What Types of Injuries Are Sustained in Florida Car Crashes?
According to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 401,540 crashes occurred in 2021. Out of those, 16,826 ended in incapacitating injuries.
Even when your injuries aren’t incapacitating, they can be traumatic. The severity and type of injuries you sustain, bodily injury liability, and what medical treatment you need affect the compensation you can collect.
A Florida car accident attorney at Warner & Fitzmartin can help you navigate the claims process to pursue compensation for your injuries.
Common Car Accident Injuries in Florida
Car accidents occur daily and end in a variety of injuries. The injuries you sustain will depend on the type of accident that takes place, how fast you are going, and the size of both vehicles in the collision.
Whiplash
When your car stops suddenly, your neck whips back and forth quickly. This causes strains or tears in your neck muscles. If you have whiplash, you may experience neck pain, dizziness, headaches, and fatigue.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Traumatic brain injuries occur when your brain impacts the inside of your skull during a collision with another car, causing a brain bleed or bruise. Debris from the accident can also penetrate your skull and damage your brain.
Head injuries can cause headaches, nausea, confusion, and seizures.
Back and Spinal Cord Injuries
The impact of accidents can cause a herniated disk, which occurs when a disk in your spinal cord slips out of place and irritates nearby nerves. Herniated discs cause pain and weakness in the back but can also impact your arms, shoulders, and legs.
When you’re wearing a seatbelt during your accident, the lower part of your body will stay in place while the impact throws your upper body forward. This can lead to a spinal fracture. Spinal cord injuries vary in severity, but extreme ones can cause paralysis.
Burns
Some car accidents cause explosions or fires. If you are still in or near the car when this happens, you may sustain burn injuries.
First-degree burns only affect the surface of your skin, causing redness and pain but no blisters. Second-degree burns affect the second layer of skin, causing blisters and scarring. The most severe type of burn is third-degree, which impacts your bones and muscles in addition to the layers of your skin.
Broken Bones
The blunt force you experience from a car accident can cause broken bones. The most common bones to break in a car accident include:
- Arms
- Nose
- Legs
- Hands
- Feet
- Collarbone
Broken bones cause swelling, loss of function, and extreme pain. Some broken bones may not be apparent right away, which is why it’s important to seek medical attention after your accident.
Psychological Impact
The effects of car accidents surpass physical injuries. They are terrifying, emotionally traumatic events. Some people experience depression, PTSD, or anxiety after their car accident.
The emotional impact can be enough to interfere with day-to-day life just as any physical injury would. Therefore, you can seek compensation for your psychological or emotional injuries through non-economic damages.
To pursue these damages, you’ll need to contact a Florida car accident attorney, access the traffic collision report, and prove that the negligence of the other driver caused your injuries.
Have You Suffered Car Accident Injuries? Contact Experienced Car Accident Attorneys
Florida is a no-fault insurance state, so your own auto insurance will cover a portion of your medical bills and may cover other losses regardless of who was at fault for the accident. However, the attorneys at Warner & Fitzmartin stand ready to assist you through this difficult process by pursuing additional compensation for all of your damages.
You don’t have to suffer alone. To make a negligence determination and pursue compensation for your car accident injuries, contact a Florida car accident attorney at Warner & Fitzmartin by calling (561) 803-0167.