Through our many articles on personal injuries, we have discussed the most common and talked about injuries one could suffer from in a car accident, and the consequences they may have in your day-to-day living. We’ve talked about injuries such as broken bones, head injuries, internal bleeding, et cetera. We’ve also discussed your rights as a victim of a car crash, and the possibility of getting compensation for your bodily injuries and property damage.
In this article, we will be discussing an injury from a car crash that is not talked about as often, and that is whiplash injuries.
If you’ve been in a car crash in the Florida area, and suffered a whiplash injury because of it, contact a personal injury lawyer in Florida and find out how you can get redress from such an injury.
What is a Whiplash Injury?
According to Johns Hopkins, a whiplash injury is an injury to the neck caused by the neck being forcibly bent forward, then backward, or vice versa. It is a poorly understood injury that usually involves the muscles, discs, nerves, and tendons, in your neck. While they are often the result of rear-end car collisions involving the sudden acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle you are in, they can also result from sports injuries. As previously mentioned, whiplash injuries are poorly understood and can often be mistaken as symptoms for other conditions, and will have to take a trip to your healthcare provider to have it properly diagnosed.
As per the same source, its symptoms include the 
following: neck pains, neck stiffness, shoulder pains, lower back pains, dizziness, arm or hand pains, arm or hand numbness, ringing in your ears, blurred vision, concentration or memory problems, irritability, sleeplessness, and tiredness. Your healthcare provider will diagnose if you have a whiplash injury by conducting any one of the following tests: X-ray, MRI, or CT-scan. Once properly diagnosed, your doctor can then determine your treatment plan based on the following factors: your age, overall health and medical history, extent of your injury, tolerance for certain medications, procedures, or therapies, your expectations, and your opinions or preferences.
Depending on the above-mentioned factors, your doctor may recommend any one or a combination of the following treatments: ice application for the first 24 hours, cervical collar, gentle, active movement after the first 24 hours, NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, physical therapy, osteopathic manipulation. Most whiplash injuries can recover within a few weeks to a few months, but in some cases, they may take more than a few months to recover. If your injury lasts longer than that, you may have to further consult with your doctor.
What is the common Whiplash Lawsuit Settlement Amount?
Car crashes in Florida are quite common, meaning injuries such as whiplash and other injuries are quite common too. Just like with any other injuries that you sustain in a car accident, you can get compensated for a whiplash injury that results from such.
Getting this type of injury can cost you quite a high amount of money for trips to the emergency room, consultations with a doctor, hospital stay, and the medication and therapy needed for you to heal. But how much exactly are you entitled to? What is the average whiplash settlement amount and what would be considered a fair settlement amount for a whiplash injury? Is there a fair amount in such settlements? Or is there a typical amount to be expected when settling a whiplash claim?
Determining exactly how much one can get in a whiplash injury can be quite difficult to answer as each case varies from the others. However, in assessing how much damages you may claim from the other party or the insurance company (especially if you want to file a lawsuit and claim a fair settlement amount), you will have to prove the economic damages you sustained by reason of the accident and the resulting injuries. Not only that, because Florida is a state that allows for accident victims to claim for non-economic damages, you may also include this in your claim as well. We have discussed in previous articles what economic and non-economic damages are. Economic damages refer to the compensation you may claim for objectively verifiable monetary losses. These include:
- Medical bills and other treatment costs – Getting injured, however minor, can be quite costly even if you have insurance coverage. Depending on the severity of your injury you may require surgery to treat your injuries as well as physical therapy post-care to get you back into your previous form. The claim for medical bills and other treatments costs covers both present and future bills related to the injury.
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity – Recovering from an injury can take weeks, or even up to several months. Because of this, it is possible that you will be missing time from work. A prolonged absence from work means that your employer may deduct from your salary all of the time you missed from work. If the effects of your whiplash injuries on you are so severe, that you can no longer perform tasks at work that you are required to do then your case may fall under loss of earning capacity.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, include pain and suffering and emotional anguish. These non-economic damages are harder to define than economic damages, but they include pain and suffering from sleepless nights, and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the accident and your injuries therefrom.
So to answer the question regarding the whiplash settlement amount you’re bound to get in such accidents, especially when you file a lawsuit in court, the answer will always be “It depends.” There is no one-size-fits-all scenario or amount. It will be difficult to pinpoint an average, fair or typical payout in a whiplash injury settlement claim. It will depend on the evidence you will present—which only an experienced and expert lawyer can help you do.
To help your lawyer, you would need to collect evidence of receipts from your expenses, as well as evidence with regards to the income potential you may have lost because of your whiplash injury. You may also need to see an expert psychiatrist to prove that you are entitled to damages from mental health disorders you may have suffered. These will all help determine the whiplash settlement amount, should you decide to pursue a lawsuit.
Call a Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you or a loved one have experienced a car accident and a whiplash injury, and you’re interested in filing a lawsuit so you can acquire (or recover) whiplash lawsuit settlement amount, you need to schedule a consultation with a personal injury lawyer. Get in touch with us today. The consultation is absolutely free and you pay nothing to meet with an experienced personal injury lawyer and discuss your case. You may have questions or concerns that you want answered. Your lawyer will want to review your case and get an idea of what it may be worth. He can also map a plan of action for how best to proceed.
Read more: Whiplash Injuries in Fort Walton Beach Florida Attorney Tips