While every car accident is different, the injuries they tend to produce are often very similar, including broken bones, whiplash, and even burn injuries. The true extent of those injuries are not always apparent right after the accident and sometimes remain latent for weeks or even months afterward. Because the necessary treatment can be costly, fighting for a full compensation package is crucial for a victim’s recovery.

TYPES OF COMMON CAR ACCIDENT INJURIES IN GEORGIA

The sudden trauma of a car crash tends to produce the same or similar injuries to the drivers and passengers who were involved. Some of the most common injuries that victims sustain in a car crash and their causes are:

• Broken legs and knee injuries, especially for drivers and victims in the passenger seat when the collision was to the front of their car
• Broken arms or wrists, from the force of the airbag and the instinctual response for occupants to put their hands out to brace for impact
• Broken noses, from the force of the airbag
• Cuts and lacerations, from broken glass and any shards of metal or plastic that broke off in the collision
• Whiplash, when tendons or ligaments in a victim’s neck, back, or core are stretched to their limits suddenly
• Head injuries, especially when the crash comes from the side, blindsides the driver or passenger or is strong enough that an occupant’s head hits something hard (often a window, pillar, dashboard, or steering wheel) in the inside of the vehicle
• Spinal cord injuries, from direct contact with an object during the crash or from muscles in the back getting strained
• Burn injuries, which can happen whenever the vehicle or something else catches fire. These can also be caused by hot gasses from an airbag.

All of these injuries can take time to heal and can cause significant debilitations or disabilities over the long term – if they are severe enough. Even when they are relatively minor, though, they can still be costly to treat.

SOME INJURIES MIGHT NOT BE APPARENT IMMEDIATELY

While lots of injuries are clear and obvious, like a broken arm or a bleeding laceration, others can remain hidden for weeks or even months after the crash. Examples of injuries that are not realized immediately can include:

• Concussions
• Whiplash
• Partially torn muscles
• Sprained ligaments
• Strained tendons.

The prognosis for some of these conditions can be severe and uncertain. Many cases of whiplash lead to chronic pain that doctors cannot easily identify or cure.

Even for injuries that are obvious from the outset, the true extent of them can be hidden for a considerable time. Not all broken bones are the same and some will require extensive surgeries and physical therapy to overcome completely.

THE POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER TREATMENT AND ITS COSTS

The delayed onset of symptoms or hidden injuries is a serious problem for accident victims in Georgia because they may think that they have overcome their injuries when they still actually have months or even years of treatment to go. That treatment can take several different forms, including:

• Follow-up surgeries
• Corrective surgeries
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Strengthening and conditioning
• Pain management
• Medication.

The costs of these medical expenses can grow quickly, even though several months have passed since the crash.

PERMANENT INJURIES AND MAXIMUM MEDICAL IMPROVEMENT

In some cases, doctors cannot completely bring a car accident victim back to where they were before the crash. The injuries that they suffered in the accident could be impossible to treat or create symptoms or disabilities that will never completely go away.

When a victim has reached a level of maximum medical improvement, it means that doctors think that there is nothing else that can be done and that there will be no further improvement to their condition. If they are still suffering symptoms from the crash and their injuries, they might have to cope with them for the rest of their life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TALKING TO A GEORGIA CAR ACCIDENT LAWYER

Car accident injuries can be serious. Worse, the severity is not always apparent from the very beginning. The uncertainty this creates for the victim makes it even more important to talk to a car accident lawyer in Georgia. Insurance companies rely on that uncertainty when they propose initial offers to settle a case.

Those initial offers will never cover the medical costs of delayed onset injuries. They rarely even completely cover the costs of a victim’s current injuries. An experience lawyer can assist with the process and take legal action in court if necessary