Regaining your health after suffering a severe brain injury can be highly challenging. You may be unable to work while your medical expenses are mounting. And the stress of your financial situation could make it difficult to focus on your recovery.
If you suffered brain damage in a car accident, you have a right to be compensated for your injury and losses. Read on to learn more about car accident head injuries and what damages you might be entitled to recover.
For a free consultation with an experienced Washington auto accident lawyer, please contact us online or call (509) 866-4166 today.
Common Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries from Car Accidents
Traumatic brain injuries encompass a wide range of brain dysfunction resulting from some type of force, including car accidents. TBIs disrupt the normal functioning of your brain and range considerably in severity depending on your situation. However, a victim may recover compensation even for mild injuries. Let’s take a look at some common TBIs.
Concussions
Concussions are generally classified as mild traumatic brain injuries. Despite this generalization, concussions can cause long-term symptoms that sometimes occur days or weeks after an accident. Concussions from a car accident often result in symptoms like headaches, changes in smell or vision, dizziness, irritability, mood changes, sensitivity to light, confusion, and difficulty with memory.
Contusions
Contusions are bruises on the brain or burst brain vessels. When contusions occur in the brain, they are severe and require medical treatment.
Open Head Injuries
Open head injuries from car accidents occur when an object breaks through someone’s skull. In the most severe cases, this type of head trauma from a car accident may penetrate the skull and go into the brain.
Closed Head Injuries
Closed head injuries occur when an object strikes the head but does not break the skull or penetrate the brain. Internal bleeding is the biggest concern for this type of head injury after a car accident.
Coma
When someone is in a coma, they remain in a state of unconsciousness for some time. A car accident TBI like this is particularly tragic as some victims never wake from this condition. Some coma victims can breathe on their own, while others are unable to live without the assistance of a ventilator.
Common Symptoms of a Car Accident TBI
Symptoms of TBIs may present in the moments following a car accident, making it apparent that the victim needs immediate medical attention. In some situations, TBIs could take weeks, and even months, to present. It’s wise to immediately seek medical attention to ensure you have not suffered head trauma after a car accident.
Common symptoms of a TBI include the following:
- Regular migraines or headaches;
- Nausea, with or without vomiting;
- Lack of concentration;
- Lack of coordination;
- Lack of balance;
- Delayed or slowed reflexes;
- Fatigue;
- Trouble sleeping; and
- Loss of consciousness.
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Other symptoms like personality and behavioral changes could also indicate a TBI despite not presenting as physical symptoms. Without immediate medical attention, TBIs can cause irreversible damage. Some accident victims find that their brain injury from a car accident prevents them from working again and requires rehabilitative therapy and ongoing care.
What Can I Recover?
Brain injuries from car accidents cause significant disruption to injured victims’ lives, creating financial stress, strained relationships, and chronic pain and discomfort. Washington law permits injured victims to recover compensatory damages in the form of economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages represent direct monetary losses related to your injuries and include the following:
- Medical expenses,
- Lost wages,
- Loss of future earnings, and
- Property damage.
Retain all copies of receipts, invoices, bills, and pay stubs and provide them to your attorney to substantiate your claim.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages represent subjective losses related to the psychological and emotional harm suffered by your injury and include the following:
- Pain and suffering,
- Emotional distress,
- Loss of consortium,
- Loss of enjoyment of life,
- Permanent disability, and
- Disfigurement.
Non-economic damages are difficult to establish due to their intangible nature. In other words, there are no receipts that put a value on a diminished spousal relationship or your inability to play with your child. You need a professional to help evaluate these losses.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Attorney
Kapuza Lighty Accident Injury Lawyers is a team of trial lawyers with more than 50 years of combined experience. We fight daily for the rights of clients injured by the negligence of others. We tailor our legal representation to each client and prioritize your rights and needs.
Although most personal injury cases never go to trial, we prepare each case as if it will. Our unmatched level of preparedness produces higher settlements for our clients. Contact us online or call (509) 866-4166 today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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