this type of collision is going to result in a small settlement for a minor neck injury and will immediately begin to make low-ball offers. Since liability is clear when one car rear ends another, their main objective is not to disprove that, but to disprove the extent of your injury. Your St. Louis Car Accident Lawyer knows this and will fight with you to make sure that your personal injury is being taken seriously by them.
In one Missouri case, a driver who was hit from behind twisted his back during the collision. The pain was excruciating and required long term care to resolve. Seeing slow moving rear end collision, the insurance company made an initial offer of $5,000, not taking the time to truly investigate the extent of his injury. As a result, the case went to a jury trial where the victim was awarded $100,500 for his back injury. By not allowing the defense to bully them into a low-ball offer, the attorney was able to recover the full cost of medical care in addition to lost wages and other expenses.
Even if you feel fine after being rear ended at an intersection, you should always seek medical attention immediately. The symptoms of neck and back injury do not always present themselves immediately, and any delay in treatment is an opening for the defense to try and disprove your injury. You want a medical record that shows how you were treated in the hours following the accident.
Even the seemingly simplest of car accident cases can become complicated by greedy insurance companies trying to save money. Don’t fall victim to their tactics. Instead, have an astute car accident attorney at your side, to make sure you receive your full compensation.
More resources:
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