Every year, about 3 million Americans suffer whiplash injuries. While there are several ways in which a person can potentially suffer whiplash, car accidents are, by far, the most common cause.
Whiplash might seem like a relatively minor car accident injury, but it has the potential to be quite costly. Victims of whiplash can experience chronic and debilitating pain, find themselves unable to work, and struggle to make ends meet. If you’ve suffered whiplash from a car accident in California because someone else was negligent, it’s important to consider your legal options.
You may be entitled to compensation for your whiplash injuries to cover the costs of medical treatment, make up for any lost wages during your recovery, and help you navigate the pain and suffering you’re experiencing. Working with an experienced San Diego car accident attorney at Singleton Schreiber can help you maximize your whiplash injury settlement.
We’ve spent decades fighting on behalf of victims of whiplash and other serious car accident injuries across the state of California. As award-winning San Diego injury lawyers, we fight passionately to defend the rights of our clients. The results: more than $3 billion in monetary awards recovered.
Contact one of our conveniently located California law offices to schedule a free consultation to discover how we can help you win big with your whiplash injury case, too.
What is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that primarily affects the neck. It typically occurs when a person’s head whips back and forth suddenly. The rapid back-and-forth movement causes ligaments, tendons, nerves, and/or other soft tissue to hyperextend and stretch beyond their normal limits.
Rear-end collisions are one of the most common causes of whiplash, especially for occupants of a vehicle that’s struck from behind.
When your vehicle is rear-ended, the force of impact causes your body to move forward. Your seat belt tightens, which holds your torso in place. However, momentum continues to carry your head and neck forward. Once your neck has hyperextended, momentum will shift and cause your head to swing back rapidly to the headrest.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Whiplash After a Car Accident?
Like other types of soft tissue injuries, the signs and symptoms of whiplash might not be evident right away. Since whiplash can occur in low-impact collisions at speeds as low as 5 or 10 MPH, many victims who don’t notice any immediate signs of trauma assume that they escape car accidents without injury.
However, it’s not uncommon for whiplash symptoms to begin to manifest a few hours or days after a crash.
The most common signs of whiplash injuries include:
- Stiffness in the neck and shoulders
- Chronic headaches that won’t go away
- Neck pain
- Fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Difficulty sleeping
- Difficulty swallowing
- Changes in cognitive function or concentration
- Limited range of motion in the neck and arms
- Tingling or numbness in the arms and/or fingers
- Dizziness
- Balance or coordination problems
- Memory problems
It’s important to seek medical care as soon as you begin to notice symptoms like these after a car accident in California. While many whiplash injuries will heal on their own over time, delayed care or treatment can potentially exacerbate the injury and cause further harm or permanent damage.
Medical professionals can potentially diagnose your whiplash injury using X-rays and/or ultrasounds. For severe cases of whiplash, they may also suggest treatments that involve more than rest and over-the-counter pain medications. Potential treatments for severe cases of whiplash can include injections of steroid medications, nerve stimulation, physical therapy, and muscle relaxants.
Failing to seek treatment can be seen as a failure to mitigate your damages, which could ultimately limit your ability to recover compensation for your whiplash injuries through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.
What is My Car Accident Case Worth If I’ve Suffered Whiplash?
Whiplash injuries can cost anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars to treat, depending on the extent of the injury.
Several factors will play a part in determining how much money you might be able to receive for a whiplash injury from a car accident in California:
- What grade of whiplash injury have you suffered?
- Will your whiplash injury prevent you from going back to work temporarily?
- What wages or income will you lose while you recover from whiplash?
- Do you share responsibility for the car accident that caused your whiplash injury?
- How has whiplash affected your overall quality of life?
- What are the at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits?
The at-fault driver’s insurance company will work hard to downplay how severe your whiplash injury is and minimize how it’s affected your life. Working with an experienced car accident attorney near you in California can protect you from their tactics and help to ensure that you’re able to not only win your whiplash injury claim but also recover the full value of your damages.
When Should I Call a Personal Injury Attorney If I’ve Suffered Whiplash From a Car Accident in California?
As soon as you suspect that you’ve been injured. While you’ll have up to two years from the date of your car accident to seek compensation for your whiplash injury, you don’t want to let too much time pass before taking action.
The longer you wait to assert your rights, the more likely it becomes that evidence pertinent to your whiplash case gets lost, damaged, or disappears. As time goes on, eyewitness memories become less reliable. Plus, you give the defense time to think about how they’ll defend themselves and come up with endless strategies to keep you from getting the compensation you deserve.
Hiring a California car accident lawyer gives you room to breathe and focus on your recovery while also protecting your legal rights.
Whiplash injury victims in California trust Singleton Schreiber. Clients work with local lawyers and benefit from the full force of our law firm’s national resources. We take on multinational corporations, insurance carriers, government agencies, and other bad actors in pursuit of maximum justice for our clients. Our billion-dollar track record of success speaks volumes about the level of representation we can offer.
Call our California law office today to discover how we can help you maximize your whiplash injury damages, too. Your first case evaluation is free.
