There’s no denying that car accidents are a common occurrence on our roads. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every five deaths in the United States is caused by a motor vehicle accident.

Whether you’re driving or riding in a car, there’s always a risk of getting hurt or killed in an accident.

Car Accident Injuries

Ever wondered what you can or can’t survive in a car crash?

Here are the worst injuries you can suffer from in a car crash and how long you would survive with each.

Head injuries

A head injury is a serious injury that can result in a permanent disability or death. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head that disrupts normal brain function. The severity of a TBI depends on how much force is involved and which part of the brain is injured.

Using the data of The National Safety Council (NSC), head injuries account for about 30 percent of all traffic-related fatalities. These types of injuries can occur when your head hits another object or vehicle during an accident. A person’s head is particularly vulnerable in a car crash because it is not protected by a helmet, unlike when riding on a motorcycle or bicycle. Head injuries often occur as a result of direct impact with another vehicle or with an object such as a tree or telephone pole. Head injuries can also occur when the victim is thrown from the vehicle during impact and hits something on the way down.

The severity of head injuries depends on the force of impact and the point at which the head strikes the vehicle or other object, as well as where on the head the impact occurs. The most common long term effects of head injury caused by a car crash include:

Long Term Memory Loss. A person who suffers from a head injury may experience long term memory loss, including problems with recalling recent events or learning new information. This type of memory loss can affect all aspects of a person’s life and cause them to become withdrawn and depressed.

Depression and Anxiety. Head injuries can also cause depression and anxiety in some people. A person who experiences difficulty concentrating or has problems completing tasks may feel frustrated or angry when they realize they are not performing as well as they used to.

Seizures. A seizure occurs when electrical activity in the brain becomes too rapid and causes an altered state of consciousness (i.e., loss of awareness). Seizures may be accompanied by muscle spasms or jerking movements that last for several seconds before subsiding on their own.

The impact of a brain injury can be life-changing, especially when it affects a child or young adult. It can affect the quality of life, not to mention the medical expenses and lifelong rehabilitation of the patient. That’s why it’s important to work with the Best Brain Injury Lawyer in Houston.

Internal bleeding (hemorrhaging).

Internal bleeding is another common cause of death in traffic accidents and accounts for around 25 percent of all traffic-related fatalities each year, according to NSC data. Hemorrhaging occurs when blood vessels rupture due to severe trauma like an impact with another vehicle or object during an accident. In many cases, internal bleeding cannot be detected until much later on after being involved in an accident due to its delayed onset time after being injured — which can be dangerous if not treated immediately because it could lead to death overtime if left untreated.

Examples include:

Brain hemorrhage: Bleeding in the brain can cause severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, and loss of consciousness.

Kidney hemorrhage: Bleeding in the kidneys can result from an injury to one or both kidneys. This type of internal bleeding is more common among older adults and people with diabetes, high blood pressure or other chronic diseases. It can cause blood in the urine and other symptoms such as weakness and fatigue (tiredness).

Liver hemorrhage: Bleeding inside your liver results from damage to liver cells or from a tear in the liver’s walls. Liver hemorrhage may lead to abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), abnormal fluid accumulation around your abdomen (ascites), and a buildup of fluid in your abdomen (ascites).

Spinal cord injury

The spinal cord is made up of nerves that carry information between your brain and the rest of your body. It runs down the center of your back and extends into each leg down to your toes. The spinal cord is protected by bones called vertebrae (vertebrae are also known as “spinal bones”). If you’re involved in a motor vehicle collision, you could injure your spine at any point along its length — from where it begins at your brain stem through all 24 vertebrae or even farther down if it’s broken or compressed by force. Spinal injuries often result in paralysis below the level where they occurred.

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are very serious and can lead to lifelong paralysis. In fact, one in five people who suffer from SCI will be permanently paralyzed. Even if you do regain mobility, it will take time and extensive rehabilitation.

There are three types of spinal cord injuries:

Anterior cord syndrome. This typically involves damage to the front part of your spinal cord. It can cause weakness or paralysis in your arms and legs. The extent varies from mild weakness to complete paralysis.

Posterior cord syndrome. This type of spinal cord injury involves damage to the back part of your spinal cord. It causes loss of sensation or movement in parts of your body below the level of injury or both. The severity depends on which nerves are affected. For example, a posterior cord syndrome just above the waist would affect leg movement and sensation but not arm movement or sensation because nerves for arms travel further down the spine than those for legs do.

Central cord syndrome (also called Brown-Séquard syndrome). This type affects only one side of your body at a time (rather than both sides together), causing weakness or paralysis in an arm, leg, or both depending on where it occurs along the length of your spinal cord.

Some Injury symptoms don’t show right away sometimes.

When you are involved in an auto accident, the medical bills can pile up quickly. But there’s another side to these accidents that you may not be aware of: the legal side.

Like many other states, Texas recognizes that the symptoms of a car accident injury may not appear until days or even months after the crash. That’s why it’s important to consult a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your accident.

Injuries take time to manifest themselves, so it may be weeks or months before they become apparent. In some cases, it could take years before symptoms show up and doctors can confirm that they were caused by an accident. This means that some people will try to deny liability even when they know they’re at fault because they don’t want to pay out compensation until they absolutely have to do so.

The longer you wait to seek medical attention, the more difficult it will be to prove your injuries are related to the accident. In some cases, your medical records may even be destroyed by insurance companies who want to minimize their payouts by denying your claim.

Credits To Atty. Ben Dominguez

The past 27 years Ben has successfully litigated high-profile cases resulting in damages paid to his clients and obtained not guilty verdicts and dismissals on behalf of his clients facing serious criminal charges.

Ben has appeared in front of the Texas House and Senate Committees to speak about pending legislation, was a guest on the Texas House Floor for the Governor’s State of the State Address, written the script for a TV commercial for the winning gubernatorial candidate in a governor’s race. Mr. Dominguez has also appeared in industrial commercials filmed in