What are the most common injuries caused by car accidents in South Carolina?
With over 225 million licensed drivers on the roads, it is not surprising that car accidents and crashes are the leading cause of injury in the US. Millions of individuals endure injuries each day because of car accidents. When two cars collide, the forces can easily inflict major injuries upon everyone involved. This is especially true when cars are moving at highway speeds.
While there are many types of injuries — such as broken bones — associated with car accidents in South Carolina, some are more frequent than others. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveal that over 2.7 million people get injured in auto accidents annually. According to the CDC, Americans spend over one million days in the hospital from various car crash-related injuries each year.
Unfortunately, from medical expenses to insurance costs, even the slightest of injuries may be devastating for people who have suffered. And car accident injuries, such as whiplash, can lead to steep medical bills, missed work, psychological trauma, and a considerable change in the victim’s overall quality of life.
If you’ve been in a car accident and sustained injuries, you may need a trained and experienced attorney. You should contact an experienced South Carolina car accident lawyer to learn how they can help you.
Common Car Accident Injuries
As more and more drivers enter the roads and highways throughout the country, traffic congestion increases, and the risk for accidents increases. Making matters worse, many drivers in South Carolina fail to take driving responsibly seriously. According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, more then 58,000 crash-related injuries were inflicted in the state in 2019. There were also just over 1,000 crash deaths that year.
Specific crash factors, including the direction and what speeds the vehicles were travelling at, can dramatically affect the severity and type of injuries sustained. Even within the same crash, however, or even within the same vehicle, the injuries inflicted might be completely different. Some auto accident injuries might heal naturally, or resolve in full after just a few weeks of medical treatment. On the other hand, more serious injuries may require expensive medical procedures and surgeries.
Overall, there are many types of possible injuries that you may sustain in a car collision. Some of these crashes can even cause castrophic injuries to your body. The following are some of the most common vehicle accident injuries seen on South Carolina roadways:
Cuts and Scrapes
Cuts can easily happen during a collision. They are often caused by objects inside the car or debris from the car crash. Remember that plastic parts, glass, and metal all pose a considerable risk of causing cuts and scrapes in a vehicle accident, even one that occurs at low speeds.
Minor wounds can be treated through first-aid, and diligent monitoring will be needed to prevent infection or wound reopening. When severe, this type of injury can be treated with either stitches or surgery. Although most cuts, scrapes, and lacerations tend to heal in time, more severe ones may lead to painful scar tissue as well as other long-term health issues.
Regardless of the severity of a cut, it is important to have your car injury examined by a doctor to ensure that it’s properly diagnosed and treated. You should keep an eye out for swelling, redness, or pus around your wounds since these signs may indicate an infection.
Broken Bones
Medically called a “fracture”, broken bones are fairly common in both minor and severe car collisions in South Carolina.
The severity and extent of these broken bones depend on the amount of weight, force, and speed involved in the car crash. It is possible to treat broken bones with casts or medical surgery, depending on the severity of the injury.
No matter what the medical prognosis is, though, a broken bone will cause serious amounts of pain and a disruption of the injury victim’s life. Patients should take care to follow doctor’s orders to limit their activities accordingly. They can keep a “pain journal” to log the pain they experience as well as the activities they were unable to perform and enjoy as usual. This journal will provide detailed evidence when trying to claim pain and suffering damages in the wake of your crash.
Head Injuries
A concussion is a type of brain injury that occurs when the brain impacts the inside of the skull. Some mild symptoms of a concussion can include vision and hearing problems, headaches, and mild confusion. More-serious concussions can lead to blurred vision, insomnia, mood swings, and difficulty focusing or thinking — sometimes known as “brain fog”. In researching head injuries you may also run into the term TBI or traumatic brain injury as well.
A major traumatic brain injury can easily cause a permanent disruption in the victim’s life. They may be unable to perform the same activities as before, and they may be unable to earn the same amount of income as they were prior to the crash.
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries in car crashes. It refers to the forceful and sudden back-and-forth movement your neck experiences on a sudden collision.
Some symptoms of whiplash are:
- Stiffness in the neck
- Neck pain
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Tenderness in your upper back and shoulders
Psychological Trauma
A car accident in South Carolina and its fallout may leave you with complex and overwhelming emotions. Anxiety, depression, and even guilt are commonly felt in the weeks, months, and sometimes years following a crash. Note that each trauma response is unique to the victim’s experience. The various psychological effects associated with auto accidents can last for many years or even a lifetime, in some cases. Please note that in order to claim PTSD type injuries in a case, you will need to have treatment and diagnosis from an appropriate medical professional.
Facial injuries
In many car accidents, a driver will strike the steering wheel with their face, or a passenger will hit their face on a part of the vehicle’s cabin. These blows can lead to serious facial injuries, in some cases causing permanent scarring or disfigurement. Severe facial injuries can even fracture the skull or jaw, leading to a painful long-term recovery process.
Spinal Cord Injury
Out of all common injuries in auto accidents and collisions, spinal cord injuries may cause the most lasting complications. Possible injuries to the spine and vertebrae include:
- Sprains
- Fractures
- Lumbar spine injuries
- Ruptured discs
- Compressed/bulging discs
- Severance of the central nervous system, causing partial or complete paralysis
Unfortunately, some of the signs and symptoms associated with spinal cord injuries often surface in the days after the car collision. Victims may feel okay in the moments after the accident, but then experience tingling, numbness, pain, or an inability to move certain appendages. In some cases, victims experience permanent reductions in sensory and motor function, also called paralysis.
Permanent Disability or Paralysis
Permanent disabilities are usually divided into paraparesis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia. All can make life incredibly difficult for car accident victims. Improvement is possible in some cases, but not in others. Paraplegia refers to paralysis from the waist down, while paraparesis means a partial loss of motion and sensory ability. Finally, quadriplegia is the paralysis of the arms, legs, and torso.
Seek Medical Help Immediately After a Car Accident in South Carolina
Remember that many common car accident injuries might not be recognizable immediately. As your symptoms and signs may not show up for a couple of days — or even weeks — it is critically important to seek prompt medical attention after a car accident.
Early medical intervention will prevent your condition or injury from getting worse, and it will also provide you with the medical evidence that you need to document for your injury claim.
Contact an Experienced South Carolina Car Accident Lawyer Today
At Auger and Auger Accident and Injury Lawyers, we know and understand the devastating effects that these car accident injuries have on accidents victims and their families in South Carolina. We have deep compassion for these individuals, and we want nothing more than to help those who have sustained injuries through no fault of their own. Combining two and a half decades of experience, in-depth legal knowledge, and a dedication to the practice of personal injury law, our car accident lawyers are prepared and willing to take on your car accident injury case today.
Whether your car accident injury results in lifelong complications or a short-term disability, our South Carolina attorneys will fight for the compensation you need to pay your medical bills, recover your lost wages, and transition into a more normal life.
We know not everybody can afford to pay high hourly legal fees up-front. This is why we never charge for a legal consultation and our services always come with no up-front costs, meaning you only pay if we are able to recover a settlement or jury award for you. Schedule your free, no-obligation, no-pressure case review now when you call (800) 559-5741 or contact us online.
