People who are involved in a motor vehicle crash can suffer from a host of injuries depending on the nature of the accident. More serious crashes will usually result in more serious injuries, but there are times when even a slow-speed crash in Phoenix can cause the victims to have significant issues.
When a person who was involved in a wreck seeks medical care, the team caring for them will need to know the details of the accident. Four keys points are where the vehicle was struck, where the victim was sitting, whether the person had on a seat belt and the speed of the vehicles involved.
One crash, three impacts
There are three distinct impacts that occur in ever car wreck. When the medical team evaluates you after the wreck, they will think about all three to determine what types of evaluations you will need. This gives them a good idea of what is going on, especially when they are coupled with any symptoms you are showing.
Vehicle impact occurs when the other vehicle hits your car. Body impact involves your body slamming against something in the vehicle, such as the steering wheel or seat belt. The organ impact occurs when your organs are flung around inside of your body and collide.
Types of accidents
Some accident types are associated with specific injury types, but there are always exceptions. When a patient is not able to relay their symptoms to medical staff or they are providing general complaints, the doctor can use the information about the type of crash to determine where to begin the evaluation.
- Front collisions: Lower extremity, head, torso or cervical spine injuries
- Rear collisions: Spine and neck injuries
- Side collisions: Pelvic, lung, abdominal, organ and diaphragm injuries
Seat belt usage
When a passenger isn’t wearing a seat belt, they can be thrown around within the vehicle or even thrown out of the car. These can lead to serious injuries or death. Unfortunately, wearing your seat belt might also cause some issues, such as bruising of the skin and damage to underlying organs; however, these usually aren’t serious and wearing your seat belt is the safest option.
Speed factor
The speed at which both cars were traveling has a great impact on what injuries are present and how severe they are. For example, a head-on crash where both vehicles are traveling 50 miles per hour will lead to much more serious injuries than a rear-end crash that involved a still vehicle and one traveling at 10 miles per hour.
Anyone who is injured when another vehicle strikes them might opt to seek compensation from that driver. This should be done quickly so that filing deadlines according to the law in Arizona aren’t missed.
