Car Accident Head Injuries
There are various kinds of head injuries that you might sustain in a car accident. Any head injury can cause lasting health challenges. Getting evaluated by a medical professional is essential to make sure that you will not suffer lasting injury if at all possible and to establish the seriousness of your injuries for insurance.
Many auto accidents can result in head injuries. Despite all of the new safety features of new cars, it is still possible to suffer a head injury if you are involved in a car accident. Head injuries can range in severity and can even be serious enough to affect your life.
Typical car accident settlement amounts will not cover the medical bills and other costs associated with severe head injuries sustained in a car accident. You need to get a good attorney to help you to get more than the average compensation for getting hit by a car.
If you want to learn more about car accident head injuries and about auto accident settlement formulas, keep reading.
Concussion
The most common of head injuries sustained during a car accident, concussions can cause many negative symptoms. These might include a loss of consciousness, headaches that could last for months afterwards, blurry vision, amnesia, dizziness, vomiting, slurred speech, ringing in the ears, lack of ability to concentrate, fatigue, confusion, lasting memory issues.
All of these symptoms can cause issues with getting back to work, driving, and concentration after the accident. Concussions that go without treatment can be very serious. Even a slight concussion can be deserving of compensation after a car accident. Even a week or two off of work can affect your finances for a year or more.
Contusion
These injuries are bruises to your brain that result from a direct impact to the head or face. You might get this injury from things that are flying around inside the car during the crash or from a part of the car that comes into sharp contact with your head.
These injuries can cause bleeding, bruising. You might also have cognitive issues, difficulty with your memory, numbness or tingling, difficulty with speech and balance, difficulty with concentration, and slurred speech. These injuries can have lasting effects on your ability to work, to drive, and to learn new things.
Diffuse Axonal
This type of head injury is caused by severe shaking of the head or a sharp rotation. This is a very serious injury that can lead to lasting brain injury or severe damage to the spine and neck. These types of head injuries are often the result of accidents that result in an abrupt stopping of forward motion.
This injury causes symptoms because brain structures get torn. You might have a headache, you might be nauseous and vomit, or you could lose consciousness. The minor symptoms are dizziness and fatigue. This injury can also cause permanent issues with your memory.
This kind of injury is one of the car accident settlement examples that people think of when they are expecting a large payout for their accident. This kind of injury necessitates engaging an attorney to help you get compensation for your pain and suffering after your accident.
Penetration Injury
This kind of injury can be deadly, and often this injury requires extensive healing after the accident. Objects that penetrate the skull can cause major injuries to the brain. These injuries can also cause severe bleeding or deep bruises.
Penetration injuries can cause major blood loss, seizures, bleeding from the ears, loss of sensation in the limbs, paralysis, loss of consciousness, coma, loss of bladder and bowel function, and long-term weakness. These are significant injuries that often require hospitalization or long-term care after the accident.
Coup-Contrecoup
This injury is caused by the brain being jerked around inside the skull. This is common in severe car accidents such as rollovers. This is a life-threatening injury and almost always requires long-term care to recover.
You might experience many serious symptoms with this type of injury. Bleeding in the brain, swelling in the brain, skull fractures, headaches, seizure, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, loss of consciousness, memory issues, blurry vision, tinnitus, sensitivity to light and sound, mood issues, and slurred speech.
A skilled attorney will know all about auto accident settlement formulas to help you to get the compensation that you deserve after this kind of injury.
Any kind of traumatic brain injury can have a lasting effect on your ability to work and get around, and you should always seek representation from a lawyer to help you get the compensation you deserve.
What If You Are A Pedestrian Who Gets Hit By A Car?
Pedestrian versus car accidents are some of the most serious types of car accidents and head injuries are almost always a factor in this kind of accident. Pedestrians who have been hit by cars will need to seek a pain and suffering settlement as well as making sure to get assistance with their medical bills and time off of work.
Many people do not know what to do when they get hit by a car. You should always open a claim and then get an attorney working for you as soon as possible. If you have access to assistance from family or friends to help support you through this difficult time, that will be a big help.
What Are the Average Settlement Amounts for Car Accident Settlements?
Car accident settlements often range from $14,00 to $21,000. The amount that you get from your accident settlement will have a lot to do with the severity of your head injury and the amount of time that you are not able to work.
If the other driver involved in your accident is found to be at fault, you will be paid a larger settlement. This is usually the case when you are a pedestrian who has been hit by a car as well.
If you have long-term care that is needed after the accident, that could increase the amount that you can ask for in your settlement. It is important to remember that accident settlements can take months or years to be paid out. You will likely only receive money from your auto insurance claim quickly.
The lag in payment for settlements is a big part of why you should get help from an attorney before you ask for compensation for your injuries.
Permanent Injury Settlement Amounts
This kind of settlement is more complicated to navigate. There are many factors involved in getting the right settlement amount after this kind of injury. You might be looking for compensation for scars and disfigurement, or you might be paralyzed or have permanent memory loss.
These kinds of long-term injuries can make it impossible for you to go back to work full time, or at all. You might also need permanent care. While a settlement may not be able to cover all of these costs, the goal should always be to get the right settlement amount to help with the majority of these costs.
Permanent injury settlement amounts can range into the millions in some cases, but this is not a situation that you can negotiate without the help of an expert. Personal injury settlement of this size can be difficult to get access to if you try and represent your own case.
How Are Settlements Paid Out After a Car Accident That Resulted in a Head Injury?
There are numerous options with regard to the way that your settlement is paid out to you. Your attorney can help you to decide which method is the right one for your needs.
- Lump-Sum Settlements: These are paid out all at once as a lump sum. You will usually have to wait longer for this kind of payment, but you will have all the money that you need to settle your debts and handle your medical care.
- Structured Settlements: This option allows you to get scheduled payments over time. This can be a great way to handle your settlement if you want to use your settlement money like income from a job. You can determine the start and end dates of the settlement payments and also can arrange death benefits for the settlement as well.
There are benefits to both forms of settlement payment type. If you don’t want to worry about handling a large lump sum, the scheduled payments can help you be more frugal, or you can replace your income from your former job with the scheduled payments.
What Are Accident Settlement Formulas?
You might be wondering how the amount of your settlement is determined. Each case is unique, but there are settlement formulas that are always used to determine the settlement amounts that are paid out for personal injury claims.
These formulas use a multiplier to help calculate the amount that is contributed to the settlement by each type of injury or concern that has resulted from the accident. This multiplier is the result of summing up some key factors in each case.
The car accident’s overall cost and the medical bills related to your injury are linked factors that are part of the multiplier picture. Lost income and diminished earning capacity are included next. Special damages like pain and suffering and other emotional concerns are added as well.
A settlement is made to reduce the cost to all parties involved. This multiplier method makes sure that the insurance company does not pay more than the cost of a court case in the settlement. This method will generate a few amounts, from least to highest, that are then offered by the insurance company during the negotiation process.
You should always remember that you do not have to accept the first settlement amount that has been offered to you. If you have long-term disabilities that you are facing, or if you have lost months off work due to your car accident and the related head injury, you need to be certain that your settlement covers your costs and helps you to get back on your feet.
If a settlement amount cannot be agreed upon, your case might go to trial. In some cases, where injuries are significant, or there is a death involved, trials can sometimes be the best way to get the compensation that you deserve.
Questions to Ask Before Accepting a Settlement
You will need to be prepared to ask some questions of yourself before you accept a settlement that is offered to you. You want to be certain that your settlement will actually cover your bills and help you to get your life back on track after your accident.
- Will this cover your medical bills? If the amount of the settlement will not cover all of your bills, then you should seek more money for your settlement. If you are not fully recovered and expect to have many more months of treatment ahead of you, you need to take this into consideration when negotiating your settlement amount.
- Are my lost wages covered? This is important in all cases, but particularly in a situation where you lost a lot of time off of work. If you used to work overtime, or you used to travel to work but now cannot do this, you need to seek damages that will cover this loss of income as it extends into the future.
- Are you being compensated for your pain and suffering? This is a valid part of the settlement process, and you need to make sure that you get compensation for your suffering as well as your lost wages.
- Has your property been damaged? If you have lost property, you may also be entitled to compensation for this loss along with your injuries.
Car Accident Head Injuries Are Often Serious and You Should Seek a Settlement
There are few cases were a car accident that causes a head injury does not necessitate seeking a settlement. Most head injuries require time off of work and continuing care. This is what a settlement is for and you should not cheat yourself out of seeking one if you have suffered a head injury as the result of a car accident.