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¿Cuáles son las lesiones más comunes en los accidentes de tráfico?

February 1, 2019Michelle Lysengen
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    People get into car accidents each and every day and, unfortunately, get injured as a result. Below is a list of the most common injuries caused as a result of a car accident.

    1. Amputations

    Traumatic amputation injuries take place during a car accident when the body has sustained such severe damage that the arm, leg, or another part of the body has to be removed. This has serious consequences on the ability of the victim to complete tasks for daily living.

    2. Bone Fractures & Breaks

    Some of the most common injuries from car accidents are broken bones and fractures. Bones can easily break due to the stress put on your body from a car accident. Fracturas óseas are less severe but can still cause pain and bring along medical bills.

    Both can occur when bones are subjected to excessive pressure from a sudden twist or impact. Depending on the severity and location of the break, a broken bone can take many months to heal. In some situations, a break can make it difficult to complete daily tasks or even prevent an individual from working. Extreme cases of broken bones from car accidents can even require surgery, such as pins and placement.

    3. Back Injuries

    Back injuries produce damage to the spinal cord, causing serious damage to the nerves. Victims might experience reduced control in certain body parts like their hands, arms, legs, and feet, or be completely paralyzed. A herniated disc will produce tingling sensations, muscle weakness, and regular arm and leg pain.

    4. Neck Injuries & Whiplash

    Whiplash is a very common auto accident injury in rear-end car accidents. It starts with nothing more than headaches, stiffness, and neck pain. But neck injuries tend to manifest in much more severe problems later on.

    In fact, neck injuries and whiplash can produce chronic neck pain and long-lasting physical complications. Emotional distress is not uncommon for people with chronic pain. Such auto accident injuries are not only a burden on the individual’s ability to complete daily tasks but also on their finances because of medical treatments.

    5. Meniscus Injuries

    When cartilage is damaged in a car accident, it can lead to a tear of the meniscus. Meniscus injuries can easily become lifelong injuries. This is a very common injury in car accidents because of the excessively forceful twisting or rotation of the knees and wrists.

    6. Rotator Cuff

    Rotator cuff tears and strains take place when the tendons that connect the muscles around the shoulder joint get torn. They can be torn off partially or completely. Not only do these take a very long time to heal, but they can also lead to long-term complications and interfere with tasks for daily living, alongside the ability to work.

    7. Traumatic Brain Injuries

    Lesiones cerebrales traumáticas take place when there is a blow to the head during a car accident. Traumatic brain injuries (or TBI) can be permanently devastating because the regions of the brain damaged in car accidents are the frontal lobes and the temporal lobes.

    Damage to these areas of the brain can interfere with cognition, movement, and the ability to complete daily tasks, let alone work. Long-term TBI injuries can be incredibly expensive to treat. Similar to head injuries in sports, symptoms might not manifest immediately but could take a few months or years before they are noticeable.

    8. Wrongful Death

    Wrongful death takes place when recklessness or negligence on the part of the other driver causes an unintended fatality. Compensation is designed to provide the victim’s family with something to ease their pain and suffering.

    What Type of Car Accidents Are Most Common?

    Car accidents can involve bicycles, pedestrians, other cars, motorcycles, trucks on the highway, and recently, Uber and Lyft vehicles. It is quite common to have injuries to the arms, legs, hands, and feet, regardless of the type of accident. Accidents involving pedestrians typically result in severe injuries. Sadly, speed is an all-too-common factor in most car accidents.

    Accidents involving motorcycles will cause much more serious and numerous injuries compared to multi-vehicle collisions. In fact, motorcyclists will typically suffer from broken bones and ligament damage in almost every vehicle accident. The fatality rate for motorcyclists is much higher than for any other type of collision.

    Each of the following  types of accidents can involve bicycles, cars, motorcycles, pedestrians, and trucks:

    • Colisiones por alcance
    • Single-vehicle car crashes
    • Cross-traffic accidents, more commonly called T-Bone accidents
    • Side-swiped merging cars
    • Low-speed car accidents

    How Common Are California Car Accidents?

    Car accidents in California account for over 3,000 deaths annually, a figure that is much higher in Southern California. California has a higher number of car accidents than any other state because it has a higher number of people who drive long distances regularly.

    What Should You Do if You Have Been Injured in a Car Accident?

    If you were involved in a car accident, it is important that you immediately seek medical attention and collect evidence. If you have a cell phone with a camera, take pictures of the damage.

    If your injuries start to manifest a few days or weeks after the accident, take pictures of the area. Medical professionals can use pictures of a swollen neck to help diagnose and treat whiplash, which could subsequently help you get the settlement you deserve.

    After you have collected the evidence, call an injury attorney. You want a abogado especializado en accidentes to help you out as soon as possible. And the sooner you have a lawyer on your side, the sooner you can get back to treating your injuries and moving on with life while the accident attorneys handle the more complicated aspects of your case.

    Make sure you see a doctor immediately. In some situations, courts may deny your request for compensation on the basis that you did not fulfill your personal responsibility in going to a doctor.

    If you could have treated any injuries quickly and effectively by going to a doctor immediately, but chose to wait, your health and settlement may suffer. For example, if you wait six months, the physical issue has potentially worsened, hurting your legal case. So go to a doctor immediately.

    Finally, call your insurance agency and tell them what happened so that they can start preparing the necessary claims and working with your lawyer.

    What Compensation Can You Get After a Car Accident?

    After a car accident, you are entitled to compensation for things like:

    • Lesion
    • Damage
    • Negligencia
    • Dolor y sufrimiento
    • Missed work & inconveniences

    In most car accident cases, the amount of compensation people receive is limited by the insurance policy limits of the other people involved. If the other driver acted in a reckless or negligent fashion, you may be entitled to compensation.

    However, you are still limited by the amount of coverage an individual has under their policy. If you are involved in an accident with a semi-truck, most trucks have policies covering upwards of a million dollars.

    California has a minimum liability requirement of $15,000 in coverage, so if you hit an uninsured motorist or someone with the bare minimum coverage, that places a limit on how much the insurance company is willing to provide. The amount of compensation to which you are entitled is contingent upon a handful of factors.

    1. Medical Bills

    Medical bills are the foundation for determining how much to award in damages. Without a high number of medical bills, chances are you will not receive a large award for pain and suffering.

    2. Severity of Injuries

    Whiplash can be temporary or permanent, leading to missed time at work, the inability to drive, or restrictions on daily activities. Traumatic brain injuries can be permanently life-changing events that affect not only the victim but also the victim’s family.  In those cases, the settlement can be worth multiple hundreds of thousands of dollar,s depending on the severity of the accident.

    3. Recovery

    The amount of time it will take for you to recover also plays a significant role. If the recovery will take or has already taken two years, you have suffered a great deal of physical and emotional chronic pain. This is considered more significant than someone who recovered in just three months. Generally speaking, the longer the length of your recovery, the higher your total compensation.

    4. Vehicle Damage

    In cases involving cars and motorcycles, the damage to your motor vehicle will be taken into account. The more severe the damage to the vehicle, the more compensation you will likely receive. California state law stipulates that one can reasonably infer that a more severe accident will cause greater damage not just to the vehicle but to the person involved by way of injuries and suffering.

    Why Get a Personal Injury Attorney if You Have Been in a Car Accident

    If you have been involved in a car accident, it is important to work with a car accident lawyer because your injuries could last much longer than you think. You may not feel excessive pain right now, but injuries can compound with time if left untreated, and you might face recurring pain or long-term damage.

    It is important to be cognizant of the statute of limitations. Each state has different requirements based on the type of incident. You only have a limited amount of time to receive compensation for your injuries and reimbursement for any medical bills. If you wait too long to take action, you won’t get anything.

    When you work with us, we will help you get the compensation to which you are entitled. We work hard with other legal professionals in the area to help you settle outside of court, which gives you a higher chance of fair compensation.

    Settling outside of court also means faster access to your compensation. Don’t worry about the hassle of working with large insurance companies. We handle all of that for you.

    Why Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer if You Have Been in a Car Accident

    After a car accident, you have so many questions and such little time to act. This is why it is essential that you speak with a personal injury lawyer near you as soon as possible. Getting the information you need can make all the difference in whether you are able to get compensation for your car accident.

    At DK Law, we take pride in helping our clients understand the whole legal process, start to finish, in order to help you get the compensation you deserve and the peace of mind to continue your life while we fight for you. Our attorneys will talk with you about your case and help guide you through the process, and understand:

    • If you have a claim
    • How much you may be entitled to
    • What to do next
    • Qué puede anticipar
    • How long will your case take
    • And answer any questions you may have along the way

    Contact DK Law today for a free case evaluation. We will assign you the most qualified lawyer for your case based on their experience and your needs.

    Sobre el Autor

    Michelle Lysengen

    Michelle es especialista de contenido en DK Law y elabora materiales que destacan los eventos del bufete y simplifica temas legales complejos para presentarlos de forma clara y atractiva. Obtuvo su licenciatura en Mercadotecnia en California State University, Fullerton.

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