After a car collision, you may be more worried about having to deal with insurance companies and having your car fixed if you do not believe that you are hurt. The fact of the matter is that the first thing you have to do is see a medical professional before you take care of all the other things you have to do. There are four reasons for this, and we will examine them below:
1. Even a Slow-Speed Crash Results in Injuries
Your crash may have been minor, but you may still have injuries that need treatment. For example, you could have any one of several injuries after a slow-speed crash that can end up being very serious. The reason is that car collisions are always unexpected, and you may not be prepared to brace yourself for the crash before it occurs.
2. You May Be Injured Without Realizing It
It does not matter if the accident you were involved in was minor or major. With either one, you could have major injuries. Even if you believe that you were not hurt in the collision, major injuries may present themselves later. Minor injuries could also turn into major injuries in just a short amount of time.
After a collision, you will experience an adrenaline rush, and this adrenaline rush will prevent you from feeling the effects of your injuries. Whiplash, concussion, and damage to soft tissue are injuries that ordinarily do not show up at the time of the collision. It might even take several days for you to be aware of them.
3. Reduce the Severity of Your Injuries
If you fail to visit the emergency room after a collision, you may go home and not realize that you actually have fractures or internal damage that worsens as the days go by. The best time to treat these injuries is right after the collision, but this cannot happen if you refuse to go to the emergency room to find out if you have these types of injuries.
4. Your Personal Injury Attorney Needs Documentation of Your Minor Injuries
With a personal injury case, the at-fault party's insurance company will do whatever they need to do to make sure that they pay you as little money as possible. This means that you will need to make sure that you have extensive documentation of your minor injuries. When you go to the emergency room directly after a collision, the medical staff will create medical records that will show the court that the collision caused your injuries. If the at-fault driver's insurance company wins on this one point, you may not receive the monetary compensation that you deserve.
In addition to that, if you fail to have your minor injuries examined for days, the at-fault driver's insurance adjuster can argue that something else caused your injuries. You must ensure that the court can determine that your minor injuries are related to the car collision so that you can receive compensation for your lost wages, medical bills, and other expenses.
