Commercial trucks outweigh cars and other traditional passenger vehicles by several tons. That is why trucks often cause severe injuries and deaths when they collide with these smaller vehicles.
In 2014 alone, 3,903 people were killed and 111,000 were severely injured in truck crashes. The number of injuries that year was 17 percent higher than the previous year, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
If you suffered an injury in a truck collision, you may be able to recover compensation for medical expenses and other damages created by your injuries. Contact the Fort Worth truck accident attorneys at our firm for a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
Some of the most common truck accident injuries include:
Back Injuries
Truck accident victims often sustain severe injuries to the muscles, bones and soft tissues in the back. These injuries may require months or years of rehabilitation and can leave victims with chronic pain.
Two types of back injuries include:
Herniated Discs
Each vertebra in the spinal column is cushioned by a disc. The violent impact from a truck accident can cause the disc to be torn, allowing the inner material to push outward. This extrusion can cause surrounding nerves to become irritated, creating great pain, as well as numbness or weakness in the extremities.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Damage to the spinal cord can cause partial or complete paralysis in the arms, legs and other body parts. The damage could be temporary or permanent, depending on how severe it is. However, even if the injury is temporary, victims will need to go through complex, long-term rehabilitation to regain function, control and coordination.
If the injury is permanent, the victim will need to learn how to live with limited mobility and other medical issues, such as trouble with bowel control and chronic pain.
Neck Injuries
The impact of a truck accident can break the neck, or cause damage to the neck’s:
- Muscles
- Ligaments
- Joints
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common types of neck injuries that occurs in rear-end collisions. When these crashes happen, the body and neck are jolted forward and brought to an abrupt stop. This whipping motion creates a soft tissue injury in the neck. Whiplash injuries can be mild to severe and last for long periods of time.
Common side effects of whiplash include:
- Numbness in upper extremities
- Pain in the upper back, arms and shoulders
- Pain when moving the neck
- Limited range of neck motion
Wrist Injuries
Wrist injuries often occur when the wrists are jerked around by the steering wheel or when the driver’s hands hit other things inside the vehicle, including:
- Airbag
- Steering wheel
- Windows
- Dashboard
- Airborne objects inside the vehicle
Common wrist injuries that result from truck accidents include:
- Fractures to the wrists, fingers and knuckles
- Scaphoid fractures
- Sprains
- Ligament tears
- Crush injuries
- Joint dislocation
- Tendon damage
Head Injuries
Truck accidents, particularly head-on collisions often cause head injuries, including:
- Concussions
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Brain damage
- Death of brain cells
- Fractured facial bones
Crush Injuries
Truck accidents subject the body to high pressure. When a body part is squeezed between two objects with a high degree of force, a crush injury may result. Crush injuries can lead to many severe health issues, such as:
- Compressed nerves
- Fractures
- Damaged internal organs
- Acute compartment syndrome
- Rhabdomyolysis
Fractures
Truck collisions are very forceful, much more so than accidents involving only passenger vehicles. That is why bones can break much more easily in truck accidents. Fractures that can occur in truck accidents include:
- Facial bones
- Arms and legs
- Wrists, hands and fingers
- Ribs
- Neck
Internal Bleeding
Abdominal trauma is one of the leading causes of death in truck crashes. This trauma can impact internal organs, such as the:
- Liver
- Spleen
- Pancreas
- Bladder
Damage to these organs can cause internal bleeding, which may require extensive treatment, including surgery.
Burns
If the fuel tank on a car or commercial truck ruptures in a crash, a fire could break out. These fires can be very hot and spread quickly, possibly causing severe burn injuries. In some cases, these fires get so hot and spread so quickly that they cause fatalities.
Schedule a Free Consultation with our Texas Lawyers
If you want to obtain compensation for damages caused by a truck accident, you need to hire a skilled truck accident lawyer.
The Texas personal injury attorneys of Anderson & Cummings have years of combined experience with truck accident cases. Our team possesses detailed knowledge of the laws governing trucking companies as well as personal injury claims in Texas.
We are prepared to put our skill and experience to work for you to help you recover the compensation you need to help you move on from this horrible accident.
We work on contingency only. This means your initial consultation is free and we are paid only if we recover the compensation you deserve.
Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation today by completing our Free Case Evaluation form.