Major Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries
Take your injury seriously. Contact Klie Law Offices, West Virginia car accident lawyers.
Our West Virginia attorneys represent people who have sustained serious car accident injuries. If you or a loved one has sustained a severe injury in an auto accident, your whole life could dramatically change in an instant. You might suddenly be unable to walk or move normally for several weeks or months or perhaps even for the rest of your life. A brain injury can destroy your quality of life. These are catastrophic injuries that typically result in permanent disability. Victims may need constant supervision and may require a lifetime of rehabilitation.
With so much at stake, it’s important to have a dedicated attorney on your side, someone who understands how the legal system works in West Virginia and who will do the hard work necessary to win your case. That’s why you need Klie Law Offices of Buckhannon, WV.
We’re familiar with the various legal issues that often arise in connection with a serious auto accident injury. From mounting medical bills to loss of income due to not being able to work, we can help you and your family every step of the way.
What are common car accident injuries in West Virginia?
Serious motor vehicle accident injuries cover a wide range. Some of the most severe injury cases our attorneys work on involve:
What should I do if I’m injured in an auto accident?
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a car accident in West Virginia, we strongly urge you to take the following steps as soon as possible:
- Call 911 for emergency medical attention. Don’t try to diagnose yourself. You or someone else needs to call for help immediately.
- If your accident occurred several days or weeks ago, schedule a follow up medical appointment as soon as possible. Even if you think you’re feeling better, make sure you have a trained medical physician examine you. You could have a life-threatening medical emergency.
- If you’re still at the scene of the accident, make sure you or someone else takes the following steps:
- Call the police and ask them to respond to your accident. Your police accident report can make a dramatic difference in the outcome of your accident.
- Do not move the injured person at the scene of the accident. Wait for police and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) to examine you.
- Keep your vehicles in the same place if possible. Ask the other driver to do the same. Wait for police to arrive and investigate your accident.
- Do not say anything to the other driver that could jeopardize the outcome of your legal case. Don’t say things like “It was my fault.” Insurance companies could use such statements to deny your insurance claim.
- Either you or someone else should take photographs of your accident before the vehicles are moved. Such evidence can be critical when filing a successful insurance claim.
- Write down information about your motor vehicle accident and your injuries, including:
- Time of accident
- Location of accident
- Weather conditions
- Location of your injury on your body
- Symptoms you feel
- Where you feel pain on your body
- Contact your insurance company and tell them you’ve been injured in a car accident. Here again, keep your comments brief. Do not say anything that could be used to deny your accident injury claim.
- Contact us. We know how to handle accident injuries and can discuss the legal options available to you.
How can Klie Law Offices help me with my car accident injury?
Recovering from an auto accident injury can be can be exhausting and take weeks, months or even longer. The last thing you need to do is worry about all the red tape that often comes with dealing with a catastrophic car accident injury.
At Klie Law Offices, we know how to investigate accidents and will do everything we can to help you get the money you need for your medical care (from surgeries to physical therapy). We can also deal directly with insurance companies on your behalf. We know how to negotiate with them, but will take a case to court if necessary.
Head injuries caused by car accidents can be extremely serious and life-changing. In some cases, an injury to the head or brain caused by a motor vehicle accident can result in severe or even permanent brain damage. This is especially true for a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a term used to describe the most serious brain injuries.
Brain injuries typically are classified as open head injuries or closed head injuries. Typically in car accidents, occupants whose heads strike a hard object such as a windshield or dashboard may sustain a closed head injury, which are non-penetrating injuries. Open head injuries relate to objects that break through the skull and enter the brain.
Some accident victims make the mistake of not taking a brain injury seriously. They might not notice any outward symptoms in the moments after the accident. But some brain injuries can become more apparent with time. It’s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. The injury to the head may turn fatal if treatment is ignored.
Even a concussion can be serious and affect your ability to live your life normally for several weeks or months. Because brain injuries can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars over the course of a lifetime, it’s important to consult with an experienced brain injury attorney in West Virginia. Our legal professionals have access to top experts who can help determine the full financial impact of the injury so you can get the maximum compensation you deserve.
Depending on where the injury occurred on the spine, injury victims might not be able to move their arms and/or legs for the rest of their lives after their accident. That’s because spinal cord damage can result in paralysis below the waist (known as paraplegia) or paralysis below the neck (known as quadriplegia).
The following are a few of the other debilitating consequences of a spinal cord injury:
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Spinal cord injuries can affect entire families for the rest of their lives. Depending on the age of the victim, these injuries can cost upwards of $5 million over the course of a lifetime. Our spinal cord injury lawyers in West Virginia can help victims and families fight to obtain the compensation they need for medical bills, loss of future income and expenses related to rehabilitation and modifications to a home.
Internal injuries in car accidents can be difficult to detect. You might feel OK after an accident, or perhaps you have abdomen pain that you believe you can “shake off.” In either case, you could have a serious, life-threatening internal injury and not even realize it.
That’s why it’s important to have internal injuries treated immediately by a medical professional. Common internal injuries caused by auto accidents include:
- Damage to internal organs (lungs, heart, spleen, bowels, kidneys, liver and other vital organs)
- Blood clot
- Fractured ribs causing punctures to lungs or other internal organs
- Spinal cord injury
- Brain injury
Common forms of injury from a car accident include neck and back injuries. From a bruised muscle in the neck to a broken back or permanent spinal cord damage, neck and back injuries can have severe consequences. Even whiplash (a neck injury often caused by rear-end accidents) can be serious and require medical attention and physical therapy. Cervical dislocation and disc injury are some of the other common serious neck injuries
Accident victims often sustain lower back injuries, including sprains and strains, herniated discs and fractured vertebrae.
The impact of two colliding vehicles often causes jarring injuries to people’s necks and backs. Even low-speed rear-end accidents can result in painful back or neck injuries.
