Should You Contact a Lawyer After a Neck Injury in a Vehicle Accident?

A car accident can be traumatic and have a major impact on a person’s life. Often, someone involved in an auto accident will experience a neck injury like whiplash and not know what to do about it. It can be confusing, because there’s a lack of defined medical terminology related to whiplash. Is it a real injury? It certainly is, and if you’re experiencing neck pain after a car, truck, or motorcycle accident, you need an attorney to help you navigate this tricky situation.

• Here’s what you need to know about neck injuries that happen in a car or truck accident. Your neck can be injured in different ways, and the umbrella term for those injuries is whiplash. This can refer to neck and connective tissue injuries that happen with or without broken bones. It’s very common for the neck to be injured in a car accident, because while the seat belt holds the body in place, it doesn’t protect the neck. In a crash, the head and neck continue to travel at the same speed as the car, unrestrained, and the jerking motion can cause whiplash. Your arms and shoulders may hurt, but often, the pain isn’t immediately evident. Though it may take a day to kick in, whiplash is incredibly painful and can be debilitating. Only about half of whiplash victims fully recover; 40 percent have chronic pain afterward and 10 percent are permanently disabled. If you suffer from whiplash, you may experience symptoms like neck stiffness and pain, headaches, dizziness, numbness of the arms, blurred vision, limited neck and shoulder movement, and memory problems.
• It’s crucial for you to be proactive after an accident. Whether you’re the driver or a passenger, it’s important to stay calm when you’ve been in an accident. Don’t apologize or admit fault, and make sure to contact the police immediately. Do your best to gather information, taking photos, finding witnesses, and writing down details. Get your car to a mechanic as quickly as possible, and be proactive about filing an insurance claim. Most importantly, take care of your health. Whether or not you believe you’ve been injured, see a doctor. Especially because symptoms can take a while to show up after an accident, you need to be examined to rule out any serious injury.
• Utah is a no-fault state, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be compensated for injuries. In fact, because Utah is a no-fault state, you may be entitled to compensation, even if you contributed to your own injuries. It may be confusing, but no-fault just means that your personal injury protection (PIP) insurance is immediately available to pay for treating your injuries, up to $3,000. In Utah, you must exhaust that PIP money before you file a lawsuit against the other driver. If you’ve been injured, though, it doesn’t take long to run through $3,000. If you’ve been injured because of another person’s actions, you may be compensated for your medical treatment, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. Even if you were partially at fault, it just means your compensation will be reduced by a percentage representing the degree to which you are to blame.
• Personal injury lawyers know how to help when you’ve been injured in an accident. Just as you should always see a doctor after an accident, you should also contact a lawyer. Insurance companies are not eager to pay for damages, and can often assign fault to you, even if you did not cause the accident. Having an experienced car accident lawyer in your corner is important, because personal injury attorneys understand how the law works and can help you get the compensation you are owed. They have the legal training and experience necessary to get a positive outcome for you.

Richards & Richards Law Firm, LLC is a full service law firm in Ogden, Utah, dedicated to easing your stress, protecting your rights, and getting you what you deserve. Our family-owned firm offers top-notch legal advice and provides the highest-quality professional legal services at an affordable price. No matter what legal services you need, we can help. We have more than 30 years of legal experience on our side, and we’re committed to focusing our full attention on the needs of each individual client, in order to achieve the best possible results for each case. Call us today at (512) 461-4836 or contact us through our website to schedule a legal consultation with our friendly, experience, family law lawyers.