Injuries in motor vehicle accidents do not always occur just in high-speed crashes. If you are traveling at a speed between 30 and 40 miles per hour in West Virginia and you are in an accident, you may suffer one or more of several common injuries.
Injuries at a lower speed
To understand why injuries occur even at lower speeds it is important to know why many of them come about in the first place. These may be accidents that do not involve a person being thrown from a vehicle but in which restraints work. When a vehicle comes to a sudden stop, your body is still moving at the speed the vehicle was traveling. This means that while a seatbelt may prevent you from being thrown through a windshield, the tissue and organs inside your body continue moving at the same speed until stopped by other organs and your bones. A concussion, for example, happens when the brain crashes inside the skull. While a concussion may be mild, this can also cause a serious brain injury, and it is a good idea to have any head injury checked out by a medical professional.
Whiplash and other injuries
Whiplash is another common injury in these slower-speed motor vehicle accidents. The motion of the body moving forward as the vehicle slams to a halt can tear soft tissue in the neck, and recovery may take months. Like the neck, the spine can also be particularly vulnerable. Discs or the spine could be compressed or the lower back might be injured. People can also suffer burns or broken bones as a result of airbags deploying.
Even minor injuries from a motor vehicle accident can be costly. If you are injured in such an accident and the other driver is at fault, you might be owed compensation to cover those costs. An attorney might be able to work with the other driver’s insurance company or help you file a lawsuit if necessary.
