Common Truck Accident Injuries
The kinds of injuries that are caused by truck accidents are often severe and may reach the level of catastrophic due to the massive size difference between commercial vehicles and passenger cars. These injuries can lead to lifelong health problems, expensive medical bills, lost earning ability, permanent disability, and in some devastating cases, even death.
Brain Injuries
While the injuries that a truck accident victim could sustain are wide ranging, there are certain types that do tend to occur more often in truck accidents. These include brain injuries, which occur when the momentum of a collision between a commercial truck and a passenger car causes an occupant to strike his or her head. In some cases, the violent shaking of the accident alone is enough to cause a serious injury. These injuries, whether they involve direct trauma to the head or damage from rapid deceleration can have far-reaching consequences, including headaches, vision and hearing issues, mood swings, and memory problems.
Spinal Cord Injuries
The spinal cord runs the length of the spine and contains bundles of nerves and cells that carry messages from the brain to the rest of the body. This ability, however, can be severely compromised in the event of an injury to the spine or spinal cord. Fractured vertebrae, for instance, can pierce the spinal cord, severing these bundles and resulting in a loss of strength or sensation in the limbs and even partial or total paralysis, while a herniated disc can place pressure on these nerves, resulting in chronic pain and limited mobility.
Fractures
Truck accidents typically involve significant blunt force trauma, which can place too much stress on the bone, resulting in fractures. While virtually any bone in the human body can be broken in a truck accident, certain areas of the body are more prone to this type of injury. This includes the arms and legs, as well as the:
- Ribs;
- Pelvis and hips;
- Skull and facial bones;
- Neck and spine; and
- Wrists and fingers.
Accident victims who sustain fractures in a truck accident typically experience difficulty moving the part of the body affected and may suffer significant pain. Treating these injuries can be simple, involving immobilization via a cast, or more complicated, requiring the use of rods and bars to support and hold the bones together.
Internal Injuries
Internal injuries, like organ damage and internal bleeding, are some of the hardest injuries to diagnose, as they often don’t have any external signs. These types of injuries are typically the result of blunt force trauma, which in a truck accident scenario, can occur when the body strikes an object inside the car. Areas of the body that are more prone to internal injury include the liver, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, and bladder.
Seek Legal Assistance
If you sustained any of the injuries we described above and have already sought immediate medical attention, call the dedicated and compassionate Tulsa truck accident lawyers at Levinson Law, P.C. to learn more about your recovery options. We work diligently to secure maximum compensation for our clients. Call us at 918-492-4433 today to learn more about how we can help.
Sources:
cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/index.html#:~:text=A%20traumatic%20brain%20injury%2C%20or,190
ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/spinal-cord-injury
