Injuries can happen even if the cars involved in an accident were only traveling at slow speeds. If you are the victim, you might feel fine. You check yourself out and there is not even a scratch. Your spouse or friend suggests you go for a medical evaluation, but why?
Anyone involved in a traffic accident, even just a fender-bender, should seek medical assistance as soon as possible. It is not only about health, it is also about insurance companies and compensation.
Effects of low-impact collisions
Serious injuries can happen even if the vehicle causing a crash is going no faster than 2.5 miles per hour. If you are rear-ended by a car traveling at this speed, you might suffer whiplash or some other injury that seems minor. However, a medical examination might reveal you sustained a soft tissue injury, which, of course, is not visible. There could be nerve damage, a ligament tear, a joint injury, even a concussion or traumatic brain injury, all because of a low-impact collision.
Medical alerts
Symptoms of soft tissue injuries include neck pain, jaw pain and blurry vision. You might even experience nausea, headaches or bouts of vertigo. If you seek medical attention as soon as possible after the car accident, a doctor can perform a workup that pinpoints any medical issues, especially those, such as soft tissue injuries, that were not evident. The sooner you see a doctor, the easier it will be to link injuries you suffered to the accident itself. This is important in terms of filing a claim with the other driver’s insurance company.
What you can do
An experienced personal injury attorney can be your advocate in terms of seeking maximum compensation. You can help by keeping ongoing notes about your medical treatment. These, along with the medical reports from your doctor and copies of your medical bills and receipts, are valuable forms of evidence with respect to the settlement you are due from the insurance company.