Top Five Truck Wreck Injuries in Issaquah
Posted Friday, March 24, 2023 by Chris Thayer
Automobile safety features have improved significantly over the years. But a fully-loaded semi-truck weighs over 80,000 pounds. No safety system, no matter how advanced, could possibly handle all that force. Therefore, even if a victim is in the safest car in the world, in a truck wreck, that victim often sustains catastrophic injuries. Some of these injuries are outlined below.
Usually, medical bills in catastrophic injury cases exceed $100,000. Many health insurance companies don’t cover injury-related costs. So, it is important for an Issaquah personal injury lawyer to obtain compensation for these injuries in court. Without this compensation, these victims are often financially responsible for these costs. That outcome simply is not fair to anyone.
Serious B**urns
Diesel fuel and gasoline burn at different temperatures. Large trucks often carry hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel. Therefore, the burns in a truck crash case are usually a lot worse than the burns in a car crash case.
Generally, truck crashes cause third-degree burns, which affect the inner skin layers. These injuries usually require painful skin grafts at specialty regional burn centers. So, these victims not only have higher medical bills. They also must endure higher pain levels, a fact that drives up their noneconomic losses.
*Crushed Bones*The extreme force in a truck wreck doesn’t just break bones. It usually shatters them. As a result, doctors must often use metal parts to surgically reconstruct these bones. The additional intervention on the front end means longer physical therapy on the back end. Once again, these factors drive up medical bills and increase emotional distress.
As a side note, broken bones often cause nerve injuries. Therefore, doctors and physical therapists have twice as much work to do.
Frequently, these injuries are permanent. For example, even if a broken ankle heals, the victim may permanently lose the range of motion in that joint.
*Head Injuries*These injuries are also force-related injuries. Vehicle collisions cause the brain to violently and repeatedly slam against the insides of the skull. The violent motion often causes brain bleeding and swelling.
Also, much like broken bones, head injuries are permanent. Brain surgery can reduce swelling and contain the damage. Brain injury therapists can train uninjured parts of the brain to assume lost functions. But the injury itself never gets better, making the victim prone to other, even more serious injuries in the future.
An Issaquah personal injury lawyer connects truck crash victims with the specialists they need for surgery, physical therapy, and other purposes.
*PTSD*Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a specific kind of brain injury that is common in large truck wrecks. Extreme stress triggers chemical changes in the brain. The effects of these changes include depression, anger, and flashbacks.
Like other kinds of brain injuries, PTSD is manageable. But the drugs are very strong, and rehabilitative therapy is often hit or miss.
Internal* Injuries*The same motion and force that causes these other injuries causes internal organs to grind and bump against each other. When that happens, the tiny abrasions bleed badly since these organs have no protective skin layers. Internal bleeding is often hard to spot and even harder to stop. As a result, many victims lose up to a fifth of their blood supply. Many people simply cannot survive that degree of blood loss.
*Connect With a Thorough King County Attorney*Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in Issaquah, contact Pivotal Law Group, PLLC. You have a limited amount of time to act.