Automobile wrecks, not to mention pedestrian-car collisions and motorcycle accidents, can inflict serious bodily injuries to the driver and occupants of a motor vehicle. Of the many and various injuries that victims of traffic accident experience — such as bruised tissue, mild to serious cuts and abrasions, and broken bones – it is safe to say that head injuries can be some of the most severe. As personal injury attorneys in the Baltimore area, I and my staff of legal professionals know how easily even the most basic of car or truck crashes can leave one or more of the victims fighting for their lives.
As we have said before, head injuries that involve brain trauma can put a person on a path to long-term disability and a life filled with pain and financial difficulty for the victim’s family members. When we talk about traumatic brain injuries, we are referring to those events that impart a blow to the head sufficient enough to actually disrupt the various functions of the brain itself.
Based on information provided by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), more than one an a half million individuals currently suffer from some form of traumatic brain injury the symptoms of which can be particularly glaring, such as short-term memory loss, difficulty forming words or coherent sentences, as well as the inability to follow basic instructions.
As Maryland auto and trucking accident attorneys, we have seen many victims of bad car accidents and heard numerous stories of difficult recoveries from the side effects of traumatic brain injuries. Such events result in mental as well as physical symptoms, including but not limited to balance issues, impaired memory, language and cognitive problems, and even a reduction in physical strength and endurance. Under certain circumstances a victim can succumb to complications from such injuries and die at an all-too-early age.
While there has been a great deal of discussion over the past several years on the health issues caused by head injuries from football, hockey and bicycling accidents, auto accidents continue to be a constant source of closed-head trauma for the rest of the population, at least those who driver or ride in automobiles and other passenger vehicles. Stories abound in the news about people sent to the hospital with bad concussions and other traumatic injuries to the brain.
Take the following news stories, which we ran across a while back regarding two traffic wrecks in Anne Arundel County. In one instance, a 60-year-old man was serious hurt in a collision on Rte 4 near Lower Pindell Rd. Based on police reports, the victim was found by emergency responders trapped in his car. No mention was made as to the cause of the incident, however if this was a single-vehicle accident there may have been driver error involved or, perhaps, a failure of the car’s steering, braking or suspension systems. According to the news article, the man was rescued by county firefighters and paramedics, who then took him to the trauma center at Prince George’s Hospital.
In a second bad traffic accident, a 56-year-old driver was discovered to be in full trauma after EMS crews had arrived at the scene of a crash along a stretch of Veterans Highway on a Tuesday afternoon. Based on a news report, the victim was operating his pickup truck along the highway in Severna Park, MD, not far from Benfield Blvd. when his vehicle apparently collided with the rear of another passenger car.
Paramedics arriving at the crash site reportedly found the man unconscious and not breathing. After apparently rendering immediate aid to the victim, emergency personnel transported the man to Baltimore Washington Medical Center. Fortunately for the second driver who was rear-ended, that individual was not seriously injured and reportedly received only minor injuries.
Man Suffers Serious Injuries in Route 4 Crash, Patch.com, October 3, 2012
Seriously Injured Man Hospitalized After Crash, Patch.com, October 2, 2012