How a minor car accident can change your life

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Car Accidents, on Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Even in the most minor of car accidents — where the victims don’t really feel much other than a slight daze and a wave of frustration — the people who are involved can suffer debilitating pain that changes their lives for many months or years. For example, say you get into a car accident that jars your head a bit. Your head doesn’t hit anything, but the collision really torques your neck and head.In the immediate aftermath of the wreck, you may feel okay; and in the days that come, you may feel okay. But a week later, your neck is stiff and you have pounding headaches. Your mood changes. You struggle to complete tasks at work that were normally a cinch for you. When you get home from work, you just lie around instead of doing activities that you normally loved to do. This can happen when a car accident victim suffers whiplash or a traumatic brain injury. These types of injuries can be tough to detect when the crash occurs. So when the pain and suffering creeps up, it can be very difficult for the accident victim to know what he or she is supposed to do. These injuries can be referenced in a civil lawsuit if you decide to sue the other driver, and you can earn needed compensation for the way the injuries have changed your life.However, a new study found that many people do not choose this route, possibly because they believe the “time has passed” (for lack of a better phrase) for them to pursue such legal action. The study says that out of 948 respondents, only 17 percent contacted an attorney six weeks after their accident. At the same time, 70 percent reported musculoskeletal pain six weeks after their accident. Source: Consumer Affairs, “Study: post-accident neck pain is common,” Mark Huffman, Jan. 21, 2014