Traumatic Brain Injury After a Car Crash

Did you know that auto accidents are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries in the United States?

Traumatic brain injuries or TBIs from car accidents account for 17.3% of all TBIs each year. That’s second only to falls, which make up just over 35% of traumatic brain injuries. There were roughly 223,050 TBI-related hospitalizations in 2018, and 60,611 TBI-related deaths in 2019. This amounts to more than 610 TBI-related hospitalizations and 166 TBI-related deaths per day. Significantly, these estimates don’t include the numerous TBIs that are only treated in the emergency department, primary care, urgent care, or those that go untreated.

Three Levels of Head Injury

TBIs are caused by a violent blow or jolt to the head or body—which happens frequently in a motor vehicle accident. There are three levels of TBI injuries:

• Mild TBI or Concussion: This is a mild and temporary condition that’s indicated by a headache and issues with balance, memory, coordination, or concentration. Most concussion victims will make a complete recovery after they are given time to recuperate.
• Moderate TBI and Post-Concussion Syndrome: Concussion symptoms can occasionally persist for a several months or a year or more after a head injury. This condition can result in anxiety and depression.
• Severe TBI: Severe TBIs include closed-injury TBI caused by the brain moving within the skull and being injured. This level of TBI also includes penetrating TBI, which is when a foreign object pierces the skull and brain tissue. These TBIs often cause a loss of consciousness and much more serious side effects.

What Treatments are Available?

Mild TBIs usually require rest and medication to relieve headache, while a moderate to severe TBI will necessitate intensive care in a hospital. Bleeding and swelling in the brain can become an emergency that requires surgery.

Neurocritical care is the intensive care of patients who’ve suffered a life-threatening brain injury. Many patients with severe TBI are comatose or paralyzed. Plus, they may have suffered injuries in other parts of the body. The care of these TBI patients is overseen by a neurointensivist, a specialty-trained physician who coordinates the patient’s complex neurological and medical care.

Getting medical treatment immediately is critical, as is contracting an experienced Michigan auto accident attorney. There is research that shows links between traumatic brain injury and depression and psychotic personality disorders, such as schizophrenia. That is why is so important to receive quality care immediately after a car accident.

Ask an Experienced Michigan Auto Accident Attorney About a Third-Party Claim

It’s wise to ask an attorney about a third party claim for pain and suffering, excess medical, and excess wage loss from the at-fault driver. In Michigan, a “third-party claim” is an action against the driver of the other vehicle, the “at-fault driver,” rather than the insurance company. You can only bring a third-party claim if the other driver is at least 50% at-fault for causing the accident. The attorneys at Buchanan Firm handling your third-party claim will seek reimbursement for your injuries or disfigurement and any excess wage loss, which is wage loss beyond three years.

To get compensation for your injuries, our state law says that you must have suffered a “serious impairment” of body function or permanent serious disfigurement. And your accident must have caused an “objectively manifested impairment” to an important body function affecting your general ability to lead a normal life. That means that your normal day-to-day living is significantly impacted by your injuries.

To determine if your injuries satisfy the definition, permitting you to ask for reimbursement under a third-party claim against an at-fault driver, the court will examine the following:

• The nature and extent of the injury;
• The extent to which the injury impacts day-to-day life; and
• A number of other elements.

The Michigan Supreme Court has held that the term “serious impairment” is interpreted by specific facts and circumstances, so it has to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. That’s why you need an experienced car crash injury attorney from Buchanan Firm. Our Grand Rapids brain injury attorneys have been involved in hundreds of third-party cases and know what to do following a crash.

Contact us

A traffic crash in Michigan was reported about every two minutes in 2020, many of these caused traumatic brain injuries. Injured victims may be entitled to compensation for serious injuries. You need an attorney that understands the Michigan insurance laws and can get you what you deserve.

For a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney in Michigan, contact Buchanan Firm. Our firm proudly serves people all across Michigan, including major cities like Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Detroit, Lansing, Holland, St. Joe, and Ann Arbor, and rural towns such as Lowell, Ada, Fremont, Newaygo, Grand Haven, Rockford, and Cedar Springs. We will meet you after-hours, at home or in the hospital, to accommodate you.

Contact us today.