Can a Low-Impact Accident Cause Serious Injuries?
Vehicle accidents can lead to severe injuries. When most people think of serious car accident injuries, they think of impacts involving higher speeds. However, that is not always the case. Even a low-impact collision can lead to serious injuries that cause massive medical bills as well as extensive pain and suffering. Here, we want to discuss low-impact vehicle accident injuries as well as steps that individuals need to take after any type of collision.
Lower Speeds Are Generally Better Than Higher Speeds, But Still Not Good
Generally speaking, if you had the choice between being in an accident with a speeding vehicle or a vehicle operating at lower speeds, you would want to choose the vehicle operating at lower speeds. Of course, nobody wants to be in an accident, but high-speed accidents are more likely to cause what we would consider catastrophic injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord trauma, and crush injuries.
However, even low-impact vehicle accidents in Georgia can result in significant injuries for drivers and passengers involved. In some cases, injuries sustained in these lower speed impacts can be severe enough to require surgery and long-term medical treatment, including physical therapy or rehabilitation.
Common Low-Speed Accident Injuries
Vehicle accidents, even those that occur at lower speeds, can inflict significant trauma on the neck and cervical spine (the highest level of vertebrae on our spinal column). Perhaps the most common vehicle accident injury that individuals hear about is whiplash. This can occur anytime the body is jolted backward and forward rapidly.
Whiplash is more common with rear-end impacts, but it can occur with any type of vehicle impact. Whiplash injuries often do not appear right away after a crash occurs, sometimes showing signs and symptoms in the hours or days following the crash. These types of injuries can result in significant pain and suffering for a few weeks while a person heals. In some cases, individuals have to limit their day-to-day activities or work activities as a result of whiplash.
What to do After a Low-Impact Collision
If you or somebody you care about has been injured in a low-impact collision in Georgia, you still need to follow certain steps to ensure that you receive the treatment you are entitled to. First and foremost, we encourage all vehicle accident victims to seek medical care as soon as possible. Even if you do not feel much pain right away after a low-impact collision, please understand that the signs and symptoms of some injuries do not appear for some time after the incident occurs. It is better to go to the doctor to get a complete evaluation and begin any necessary treatment.
Many people are tempted to simply drive away from a low-impact accident scene, particularly if there is no visible damage to the vehicles involved. Perhaps those at the scene want to avoid filing a claim with their insurance carrier.
This is a mistake.
First, even if there is no visible damage to the outside of a vehicle, the frame of the vehicle could have sustained enough damage to warrant a police report being filed. Additionally, leaving the scene of an accident without obtaining information from the other driver could result in significant financial difficulties, particularly if there are hidden injuries that appear later on. You need to make sure to call the police and let them fill out an accident report, even for lower-speed collisions.
Contact our Atlanta car accident lawyers today.