Surviving a car, truck or motorcycle accident can involve more than just luck; age, physical stamina and pre-existing conditions can all be factors that influence the outcome of a severe automobile injury. Just as young children can be hurt in a car crash, older individuals and the elderly can be injured or killed in a serious traffic collision. This is not to say that young, healthy adults have super-human qualities over the other age groups, but their bodies may have a higher tolerance for pain and injury.
As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my legal staff have seen the effects that car and trucking-related wrecks have had on the old and infirm. It’s one thing to have a slip and fall accident at a nursing home; it’s a something quite different when an elderly man or woman receives a traumatic blow in an auto wreck. Roadway collisions can take a toll on these individuals and may send them to the hospital for the rest of their lives, depending on the victim’s age and the seriousness of their injuries.
Older individuals are hurt in all types of accidents every week in Baltimore, Rockville, the District and Annapolis. Those who are sent to the emergency room following a traffic accident may face an uncertain future, with broken bones and head injuries that may never heal sufficiently for that person to return home.
Because elderly car accident victims tend to mend much slower than their younger counterparts, it shouldn’t be surprising that extended hospital stays are commonplace, with the corresponding potential for complications, such as infection, pneumonia, cognitive issues and other life-threatening problems. Once out of the hospital, family members may not be able to help an older relative due to their own economic or work situation.
Spending time in a rehabilitation facility can introduce its own complications for an older patient, some of whom may lack the recuperative powers that will get them back home and back to a normal life before the car accident that caused the trouble in the first place. If they were injured in a road accident caused by a negligent driver, a qualified automobile accident lawyer should be consulted to better know what options are open to the victim and his or her family.
Not too long ago, three people were hurt in a two-car accident in Anne Arundel County. According to news reports the crash occurred along a stretch of Rte 2 in Edgewater, MD, on a Friday afternoon. Police reports indicate that two of the victims, a man and a woman who were apparently riding in one of the cars, were both in their 80s. The third victim, a 43-year-old female was operating a second car.
Information from the news articles was sketchy at best, however the reports indicate that the head-on collision occurred a little past 1pm. The force of the impact essentially destroyed both vehicles; a convertible Toyota and a Ford station wagon. Emergency responders arriving on the scene had to cut the roof off of the Ford in order to extract the victims from the damaged vehicle.
All three victims were flown by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment. The elderly female reportedly received the worst of the injuries, with fire officials stating that her injuries were life-threatening. The man in the same vehicle was hurt, however his injuries were said to be non-life-threatening. There was no information provide about the younger victim.
At the time of the news article, police were still in the process of investigating the crash. There was no mention of whether the accident may have been caused by human error or possibly some kind of mechanical problem with one of the cars involved.
3 injured in Route 2 wreck in Edgewater, HometownAnnapolis.com, January 14, 2012