If you’re involved in a fender bender or a minor car accident, you may think that because you walk away outwardly unharmed, and the damage to your car and property are minor, everything is fine.
However, even minor accidents can result in significant injuries and vehicular complications that may not be immediately obvious. That said, if you do not take the proper steps after an accident, you could find yourself having trouble filing a claim or getting restitution for your injuries.
Medical and scientific studies have shown that accidents caused by vehicles traveling at slow speeds can result in serious injuries and painful complications — even if the vehicles themselves have little structural damage.
A person involved in a fender bender can suffer whiplash from the impact and even if the whiplash symptoms do not appear until hours or days after the crash, the harm is still significant. Minor accidents like this have a way of lingering, either in physical symptoms or nagging pain of some kind.
The faster a car is moving, the greater the impact if it collides with another car. In such accidents, the injuries sustained can be very serious — drivers and passengers can be ejected from the car and smashed against windows and doors, suffering horrible injuries.
However, slow car accidents can have similar results, and because most people write off these incidents as minor, there are fewer examinations into the health and condition of those involved.
Get Checked
For this reason, it’s critical for car accident victims to immediately get checked by a medical professional following an accident, no matter how serious or minor the accident may have been. Car bumpers are built to withstand the force of small collisions up to about a five-mile-per-hour crash without serious damage.
However, in those types of accidents, if the bumper does not crumple and absorb the impact of the other vehicle, the driver and other passengers feel the impact. They could be thrown forward into the front of the car or the windshield in a motion that causes their necks to snap forward or their bodies to twist unnaturally.
Whiplash, neck injuries, herniated disks, concussions and lower back pain are all potential results of slow-moving car accidents. These injuries can show up much later after the insurance paperwork has been completed and the accident has been cleaned up.
A victim may not realize how serious the injuries are until days after the accident when his or her back is stiff or the individual’s ability to concentrate has been compromised.
Getting a medical examination following a car accident can help detect minor injuries, especially if you have yet to show signs of being hurt. When you establish a personal injury claim after an at-fault car accident, part of your evidence must be a medical injury or complication that has cost you significant time and money to handle. A doctor can order x-rays or medical scans that will detect the spine, head, and neck injury.
At Levine Law, we want you to have every opportunity to build your personal injury case if you have been injured in a minor or serious car accident. To discuss your first steps following an accident, contact one of the attorneys at our Denver personal injury law firm today.
