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Brain injuries during Idaho car accidents usually come in the form of a concussion, also known as trauma that occurs specifically to the brain. However, an Idaho car accident lawyer can tell you that this is far from the only type of injury a person may sustain.
The impact of a car accident on the body can be extremely unpredictable. The force is dependent on everything from a person’s weight to their body position at the time of the crash, and that’s to say nothing of the caliber of safety equipment inside the car. For instance, a braced body at the moment of collision will amplify how the brain moves against the skull at the time of the crash.
This is why healthcare professionals will treat brain injuries for what may look like minor fender-benders from the outside. So even if the damage to the vehicle is relatively minor, the injury to the brain can be extensive. We’ll look at the facts behind these injuries and how a Boise personal injury lawyer can be the key to helping you through it all.
Statistics are typically kept based on traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), a term that refers to any significant damage to the brain. Some TBIs refer to injuries that occurred in a specific area of the brain, others will impact the whole organ. Of all the hospitalizations in the US between 2016 and 2017, around a quarter were due to car accidents. Males had a higher incidence of brain injury, typically around twofold more than females.
TBI is a broad term, so it’s often divided into different categories.
Just as the impact of an accident can be unpredictable, so too can the actual outcome of the injury. After a car accident, it’s possible for some people to suffer from both primary and secondary injuries. The primary injury is the one that occurs right after the accident, with the secondary injury stemming from the original. The main caveat, as any Boise injury lawyer can tell you, is that you’re working with a tricky timeline for each event. A secondary injury may take a while to develop, and it’s not always possible for a doctor or other healthcare professional to say whether it will happen or how it will ultimately affect the patient.
A direct blow to the head can cause damage to the blood vessels, tissues, and nerves. The brain may start to swell or it may lose part of the interior lining that separates the brain from the skull. The physical and cognitive repercussions of brain injuries are as diverse as they are devastating. People who experience brain injuries may lose their ability to solve simple problems. They may not be able to relate to people as they once did before. They may face extreme and permanent paralysis or have long-term epilepsy. An Idaho personal injury lawyer will remind you how different brain injuries may progress after an accident, which will be critical to know when you’re filing a claim for compensation.
Car accident lawyers in Boise Idaho will tell you that you’re living in an at-fault state. This means that the responsible party will need to pay for damages caused due to their actions. Auto insurance carriers are required by law to provide at least $25,000 for bodily injury per person. (Of course, you can imagine that costs for brain injuries, particularly those that result in long-term care for the patient, can be much higher than $25,000.) In Idaho, you have two years from the date of the accident to file, which is not always enough time to really assess how a person’s life will be changed due to a brain injury.
Car insurance companies in Idaho want the claims to be filed as quickly as possible after the accident. The investigators and claim adjusters will make their decisions based on the information that they’re provided as well as their own internal research. How an insurance carrier works with you will depend on everything from the terms of the policy to the agenda of the company. Ideally, you’ll have as much proof (e.g., photos, police reports, eyewitness statements, etc.) to show definitively how the accident occurred. However, even when you have everything organized and cataloged, it doesn’t always go as well as you think it will.
Despite protective laws in place, an Idaho car accident lawyer knows that plenty of companies attempt to avoid their responsibilities. How they do so will depend on the company in question. They may stop responding to requests or lie about whether they received specific information. When the adjuster sees the vehicles or medical reports, they may disregard the evidence and claim that there’s no way to prove that the impact resulted in the brain damage. Car accident lawyers in Boise Idaho fight for their clients, so they don’t have to put up with these antics.
A Boise personal injury lawyer doesn’t just know the car accident rules of the state, the common medical injuries that can result from collisions and the responsibilities of the car insurance companies. They also know what you’re dealing with just now, both in terms of mental and physical strain.
Whether you were the injured party or it happened to someone you love, it’s rare for anyone to have the time to really understand the depth of the situation. Hiring an attorney means setting the record straight, particularly as it pertains to how the impact occurred and who was responsible. An Idaho personal injury lawyer won’t be able to take all of the responsibility off your plate, but it can go a long way toward helping you relax. The right Idaho car accident lawyer can help you get the financial assistance you need to make as full of a recovery as possible.
Written By: Ryan Swapp Legal Review By: Craig Swapp