As in any automotive accident, victims of a taxi crash can sustain minor, superficial injuries or severe, debilitating wounds and trauma. Despite similarities, every accident is different, and there are usually numerous contributing factors that can lead to a victim’s harm.
The personal injury lawyers at Banville Law seek to untangle this complex web of factors. Investigation allows us to precisely determine what caused your crash, and where responsibility should be placed.
By working closely with your medical professionals, our attorneys can accurately establish the extent of your injuries and seek the maximum compensation to which you are entitled.
There are two primary categories into which most car accident injuries fall: impact and penetrating.
Research studies have found that most victims in vehicular crashes suffer mainly from impact injuries, those that involve being thrown against a foreign object. Commonly, drivers’ bodies are propelled into steering wheels, and passengers slam against doors, windows, or the dashboard. In limited cases, occupants can also be struck by objects that were not securely fastened inside the car.
Although less common, “penetrating” injuries can, and do, occur. As their name suggests, penetrating injuries involve a foreign object actually breaking the skin. Cuts and lacerations from broken glass are a familiar example.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 2.5 million Americans are admitted to emergency rooms for Traumatic Brain Injury – related care. Out of that staggering number, 14.3% suffered their injuries in motor vehicle traffic collisions. The problem is widespread and potentially devastating.
The CDC describes traumatic brain injury as one “caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain.” TBI can affect the brain’s blood supply or damage grey matter directly. Unfortunately, the brain is a complex, delicate organ, and symptoms of trauma may arise intermittently over extended periods of time. In short, TBI is not easy to diagnose, and difficult to treat.
If you were injured in a taxi accident, remain vigilant for the following potential symptoms of TBI:
Many victims who will suffer from TBI experience a period of unconsciousness directly after their traumatic accidents, but others won’t. Still, medical professionals diagnose the severity of the injury based on the length and depth of unconsciousness.
By the very nature of many car accidents, victims of often suffer spinal injuries. The sudden disruption of forward momentum can extend or contract the spinal column beyond its normal range, causing debilitating pain and potential disability.
Chronic back pain is one of the most common results of spinal injury. Extreme discomfort may remain local or “radiate,” extending outwards to areas of the body distanced from the problem’s source. Causes of back pain range from simple strains, sprains, fractured vertebrae, and herniated disks (according to the Mayo Clinic, “herniation” occurs when an organ is forcefully displaced, and protrudes outside of its normal location). Many of these conditions require surgical intervention and lengthy recovery periods.
Although not a technically recognized medical condition, “whiplash” is an extremely frequent result of taxi and car accidents. Rather than the spine’s bones being affected, whiplash involves damage to the neck’s “soft tissue,” mainly muscles and tendons.
You can find more information on whiplash, and potential treatment options, on WebMD here.
At a minimum, there are 206 bones in the human body and any one of them can break during an accident. Particularly common are a driver’s ankles, which get stuck beneath pedals and then twisted beyond the breaking point during impact.
Some broken bones can be treated quickly and efficiently, by “resetting” it (repositioning the two or more pieces in proper alignment) and then applying a cast. But compound fractures, when a fragment of the bone breaks through the skin, often require complicated surgery, convalescence, and even physical therapy to regain function. Many broken bones cannot be treated by a general practitioner, but necessitate an orthopedic specialist.
Did you suffer injury in a New York City cab accident? You may be entitled to compensation, money that can cover medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. But pursuing a personal injury lawsuit is often just as complicated as the injuries sustained themselves.
Accident victims turn to the lawyers at Banville Law for compassionate counsel. We understand the obstacles that may stand in the way of your full recovery, and we’re equipped with the strengths and resources to remove them. For more information on our cab accident practice in other boroughs, visit our Manhattan cab accident injury lawyers page.