INJURY | PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER | PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY | INJURIES

June 26, 2008. A horrific automobile crash caused the death of five high school girls from Penfield, NY. Bailey Goodman was driving with four friends to her beach house when she pulled into the left lane to pass another vehicle, pulled back into the right lane and then swerved back into the left lane, hitting a tractor-trailer truck head on. The SUV that Goodman was driving burst into flames upon impact, trapping and killing all five girls.

Herniated disks are extremely painful, and although they are most likely to affect people in their 30s and 40s, anyone can suffer from one. They cause pain that radiates through almost every part of the body, not just the back. They can cause muscle spasms, numbness in arms, legs, and fingers, and inflammation that is extremely sensitive to the touch.

• Slipped disks
• Bulging disks
• Compressed disks
• Ruptured disks
• Collapsed disks

Whiplash occurs when there is an abrupt jerking motion of the head, usually during a car accident. Whiplash can cause extreme pain and long-term reduced mobility and discomfort, and although it can happen to anyone, it occurs most often in men aged 30 to 50 years.

• neck and shoulder pain
• neck and shoulder swelling
• muscle spasms
• blurred vision
• difficulty swallowing
• difficulty moving
• headache
• dizziness
• lightheadedness
• depression

Van accidents can be especially dangerous. Vans are typically used to transport large amounts of people, and crashes often result in multiple injuries and even fatalities. Also, vans have a higher risk of rolling over; more than 10,000 people die each year from rollovers due to:

• Dangerous road conditions
• High winds
• Excessive driving speeds
• Defective tires
• Vehicle manufacturing and design

Brake failure can cause a terrifying experience. When car and truck brakes fail, drivers lose control and can’t stop. This can result in serious and fatal collisions.

Getting your brakes checked regularly is extremely important…every six months if possible. Usually, a squealing or grinding noise will alert the driver that breaks need to be repaired, or the brake light will show up on your dashboard. 

Thankfully, there are a number of mechanical back-ups that will help you if you do experience brake failure. For example, anti-lock breaks will pulsate if you press down hard, and they will usually bring you to a stop even if they have failed. If you don’t have anti-lock breaks, pump the breaks to build up pressure. Also, remember to downshift as much as you can so the transmission can assist in the slowing-down process. Once you have stopped the vehicle, do not drive it! Put on your flashing hazard lights, call for a tow truck, and call 911 if you are stopped in a dangerous area.

Other options to get stopped include pulling the emergency brake, or even throwing the car in reverse. However, both of these options can seriously damage your car, so only use them in emergency situations. Alert other drivers by flashing your lights, putting on your hazard lights, and even honking your horn.

Unfortunately, brake failure can often be caused by defective brakes, parts, and even poor mechanical service. If you experience brake failure, contact a personal injury attorney immediately.

Brace yourself…or don’t. Airbag injuries are serious and can be fatal, and many injuries can be prevented if drivers and passengers don’t put their hands and arms in front of them to brace during impact. Thumbs and fingers can be torn off and arms can receive multiple bone fractures. People can also receive serious eye, face, head and brain injuries when airbags deploy.

Many injuries and fatalities can also be prevented if people of small stature, including children, the aged, and the infirm, avoid sitting in seats with airbags. Airbags are designed for people who are 5′8" tall and weigh 180 pounds. Unfortunately, smaller drivers, often women, must sit closer to the airbag in order to reach the steering wheel, and there have been numerous cases in which the airbag was the primary cause of serious injury, not the car collision.

Airbags also malfunction. When this happens, they either go off for no reason, or they fail to release when they are needed. When airbags release, they do so at more than 200 miles per hour with greater than 1200 pounds of force. Even when drivers don’t brace and don’t get their fingers caught by the exploding airbag, they risk concussions, brain damage, and even suffocation if they can’t get away from the bag.

There are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones from airbag injury:

• All children, aged, and smaller people should ride in back where there are no airbags.
• Use the airbag "off" switch if smaller passengers ride in front.
• Passengers and drivers should never brace themselves against the dashboard or steering wheel during an accident.
• Drivers should drive with their hands on the sides or bottom of the steering wheel…never the top.
• Don’t cross your arm over the steering wheel when turning.
• Don’t honk the horn at the beginning of an accident.
• Push your seat as far back as possible when driving.
• Check with the CPSC at www.cpsc.gov to find out about recalls involving your auto’s airbags

If you are injured by an airbag, defective airbag, or faulty installation, contact a personal injury attorney immediately.

There are approximately 6.5 million car accidents every year in the United States. These crashes cost more than $200 billion in damages, and worse, injure almost 3 million people and kill more than 40,000. If you include injuries to pedestrians, motorcyclists and bicyclists, the numbers just go higher.

• Wear a seatbelt
• Strap your children into approved safety seats
• Stay alert

Automobile accidents involving uninsured or underinsured motorists happen daily, and they include “hit and run” accidents when there is no insured person to hold accountable for the accident. Vehicle insurance is purchased to protect against losses, particularly those that happen during automobile accidents. Insurance usually covers the person paying for the insurance, his/her car, and any third party who is involved (such as a passenger, etc). Uninsured or underinsured coverage protects the insured party even if the other car involved in the accident is not insured. Contact a car accident attorney immediately if you are involved in an accident that involves an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage varies depending on the state you live in. For example, in Minnesota, your insurance will cover you even if the other person involved in the accident did not have any insurance. It’s important to carefully read your policy so you aren’t duplicating insurance you already have and paying too much. For example, if you already have collision insurance, life, medical and disability insurance, you might not need to pay as much for uninsured motorist coverage. Or, if you have high no-fault coverage limits, you might not need to pay as much for uninsured motorist coverage. Understanding these policies is difficult, especially after if you’re suffering from an automobile accident injury. An automobile accident attorney can help you determine:

• Who was at fault.
• What kind of coverage you have.
• What kind of coverage the other person involved has.
• What the definition for uninsured and underinsured motorist is in your state.
• What your insurance covers, including whether it covers bodily injury, property damage, or both.
• What medical expenses your insurance will cover.

You can find out if you need uninsured coverage by contacting your insurance provider. Some states require that you carry only a very low amount for third party damages, sometimes as low as $5000, which is often not enough to even begin paying for damages or injuries. Underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage provides coverage if the driver who was at fault was uninsured or underinsured. Underinsured means:

• Their limits were below state minimums.
• Their limits were not sufficient enough to cover all damage and/or injuries sustained.

States that require uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage include Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Vermont. Other states limit the required coverage to either Property Damage or Bodily Injury only. Most states allow you to “stack” your insurance, which means that you buy uninsured and underinsured coverage on top of the policy you already have. Again, it can be difficult to determine if you need it based on the coverage you already have. You might end up double-insuring yourself and paying too much.

Serious head trauma can affect a person for life. Head trauma is associated with memory loss, speech disorders and loss of coordination. Children are particularly at risk for head trauma because of the size and weight of their heads in proportion to their bodies, and because they have a greater amount of fluid in their brains which make them softer and more prone to injuries. In fact, the leading cause of death of children over the age of 1 in the U.S. is head trauma.

• assaults
• car accidents
• motorcycle accidents
• falls
• birth
• contact sports
• speed sports
• in the case of small children, shaking and other forms of abuse

Concussions are sometimes hard to diagnose. In fact, people often don’t know they’ve experienced a concussion. But they are serious. They occur because the brain has been shaken so forcefully by an impact that it bounces off the inside of the skull. They can affect your vision, memory, hearing, coordination and reflexes. And many of them are very painful. They can cause headaches, loss of consciousness, dizziness, vomiting and nausea. Other symptoms include:

• slow pulse
• slow breathing rate
• confusion
• lethargy
• dilated pupils
• memory loss
• vision changes
• difficulty speaking and swallowing
• ringing in the ears

Also, an increased amount of concussions lead to other illnesses like brain damage, postconcussion syndrome, epilepsy and neurological damage.

Skull fractures can occur during impact as well. The brain may or may not be damaged when the fracture occurs, depending upon the severity and location of the blow. The symptom may be as small as a bump on the head to as large as bleeding from the head, eyes, nose, ears and mouth.

Brain Injury can occur because of impact or because of an object penetrating the skull. Impact includes falls, assaults, blows to the head and, in the case of infants, shaken baby syndrome. Brain injury symptoms include many of the same symptoms seen with concussions, plus spinal fluid might be draining out the ears, eyes, nose or mouth. Brain injury can lead to permanent memory loss, loss of coordination, loss of control of bodily functions, and more. Shaken baby syndrome occurs when an infant is violently shaken and the brain bounces inside the skull. Blood vessels inside the head rupture and bleed. This can cause seizures, comas, lifelong disability and death. This is a criminal act and those convicted can receive the death penalty.

Property damages occur when a person’s land, home, car or other property is partly or completely destroyed or lost. This can happen during car accidents, home burglaries, or land destruction due to illegal trespassing. Property damages can be costly; sometimes the property is so severely damaged that it can’t be repaired or recovered. What is important is that when “property damage” is used as a legal term, it means someone else has damaged the property, not the owner. That other person could include:

• contractors
• construction workers
• architects
• other drivers
• neighbors
• family and friends
• coworkers
• boss
• supervisor
• collaborators
• partners

Property includes:

• land
• home
• car
• boat
• motorcycle or ATV
• plants and trees that grow on the land
• anything inside or outside a home, including furniture, household appliances, clothing, computer, etc.
• lawn decorations
• playground equipment

But don’t limit the word “property” to material goods. Property can also include someone’s intellectual property, such as:

• art
• books and other written work
• legal documents
• plans and designs
• ideas and concepts
• songs
• stunts
• skits or dramas
• voice recordings
• photographs

When someone’s material property is damaged, it’s often easy to see the results. Material property will appear broken, demolished, crushed, smashed, scratched, etc. When intellectual property is damaged, it’s different. Intellectual property can be stolen, used without permission for someone else’s gain, drastically changed without permission although it still contains the original creator’s name, or lost. When material property is damaged, it can be very expensive to replace, for example, when a house burns down or a car is wrecked. When intellectual property is damaged, it can result in a loss of financial gain for the creator, defamation if it is used to defame or embarrass the creator, or it can be unrecoverable if it is lost. If you are a victim of property damage, contact an attorney to discuss your options. Someone else may be responsible for any expenses occurred because of the loss.