Low Impact Car Accident Injuries

Many fender benders and other car accidents result in low impact car accident injuries. Accident victims need to take low impact injuries seriously and consider contacting a car accident attorney to discuss seeking damages.

What Does Low Impact Mean?

“Low impact” is the term that is often used by insurance companies to describe a car accident that involved little or no property damage, or those car accidents that occurred while traveling at low speeds.  Low impact, however, does not mean that the auto accident was “low injury.”

Unfortunately, insurance companies often assume that if an auto accident is low impact, it didn’t involve any injuries, which may not be the case.  Insurance companies used to define low impact accidents as those auto accidents involving repairs of an arbitrarily low amount.  This threshold is set by the insurance companies and has been incrementally increased over the past several years.

There may, in fact, be no correlation between the severity of the property damage and the severity of the physical injuries sustained in an auto accident. Low impact auto accident injuries can still be extremely serious. Whiplash and other soft tissue injuries are often sustained in low impact auto accidents.  Soft tissues include muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and injuries to these parts of the body sometimes go unnoticed until some time has passed following the accident.  Bruises, contusions, strains and sprains may become apparent hours and days after the auto accident.

Low impact car accident injuries may present themselves through delayed pain that may not present until 24 to 48 hours after an accident. Some delayed injuries can take even longer to appear. Delayed pain can mask severe injuries, so accident victims should seek medical attention to check for these types of injuries.

Low Impact Car Accident Injuries Can Be Significant

According to a study commissions by General Motors (GM), whiplash can occur in car crashes at speeds of less than 8 miles per hour. The GM study also found that more than half of all car accident injuries involve whiplash, which lingered at least three years post-accident for 30% of those who suffered neck injuries in an auto accident.  Whiplash injuries are particularly difficult to assess and recover from due to the delayed onset of symptoms.

The treatment of neck injuries can be lengthy and require significant rehabilitation costs.  Neck injuries often involve significant medical bills and long-term rehabilitative costs. If you have been injured as a result of the negligence or intentional wrongdoing of another, you may be entitled to recover compensation for medical bills, rehabilitative costs and lost income as a result of your neck injury.

It is important for accident victims to seek medical treatment for their injuries. They should be able to recover damages for the medical bills, rehabilitation costs, medicine, and medical devices by presenting evidence of their bills and expenses to the insurance carriers. If they file a lawsuit, they may also be able to recover lost wages and pain and suffering. The value of claims for low impact car accident injuries vary from case to case. However, being able to present proof of a doctor’s care and medical bills usually helps in the process of recovering damages.

If you have suffered a neck injury as a result of an auto accident, medical malpractice, construction accident, workplace accident, slip and fall accident, or other personal injury accident, the skilled Chicago personal injury attorneys at Ankin Law will vigorously fight to get you the compensation that you need and deserve. Contact our office at (312) 600-0000 to schedule a free consultation with one of our knowledgeable Chicago neck injury attorneys to discuss a possible legal claim.

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Chicago personal injury and workers’ compensation attorney Howard Ankin has a passion for justice and a relentless commitment to defending injured victims throughout the Chicagoland area. With decades of experience achieving justice on behalf of the people of Chicago, Howard has earned a reputation as a proven leader in and out of the courtroom. Respected by peers and clients alike, Howard’s multifaceted approach to the law and empathetic nature have secured him a spot as an influential figure in the Illinois legal system.

Years of Experience: More than 30 years
Illinois Registration Status: Active
Bar & Court Admissions: Illinois State Bar Association, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
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