If your accident just happened a few moments ago, you may not feel the effects of whiplash for a few hours or days. A prompt doctor’s evaluation is nonetheless important for the sake of your healing, but it also can be used to gather evidence for a potential injury claim or lawsuit. Even if it was no one else’s fault, you may need medical care for longer than you expect, and you may be able to recover compensation through your own car insurance. If another driver’s negligence caused the wreck, you may be able to bring a claim or lawsuit against them to cover your losses, including intangible ones.
The common term “whiplash” describes a neck injury that happens to many people in car accidents. After a car traveling at 40 miles per hour is suddenly halted in a collision, the human body inside the car nonetheless keeps moving forward at that speed but then quickly snaps back, resulting in an unnatural jerking motion. Your doctor may call the injury a neck sprain.
Why You Should Beware Of A Quick Settlement Offer
After you have suffered whiplash in a car accident, a liable insurer, whether yours or another motorist’s, may try to get you to accept a quick, low settlement. You may be tempted to take the money, but be careful. You could be living with the effects of this injury for longer than you think. These effects might include the following:
- It may become difficult to find a satisfactory resting position for your head and neck.
- You might feel sore and fatigued even when resting.
- You may have trouble sleeping because you cannot turn over as usual in bed.
- Even if you wear a soft or hard neck brace, you might find it difficult to break movement habits.
- You may experience emotional fatigue, which is common.
- It can feel frustrating and unnatural not to be able to hug your spouse or play with your children or pets as usual.
- Your doctor may have prescribed painkillers, which might bring relief as well as a potential opioid dependency.
- Your doctor may have also prescribed physical therapy, which can be difficult to fit into your schedule.
- You might discover that even when all goes well during your recovery, it may take up to a year to fully heal.
To Protect Your Rights, Get Legal Counsel
Don’t listen to voices telling you it’s just a minor injury or that you can navigate the claims process on your own. Too many people live to regret not calling a lawyer. Just accepting a quick settlement after experiencing whiplash and other soft-tissue injuries can result in a loss of opportunity to collect the compensation you need and deserve.
Get an attorney’s overview of your options for receiving financial recovery and holding negligent parties responsible after suffering a neck injury in a car or amusement park accident. Call 800-PERKINS or complete our online intake form to learn how Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers can protect your rights after a crash.