Common Car Accident Injuries

We all hope that we or our loved ones never have to experience the trauma of a car accident—especially one with painful or debilitating injuries. Sadly, statistics show that car accidents are an unfortunate fact of life, with 1,664,598 crashes with injuries in 2022, the most recent fully analyzed data year. Car accidents are the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States, including in Chicago.

Car accident injuries range from mild injuries causing a single emergency room bill and a few days of lost pay, to catastrophic injuries with life-altering impacts on the injury victim’s ability to earn a living and accomplish daily tasks. The worst accidents end in one or more fatalities.

What Types of Car Accidents Cause the Most Serious Injuries?

All car accidents have the potential to cause injuries, even low-speed accidents with very little damage to a vehicle. Car accidents that tend to cause severe injuries include the following types:

• Angle collisions or T-bone accidents: these accidents caused 8,800 deaths in 2022 and made up 44.9% of two-car collisions
• Head-on collisions: there were 5,800 deaths in head-on collisions in 2022, making up 29.6% of two-car accidents
• Rear-end collisions: these accidents caused 3,800 deaths in 2022 and made up 17.3% of two-car collisions
• Sideswipe accidents: there were 1,600 fatalities in sideswipe accidents in 2022 making up 8.2% of two-car collisions

Rollover accidents and other single-car accidents are less common but also result in severe injuries and fatalities.

How Do Most Car Accident Injuries Happen?

The crash force of a collision causes significant trauma to the body, even when properly restrained. According to crash force calculations, a 130-pound person becomes a 5,850-pound force in a collision. A collision propels the motorist’s body forward with tremendous force at the speed the car was traveling until the seatbelt abruptly snaps them back against the seat. This causes trauma to the body’s support system, particularly the spine. It also causes the head to whip back and forth, sometimes overextending the structures of the neck and causing whiplash. This rapid motion may also cause the brain to bump or twist against the inside of the skull. Additionally, the car’s metal, plastic, and glass structures collapse inward at the points of impact, sometimes connecting with the motorist’s body and causing further injury. Finally, loose items or shards of glass and twisted metal become projectiles in the vehicle, causing further injuries.

Common Car Accident Injuries In Compensation Claims

After a car accident, and injury victim’s attorney makes a carefully calculated list of their damages to recover compensation in their claim against the at-fault party’s insurance. Car accident claims with injuries are for far more than just property damage to a vehicle, but for medical expenses for injuries such as the following:

• Neck injuries
• Back injuries
• Broken bones, including fractures of the hips, ribs, and pelvis as well as the limbs
• Traumatic brain injuries ranging from mild concussions to diffuse axonal injuries with permanent impairment
• Soft-tissue injuries to shoulders, knees, wrists, and ankles
• Facial trauma
• Chest injuries
• Internal organ damage
• Spinal cord injuries
• Burns
• Lacerations, punctures, contusions, and abrasions
• Traumatic limb loss
• Loss of one of the senses, such as sight or hearing

Many car accidents also result in emotional injuries such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, or loss of enjoyment of life.

Car accident victims may recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering from their car accident injuries through a successful compensation claim against the party responsible for the accident. If you have been in a wreck in Chicago, reach out to the car accident attorneys in Chicago today.