Tragedy can strike at any time, and it only takes a few moments for your neck to snap after a rapid back-and-forth movement and have your life drastically changed forever.
Rear-end vehicular collisions commonly cause whiplash injuries. The symptoms of whiplash, also called neck strain or sprain, vary depending on the gravity of the vehicular crash. Either you feel better within weeks or you may suffer for months until years.
Being whiplashed may cause grave interference to multiple facets of your life. Thus, you must brace for impact and learn how to seek compensation.
Whiplash accidents
A finance website report revealed earlier this year that Washington is the second worst state to drive in by looking at relevant metrics, like road quality, traffic congestion and traffic death rate. Similarly, fatal crash rates from the Washington State Department of Transportation’s recent data showed that out of almost 5,000 fatalities since 2011, 559 deaths were in 2020 alone.
If your whiplash injuries were nonfatal, you might experience neck stiffness, headaches, dizziness, fatigue and loss of range in your neck movement. But if you sustained moderate to severe, even lethal, injuries requiring surgical intervention, here are common symptoms:
- Tinnitus or ringing in the ears
- Impaired concentration
- Blurred vision
- Difficulty sleeping
- Memory loss
As a pure comparative fault state, Washington law looks at your percentage of fault that will dictate if there will be a reduction to the damages you can recover. To prove fault, you have three years from the accident date to establish that a negligent driver breached their duty of care, causing you to incur injuries.
Further, following the Revised Code of Washington, any motor vehicle driver in the state must carry liability insurance known as the “25/50/10 coverage.” This insurance policy refers to $25,000 for another individual’s death or injuries, $50,000 for other people’s deaths or injuries and $10,000 for another individual’s damaged properties.
Recovering from the impact
You didn’t see your whiplash accident coming. But you have the power to control how you will recover physically, psychologically and financially from your situation. It won’t be an easy road, but you can choose to have a legal team you can rely on for the guidance you need.