When you envision a very bad car crash, you most likely imagine crushed cars, ambulances, and roadblocks. However, the fact is that even minor car crashes, which do not leave a considerable impression, often result in significant injuries and expensive legal procedures. Time and again, the seemingly simple fender bender may prove to be a complicated personal injury claim, involving medical, legal, and potentially months (or more) of physical recuperation.
That is why it is important to understand why even minor accidents can cause drastic consequences, especially if you have recently been in such a situation. In this blog post, we will break down the risks lurking behind such seemingly minor accidents and why consulting a reliable car accident lawyer Brampton is necessary.
The Myth of the “Minor” Accident
Among the hazardous assumptions people make, one of the most common ones is that minimal or zero vehicle damage implies no one was possibly injured. Sadly, not all of it is true.
While your vehicle is made of steel, your body is not. Although cars today are designed to absorb the shock of an impact, your body cannot react to sudden jolts in the same way. At speeds as low as 10-15 km/h, it may cause whiplash, concussions, soft tissue damage, and damage to the spine. Such injuries are not immediately apparent and may not become noticeable for days or even weeks.
Here are some of the injuries that usually follow minor accidents:
- Whiplash and neck strain: This is the most frequent damage seen in the case of low-speed rear-end crashes.
- Concussions: You might have been thinking that concussions occur when you hit your head against something. But no, sudden acceleration or deceleration can cause it too.
- Soft tissue injuries: Damage to soft tissues cannot be easily diagnosed on an X-ray, but may lead to severe pain and restrict movement.
- Herniated discs or back injury: Even minor traumas can intensify pre-existing issues or cause new issues like severe pain.
- Minor traumas can increase chronic pain and intensify pre-existing conditions.
Delayed Symptoms = Delayed Claims
Among the greatest problems of minor accidents is that the signs of injuries may not be seen immediately. There is nothing unexpected in the fact that the victims of the accident feel fine right after the crash, and the next morning they feel stiffness, headache, or they feel pain radiating somewhere.
Delays cause difficulties when trying to find a connection between your injuries and the accident. Moreover, if you do not seek medical care right after the accident, it gets harder to prove your claim. Insurers take advantage of this gap and try to prove your claims are fake, deny or reduce the compensation amount. This is why every victim should observe changes in their body and seek a doctor’s advice, even if there are no visible injuries from an accident.
This highlights the importance of consulting a personal injury lawyer that Brampton residents trust, so that you can build a stronger claim. They know the right tactics to gather information, seek help from medical professionals and build a case which connects your injuries to the accident.
Psychological Trauma Counts Too
Who said injuries are only physical, they can be emotional and psychological too. Many involved in a minor car crash show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often feel anxious and have panic attacks, and may face difficulty falling asleep.
Even though minor accidents are mostly associated with other physical or psychological effects, these mental health issues may cause a dramatic change in your life, yet are ignored in minor accident claims. An experienced personal injury lawyer knows how vital it is to consider the psychological effects in your injury claim and will make sure that such damages are paid.
Insurance Companies Are Not On Your Side
One should also bear in mind that insurance agencies are businesses, and their primary purpose is to maximize their profits. They might even attempt to pay you a lesser settlement after a minor accident that just about covers the medical bills and definitely not treatment, loss of wages or pain and suffering.
There are also instances where insurers would end up undermining your damages or claim that your pain is a result of some pre-existing condition. It may not be easy, sometimes impossible, to counter such claims without the guidance of a lawyer.
MacIsaac Gow LLP’s personal injury lawyer in Brampton understands how to respond to these tricks, fight for fair compensation, and successfully achieve it when insurance companies act in cunning ways.
Hidden Costs of Minor Accidents
Minor car accidents may also entail tremendous financial costs besides the physical and emotional costs. Some of the most commonly underrated ones include the following:
- Loss of earnings: Losing your daily pay because you took an off day to visit your doctor, recover after the accident or take physiotherapy.
- Rehabilitation costs: Physiological treatments are not only costly, but they also take several months before you finally recover.
- Travel cost: If your vehicle is under repair and you cannot drive, you’d need to spend extra on public transportation.
- Changes in Lifestyle: For severe cases, you might need to make changes in your way of living and need a caregiver.
You may face severe inconveniences after a minor crash, even if the car repairs were not that extensive. Without filing a claim, paying out these expenses might not be easy.
Minor Accidents Can Involve Major Legal Complexity
The legality is another reason why a minor collision may transform into complicated injury claims. When there is more than one car involved, when the other party is not insured, or there is a controversy over the fault, the case might easily get out of control.
In Ontario, all modes of dealing with personal injury claims are approached through the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) and the Insurance Act, and their policies are quite difficult to traverse by an ordinary citizen. Matters such as tort claims, threshold injuries, deductibles, and types of medical impairment require legal interpretation.
What To Do After a Minor Accident
This is what you need to do in the case you have been in a minor car accident, no matter whether you think that it is serious or not:
- Contact the police if necessary, and remember to share information with the other driver.
- Take photographs of all cars, the road conditions, and any visible injuries.
- Do not wait to feel good, go to medical care straight away.
- Do not take any responsibility and understate your injuries.
- Talk to insurance adjusters only after talking to a personal injury lawyer.
Simply one misstep, such as taking a low settlement too early or not documenting the injuries, can weaken your claims.
Conclusion
One should not believe that minor automobile accidents are not serious enough to consider. The thing is, such accidents often result in sustained injuries, mental traumas, and severe financial costs. And unless you are fast and tactical enough, other people’s lack of responsibility may cost you.
After being involved in a car accident (big or small), the most intelligent thing you can do is hire a personal injury lawyer that Brampton residents rely on. You will essentially have someone on your side who knows the system and is able to work it in your favour, so that it is your health that you fight for, and your restitution that you are truly seeking.
It may not sound like a big deal, but that doesn’t mean a minor accident will have small impacts.
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