Tustin Personal Injury Lawyer Advises Caution, Patience
I spoke about this subject several years ago and the circumstances have not changed. That’s why it bears repeating. Often when I’m talking to clients or potential clients they inform me that they have not gotten any medical care for the reason that they had no cuts or broken bones. To them it seems they don’t have any injuries. My next question is, was their police report? In the cases where there wasn’t, those clients explain to me quite often that the other party in the accident suggested the simple exchange of information and then both parties NOT call police. For those potential clients that did call police they tell me that the police ask them if there were any injuries involving broken bones or blood and that, if the answer is no the police tell them they don’t need to take a report and advise parties to handle the matter themselves.
When speaking of accident statistics in Tustin, or indeed the rest of Southern California I included the following information in my post several years ago:
While fatality crashes are at their lowest level since 1949, 32,855 in 2010, automobile injuries were about 2.23 million per year per the NHTSA. Just over 10% of the yearly average of automobile injuries, 232,777 occur in California, per the 2009 California Highway Patrol (SWITRS). So 1 out of every 10 people hurt in car accidents in the United States is hurt in California. That makes sense as we are a car based commuter system here in Southern California. We drive more in Southern California and have more injury accidents than any other state in the U.S.
Tustin car accident lawyer whiplash x-ray
Quite often, in the aftermath of car accidents, people tend to wait too long to seek medical treatment. The reasons for this are varied: people may have no health insurance, if they do have a high deductible or co-pay or the main reason that I hear from potential clients is that they did not seek medical treatment because they thought they were okay or that they would get better on their own. When these people fail to get better, that’s when they go to a physician or pick up the phone and call personal injury attorney like me.
At that point, when I make the claim for the client to the insurance company– the insurance company that represented person responsible for the accident–the insurance company often says that my client was not injured, or not injured that bad since they delayed treatment. Insurance companies will often argue that because there was no blood, broken bones, bruises or cuts that the client is merely having so-called “soft tissue” injuries.
Whiplash as as Example
The reality is that the majority of automobile accident injuries do not involve broken bones or blood. Take for example hyperflexion-hyperextension (whiplash). This movement of the spine is very common automobile accident injury. Thinking about the neck, your lumbar, thoracic and cervical spine are merely different parts of the vertebrae that make up our back and neck. Tissues in these areas along with muscles and ligaments and discs between the vertebrae are all what we would call soft tissues and they can each suffer serious levels of injury in an car crash. Sometimes the injury is mild and can either heal by itself or with physical therapy or by seeing a chiropractor. However sometimes injuries are more serious and do not go away even after many months. We refer to these as chronic symptoms. What can be worse for some si that structures that make up the spine, lumbar, thoracic or cervical can have structural injuries that are long-lasting. When the spine is compressed or moved in a car crash the discs between the individual vertebrae can suffer bulges or herniation. This is where the disk wall, called the annulus fibrosus, becomes compromised and bulges out. When these bulges occur they may push on nerve roots as well as the dural sac which is what protects the spinal cord. There are nerves in the back that could be affected including those nerves of the sympathetic nervous system–which has control over functions such as body temperature.
Given all this, and noting this is an injury without blood broken bones, it’s evident that such an injury requires a detailed and proper examination by an orthopedist or neurologist who specializes in these areas. Such a specialist can undertake necessary tests to ascertain whether MRI, EMG, CT scan or other nerve conduction testing is needed.
It goes without saying that the most valuable thing you have is your life and your health, so hesitating to get proper medical treatment no matter the reason can possibly result in worsening of your condition. This may turn mean it takes longer to recover injuries you have suffered. You need to find out what the true extent of injuries are the you’ve suffered. It is vital that you know as soon as possible how badly injured you are, and if injured badly, you need to get the full and fair compensation from that person responsible for those injuries. You need to err on the side of caution and make sure you know the extent of your injuries. A personal injury lawyer such as myself we’ll always recommend that his clients.
If you have suffered an injury in automobile accident I need a car accident attorney to protect your rights say that you were compensated for your injuries call the offices of Kyle Scott Law in Tustin. If you are hurt, we can help. 714-544-1460
https://kjslaw.com