Trucking is one of the most important components of the transportation industry despite having newer and faster transport solutions.
However, as they are one of the largest vehicles on the road amongst many smaller vehicles, it’s no surprise that many truck accidents happen every single day. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) latest traffic fatalities estimates report, 5,601 fatal crashes involving large trucks happened in 2021. This is a 20% increase from the previous year’s.
If you own a trucking business, drive trucks, or have a loved one involved in the industry, being informed is one of your best defenses. Find out more about truck accidents, and what you can do about trucking accident injuries.
8 Most Common Truck Accident Injuries
The main difference between truck accidents and other vehicular accidents is that they can more easily damage whatever – and whoever – they come across. In 2019’s truck accident statistics, an estimated 159,000 people encountered a truck accident injury. Truck accident victims can experience serious injuries, and in the worst case, death. These cases can be catastrophic and it may take years to recover from them.
The most common truck accident injuries include:
1. Burns
When truck and tractor-trailer accidents occur, explosions and fires can and do happen and people around the vehicles may suffer from burns, one of the most painful types of injuries. Friction burns may also occur when a passenger scrapes the car’s interior due to impact or when a person is ejected from the car and scrapes against the pavement.
Burns vary in intensity. In more horrific injuries, treatment can be a challenge, and restoration surgery may be required. Aside from plastic surgery, burns are also susceptible to infections, which might complicate cases.
2. Lacerations, Cuts, and Bruises
Some types of truck accident injuries are less intense than others. For instance, victims may have personal injury arising from impacts with auto frames, dash panels, sharp metal, and shattered glass.
Though these bruises, cuts, and wounds are not severe injuries, these still require medical attention and they may still come with permanent scars. In worse cases, facial lacerations and permanently disfiguring cuts may affect victims of these motor vehicle accidents.
3. Head and Brain Injuries
Among the scariest injuries a truck crash may bring is a traumatic brain injury. When trucking accidents result in significant damage to the brain’s tissues, a victim may suffer from seizures, physical impairments, cognitive impairments, or death.
But brain injuries can occur even without direct trauma to the head. What people should know is that these injuries are not immediately apparent. So, it is crucial to monitor victims of head injuries for the following symptoms, and take them to an emergency room as soon as possible.
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Blurred vision
- Confusion
- Difficulty concentrating
- Loss of consciousness
- Memory loss
- Nausea
- Persistent headaches
- Slurred speech
- Sensitivity to lights and sounds
4. Back and Neck Injuries
When a truck crashes into a passenger car, the impact is strong enough to take a life. For those who survive these fatal crashes, it’s often common to sustain muscle strains, back tissue or neck tissue damage, and severe injuries in their tendons and ligaments. In worst cases, this problem can lead to dislocated discs in the spine.
When one or more of these injuries occur, the victim of the trucking accident will not be able to return to work and do regular daily activities.
5. Spinal Cord Injuries
Having a spinal cord injury is highly possible in crashes involving large trucks. This health concern may possibly result in partial, temporary, or complete paralysis of the torso and the rest of the lower body.
The spinal cord is responsible for relaying information throughout the body. If a truck driver, car passenger, or civilian injures their spine, the nerves will have trouble relaying messages from the mind to the rest of the body.
The problem with this is that spinal cord injuries don’t really come with an easy fix. Most of the time, it takes years of treatment — from physical therapy, surgeries, and the use of adaptive devices for the victim to do their everyday activities.
6. Internal Injuries
Even if a person escapes traumatic brain injuries, there is still a possibility that the blunt force trauma will affect their internal organs. When this happens, a truck accident victim may have bladder, abdominal, spleen, kidney, liver, or pancreas injuries.
Any of these problems are difficult to treat and might require countless surgeries and a long time in the hospital for complete healing.
7. Broken Bones
Broken bones may seem like an injury that will heal naturally, but this is not the case. There are fractures that require a series of expensive surgeries to complete. In some instances, the senior injury would lead to implanting screws, pins, and other metal objects just to help the body hold everything together.
When bones get broken, some of them get displaced. Aside from broken bones possibly fracturing the skin, their displacement may also cause internal bleeding, nerve damage, and infection.
8. Amputation
Depending on the intensity of the injury, the impacted victims may require amputation. Amputation is often required when a truck crash leads to a person, or a particular body part, being crushed by the impact. Whatever the cause may be, amputation is a treatment that will change a person’s life forever.
For amputation, a person has to receive medical treatment for the rest of their life. Aside from treatment, devices like prosthetics are needed to do daily tasks. In worse scenarios, a person may need caretakers to cater to their daily needs. With the medical costs for this injury, extensive effort from a legal team is required.
What to Do After A Truck Accident
Have you fallen victim to a truck accident and have sustained injuries? The first thing to do is to obtain medical attention. As you have to cover medical bills and other costs, you should look for an experienced truck accident attorney to help you right away.
With the best truck accident attorneys, you will get the legal representation you need to obtain both physical and financial recovery.
For all types of truck crash injuries, contact us at The Reeves Law Group. Our team of personal injury lawyers will help you or your injured loved one get compensation to help you recover from the damages you encountered. Call us at (213) 271-9318 for a free case evaluation.
