Vehicle Accident Lawyers in Missouri

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10 percent of all emergency room visits are for vehicle accident injuries. Among the most common vehicle accident injuries are strains and sprains of the back, spinal disorders, and bruising.
While many injured people are treated and released, some end up being admitted to the hospital, or undergoing emergency surgery. For severe injuries, the associated medical costs can be significant.
If you’ve been injured in a vehicle crash and believe the other driver was at fault, you might be entitled to compensation that could help cover your medical costs and lost wages. Call the Columbia MO personal injury attorneys at Bley & Evans to request a free case consultation: 1-844-443-8385.

Fractures in Crashes

Some fractures that occur in vehicle accidents can be complex and lead to other health complications. One such injury is pilon fracture, which is a fracture at the base of the shinbone (tibia) and, usually, the other lower leg bone (fibula). This fracture occurs only under an extremely high-energy impact.

According to St. Luke’s Health System, in recent years, hospitals have seen more car crash injury victims with pilon fractures, because more people are surviving high-speed crashes since airbags became standard in vehicles. Severe breaks usually require surgery, and complications from this injury include infection, blood clots, and nerve damage. Sometimes, bones don’t heal properly, and subsequent surgeries may be necessary.

Fractures to the small bones of the hands and feet may require the insertion of screws to keep bones in place, and fractures of the pelvis or rib cage can be serious enough to sever arteries or puncture organs. Often, a serious fracture will involve physical therapy as part of the recovery process.

Spinal Injuries

The spine consists of small bones called vertebrae that protect the long bundle of nerves known as the spinal cord. In a vehicle accident, both the vertebrae and spinal cord may be damaged, but each can be injured independently of the other.

Car accidents are the top cause of spinal cord injuries (SCI), the severity of which depends on where in the spine they occur. At lower levels of the spine, an injury may cause numbness in the feet or legs, or partial or total paralysis of lower extremities. Injuries that occur at the top of the spinal cord are usually fatal, and in the lower neck, a spinal cord injury is likely to interfere with vital organ function and cause partial or total paralysis in all four limbs.

People suffering from SCI may require long stays in the hospital, surgery, and rehabilitative care. The damage to the spinal cord cannot be undone, but rehabilitation does help many people recover at least somewhat. Some people, however, do not recover, and they may be completely dependent on others for care for the rest of their lives.

Brain Injury

Although airbags have reduced the number of crash-related brain injuries, they still occur, especially in high-speed and side-impact crashes.

A brain injury can occur even when there’s no direct blow to the head. For example, in a side-impact crash, a driver’s head may accelerate violently toward the center of the car, where there’s no airbag to stop that movement. This type of movement can cause the brain to hit the inside of the skull, which could result in a mild brain injury, called concussion, or a more severe brain injury.

Diffuse axonal injury is a term that describes widespread brain damage, resulting from the shearing of brain tissue within the skull. This type of injury, depending on which areas of the brain are damaged, can interfere with motor skills, speech, memory, bodily function, facial recognition – in fact, doctors may be unable to predict all the ways that this injury will affect a person.
The brain does have some ability to heal itself, as researchers determined in 2013.
With time, people who have suffered injuries to specific regions of the brain may begin to recover, but it can take weeks, months or several years. Some effects of brain injury may remain, however, and leaving some people to suffer lifelong disability as a result of their injury.

Help for Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries Victims

Many of the injuries that occur in vehicle crashes cause lingering effects or health complications that can be costly to treat. After an accident, an insurance company may attempt to offer a settlement to injury victims that fails to account for their future medical care and lost wages. So, if you’ve been injured in a vehicle crash, you need a personal injury attorney on your side to ensure you are adequately compensated.

To request a free consultation with the Columbia personal injury attorneys at Bley & Evans, fill out our online contact form, or call us at 1-844-443-8385.

Recent posts

Guide to Missouri Wrongful Death Actions / In Missouri, a civil suit for wrongful death is a statutory action authorized by R.S.Mo. § 537.080, 537.085, and 537.090. The statutes created a new cause of action where none existed at common law. In other words, a wr...

Early Winter Weather / Early winter weather struck mid-Missouri late last month. While temperatures remained near 20 degrees with wind chills in the single digits, snow moved into the region. The City of Columbia preemptively deployed a 16 man...

Beware of Deer on Missouri Roads / The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is warning Missouri motorists of deer on roads during the peak months of October and November. MoDOT reported car and deer collisions result in almost 200 deaths and $1.1...

Back to School Road Safety / According to the United States Department of Transportation, 50 millions students will be attending America’s public elementary and secondary schools this fall. Included in that figure is 35 million kids who will be at...

Tips to Prepare for Summer Travel / The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently released its list of Cool Tips for a Safe Summer Trip. Following these tips could help avoid a breakdown or even a highway collision. First, before you embark o...

Work Zone Safety: Buckle up Phone Down / The Missouri Department of Transportation wants to remind motorists to buckle up and put phones down. As warmer weather arrives in the region, work zones will become more common on the state’s highway system. While wor...

Missouri Motorist Insurance / According to the Missouri Department of Revenue, the Show Me State requires that all motorists keep liability insurance coverage. Liability insurance is designed to indemnify the policyholder when his or her actions caus...

Aviation Consumer Protection / The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released a new website of the Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD). The ACPD receives and reviews consumer complaints directed at airlines. The website contains a wealt...

4 Reasons a Personal Injury Attorney Helps Your Case / One of the most well-known sentiments in the legal field is that someone who represents themselves in court has a fool for a client. One of the central ideas behind this axiom is that even attorneys typically have the go...

Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week / The Federal Highway Administration’s second annual Traffic Incident Response Awareness Week runs from November 13 – November 19. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported a 7.2% increase in ...

Seatbelt Usage on the Rise as MoDOT Reminds Motorists to Drive Safely Around Big Trucks / The Missouri Safety Center and the University of Central Missouri recently released the results of the 2017 Missouri Seat Belt Usage Survey. The results showed that more Missourians are making the smart choice to buckle ...

Annual Fatal Traffic Crash Data / Last week the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its annual report of fatal traffic crashes for calendar year 2016. The NHTSA collected information from ...

Pavement Blow-ups / Columbia has had its first pavement blow-up of the year, according to Barry Dalton, a public information officer for the Columbia Public Works Department. Eastbound Bernadette Drive was closed down for over 24 hours earl...

Takata Airbag Recall / The deaths of eleven people have spurred the expansion of the Takata airbag recall. The recall now includes some 28 million airbag inflators in the United States alone. However, only 8 million bags have been replaced, ac...

Bill in Missouri Legislature May Limit Consumer Protections for Plaintiffs / A bill currently in the Missouri Legislature threatens to limit consumer protections in Missouri. The proposal, Senate Bill 5, specifically changes current laws relating to unlawful merchandising practices, class actio...

Laptop Battery Pack Recall Expanded / Toshiba has recently expanded a recall of Panasonic lithium-ion battery packs that were installed on over 40 models of Toshiba Satellite laptops. The original recall was announced in March 2016, but was expanded in Janu...

Five Injured after Multiple Vehicles Collide on I-70 / Snow and ice once again contributed a number of accidents in early January in the Mid-Missouri area. The Columbia Daily Tribune reported that five people were injured in a four-vehicle crash on I-70 near Columbia on Janu...

Snow and Ice Create Dangerous Road Conditions in Mid-Missouri / Snow and ice over the last week has caused dangerous road conditions in Columbia and surrounding areas. Since Friday morning, nearly 400 accidents have been reportedly caused by icy conditions. Additionally, first respon...

MoDOT to Missouri Motorists: Move Over for First Responders / On average, emergency crews working for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) respond to 5,500 traffic accidents per month. Every year, hundreds of these emergency responders, including fire fighters, law enf...

Semi-Truck Accidents Increasingly Common in Missouri / How new and proposed rules may decrease accidents. According to a study conducted by the Missouri Department of Transportation in 2011, accidents involving commercial motor vehicles made up 9.2% off all traffic crashe...

Missouri Strikes Down Red-Light Camera Ordinances / Earlier this week, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down local ordinances regarding the use of red-light cameras in St. Louis, Kansas City, and St. Peters. While the Court did not ultimately decide the legality of using...

10-Year Statute of Repose for Medical Malpractice / Missouri Supreme Court Upholds 10-Year Statute of Repose for Medical Malpractice Claims Earlier this year, The Supreme Court of Missouri affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a medical malpractice claim after a heal...

Flooding Roadways / Flooded Roadways Extremely Dangerous to Motorists Due to the high amount of rain in the past few weeks, many lakes, rivers, and streams across Missouri have seen an increase in water levels and flooding. Because flooded...

Takata Airbag Recall / What you should know and what owners of recalled vehicles should do As of June 12, faulty deployment mechanisms in airbags produced by the Japanese supplier Takata have caused seven fatalities, as well as over one hundr...

Best Practices to Prevent Workplace Accidents / Merriam-Webster's definition of accident is, "an unfortunate event resulting especially from carelessness or ignorance." The first example of the word used in a sentence is, "He was injured in an accident at work." Why d...

Viking Gas Range Recall / Hazard: The ranges’ ovens can turn on by themselves, posing a burn hazard to consumers. If you or someone you know has been injured by a Viking Gas Range, contact us immediately. You may be entitled to compensati...

What to Do After a Car Accident / Get your injuries treated If you have injuries at the accident scene, do not drive yourself away. Have yourself fully evaluated and treated by a medical professional. Document your injuries It will be much eas...

Work Safety Guide / The backbone of a safe working environment is a proper injury and accident prevention program that incorporates the aforementioned practices and encourages employees to take safety measures seriously. As an employer, it'...