Ages 4-34 More Likely to Die in Auto Accident Than Any Other Cause
Odds are that everyone will become involved in an automobile accident at least once in their lives. Hopefully the accident you happen to be involved in won’t involve any death or serious injury, but this is not always the case. Last year, the Department of Motor Vehicles reported a total of 6.2 million accidents in the United States, 2.2 million of these resulted in an injury. Currently, the US averages 40,000 vehicular deaths a year. In fact, in the 4 to 34 age range, automobile accidents are the leading cause of death.
Currently, the data suggests that one out of every three automobile accidents involves an injury of some kind. These injuries may be something simple like cuts or bruises that are obvious and easily detected. There are other injuries that aren’t noticeable right away however, and may include: stiffness, numbness, soreness, severe or repeating headaches, and brain injury. These could appear days, or even weeks after the accident. These so-called hidden injuries can even be difficult or impossible to test for, even using state of the art CAT Scans and MRI technology.
A couple of the more common hidden injuries include whiplash and concussion. Whiplash, also known as Myofascial injuries, causes pain due to muscle spasms that are the result of sudden distortions of the neck. The problem may usually result in torn tissues or nerves, disc damage, or even ruptured ligaments and fractured vertebrae can occur as well. The other common automobile accident injury, concussion, is a form of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. This is physical injury to the brain which alters its functionality. Mild Brain injuries have 3 grades. A Grade 1 injury will result in confusion that usually recovers within 15-20 minutes. A Grade 3 injury can cause a person to lose consciousness for a few minutes.
Beyond this are what’s called severe concussions which can cause long periods of loss of consciousness and memory loss. If you’re involved in a serious accident, odds are you will be given treatment, so make sure you cooperate fully. Inform your doctors of any thing they should know about.
Over the years the legal process concerning automobile accidents has grown increasingly complicated. There are often big cases in the paper that occur now and then, but what isn’t usually mentioned is the long litigation process that takes place. Not all are million dollar cases, but instead the goal is to provide reasonable compensation for those who are injured.
There is a large anti-lawyer bias among the populace, but should you ask an individual whether or not someone injured in an accident as the result of someone else’s negligence should be reasonably compensated, odds are they will say ‘yes.’ The legal process for an automobile accident usually concerns many parties and experts in the fields of medicine, insurance, and law, and each one has their own stake in the claim. That’s why it’s important that you find an experienced personal injury lawyer that is in these kinds of cases.
