Car accidents are some of the most frequent causes of personal injuries in the United States. According to some estimates, most drivers will file a car accident claim once every 17 years or so. Because car accidents like fender benders can be relatively minor, people don’t often worry about visiting the doctor right away. After all, what’s a little whiplash?
Believe it or not, whiplash can be more severe than you think. Depending on how much pain you were in when the injury occurred, you could experience chronic pain later as a result of it. While whiplash symptoms can disappear after a couple of weeks, sometimes they can linger on for years.
Getting yourself checked by a physician after a car accident will ensure that you are screened for injuries that cannot always be seen with the naked eye. Some concussions don’t manifest in the usual symptoms, such as confusion or dizziness. Concussions can look like memory loss, mood swings, sleep loss, and excessive fatigue. If you sustained a head injury, even a minor one, you should be diagnosed by a doctor as soon as possible, or it could develop into an even worse injury later.
Likewise, internal bleeding is extremely hard to diagnose if you’re not a medical professional equipped with diagnostic machines. People have been known to get into car accidents, sustain internal bleeding, and collapse later from blood loss.
Another reason to see a doctor directly after an accident is for legal purposes. For example, if you end up needing to file a claim for lost wages because you had to stay home to recover, your insurance company or the company of the at-fault driver could deny your claim on the basis you didn’t get your injury treated. Seeing and being diagnosed by a medical professional serves as evidence to prove to the insurance company that you are actually injured.
While insurance companies are held accountable by good faith insurance laws, they don’t always make their decisions with an injured person's best interests in mind. After all, an insurance company profits from the premiums people pay, not by paying medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage claims. An insurance company will do its best to give you less than you feel due in compensation for your injuries or even deny your claim.
If you need help filing a claim after a car accident, you can trust our attorneys with your case. Metzger Wickersham has been helping people with their personal injury legal needs since 1888. Our firm is dedicated to helping injured victims get compensation to make a meaningful difference in their quality of life. Our Harrisburg car accident lawyers can help aggressively defend your rights in negotiations and in the courtroom. Let us see what we can do for you.
Contact us at (888) 286-2850 or fill out our online form to schedule your free case evaluation today.