- March 30, 2019
One of the most common car accident injuries is whiplash. You see it all the time on tv and in the movies. A plaintiff walks into a courtroom with a neck brace on. They claim that they were hurt in a car accident and have whiplash.
In these movies, the plaintiffs are asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars for their injury. Their lawyer wins their case and they brag about how much their award was for. In real life, it doesn’t work this way.
Whiplash is actually a very minor injury. It’s caused when your neck stretches too far in any one direction. This is why it often happens in a car accident. The impact of the collision forces your head to jostle back and forth.
Whiplash is such a minor injury that it often isn’t worth more than a few thousand dollars in a lawsuit. It’s usually only one of a plaintiff’s injuries. Very few lawyers would go to trial on a case where the only injury is whiplash. It just wouldn’t be worth his time or yours.
How Does Your Baton Rouge Car Accident Attorney Prove Whiplash?
The biggest problem with whiplash is that there is no medical way to prove you have it. It’s not going to show up on an x-ray or MRI. There is no way for a doctor to prove you actually suffered whiplash. The only thing he can do is testify that, based on your complaints, he believes you have whiplash.
Whiplash may not set in for a few hours or days following an accident. It feels like a very stiff neck and can be somewhat painful. It typically isn’t something that would prevent you from going to work unless your job is very physical. However, some people aren’t able to work with whiplash.
Because whiplash is so hard to prove, it’s really important that you seek medical treatment immediately following your accident. If you don’t go to the hospital, there is no way to prove that you were injured. If you go back days after the accident, the defendant is going to claim you were hurt some other way.
A Baton Rouge Car Accident Attorney Handles Several Whiplash Cases Every Year
Most accident claims involve more than just whiplash. A Baton Rouge car accident attorney handles dozens of accident cases very year. And, many of them will include whiplash injuries. However, they also usually involve other injuries.
Whiplash only lasts a few days or weeks. In most cases, you’re feeling better within a week. A doctor will usually only prescribe mild painkillers and perhaps a neck brace. There are no medical procedures that help whiplash, and there is no physical therapy involved.
Because the injury itself heals so quickly, it’s not worth a ton of money in a car accident case. The average whiplash claim in Louisiana is worth, at most, $5,000. It’s not life changing money, and most claims settle out of court. It doesn’t make sense to spend more money on trial than you’d get for your entire claim.
Call and Speak with a Baton Rouge Car Accident Attorney
If you get in a car accident, the first thing you need to do is seek medical treatment. Don’t wait until the next day. First of all, you need to make sure you’re okay. Second of all, you need medical documentation of your injuries. Your Baton Rouge car accident attorney is going to need to rely on this documentation to prove your case.
There is no way to prove you have whiplash other than to get your doctor to confirm the diagnosis. He can do this through an affidavit, he can testify in court, or he can confirm it in a deposition. Either way, it’s the only way to show you were hurt.
Your Baton Rouge car accident attorney will file a claim against the other driver’s insurance company. If they won’t pay your claim, he’ll file a lawsuit against all the parties involved. He’ll do what it takes you to get you the compensation you deserve.
Call and schedule your free initial consultation today. Your experienced Baton Rouge car accident attorney will review your case and let you know what it may be worth. He’ll explain how the legal process works. He’ll gather the evidence to prove your claim and get you paid.
The consultation is free and you pay nothing until you settle your case. The insurance company will have lawyers working for them and you should too!
