Our skulls may be fairly thick bones, but it does not take that hard of an impact to cause a serious life-changing brain injury. Such an injury can be irreversible and can have a great impact on an entire family. If this happens to you or a family member due to someone else’s negligence, you need a brain injury attorney on your side.
Sometimes the extent of injuries is not immediately clear, but there is a time limit to when you can file your suit. In Kentucky, you have one year to file. You may also file a suit if a family member has been killed as a result of a head or brain injury.
The Main Causes of Brain Injuries
According to the International Brain Injury Association, around 1 million people are treated for traumatic brain injuries each year in the United States. Of those, 230,000 are hospitalized and 50,000 people die.
The main causes of brain injuries are car accidents, falls, and violent crime.
Car Accidents
Motor vehicle accidents account for 50% of traumatic brain injuries. Teenagers and young men are the most likely to have these kinds of accidents with cars, or with motorcycles.
Motorcyclists are also often victims of brain injury when they are in an accident. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, wearing a helmet is 37% safer as far as preventing fatal brain injury for motorcyclists. This means that for every 100 deaths, 37 of them could have been prevented if the rider had worn a helmet.
States that require helmets for all motorcycle riders have a much lower fatality rate for motorcyclists involved in accidents.
Falls
In people over the age of 65, falls are the leading cause of brain injury. Half of the fatal falls that killed older people were due to serious brain injuries.
According to attorney, Jed Strong, a brain injury can manifest whether a fall is from a high distance (such as a ladder or down the stairs) or if it is a simple matter of a slip and fall. He cautions individuals to contact a doctor if the fall is on your head or your neck. Additionally, if, after a fall or any injury to your head, you are unconscious for several minutes (or even hours), it may indicate a traumatic brain injury. Other symptoms to keep in mind are headaches, seizures, vomiting, nausea, pupil dilation, drainage of clear fluid from the nose and/or ears.
Sport Injuries
Various sports activities can also cause traumatic brain injury. As has been more evident in recent years, football — particularly tackle football — carries a pretty serious risk of harm. It is especially serious for younger people whose brains are still developing, and as such, are more susceptible to harm. Other sports where high-impact injuries include
- Hockey
- Skateboarding
- Lacrosse
- Boxing
Soccer - Horseback Riding
- Skating
- Skiing
- Golfing
- ATV Riding
There may be varying risks depending on the sport you are playing, but any sport with high-impact injury risk will carry that brain damage risk. As such, you need to make sure you take all the necessary precautions. Ensure proper protection (particularly helmets) are worn.
Violence
Brain damage can also be caused by an act of violence. Babies, for instance, are all too often the victims of shaken baby syndrome in which the baby receives brain damage due to being violently shaken by someone, usually a parent. Other forms of domestic violence, such as violence against a spouse, can also result in brain damage. Other kinds of violence that could lead to a brain injury include blunt-force trauma, and being shot, among other things.
Who is Most Likely to Receive a Brain Injury
While a brain injury can occur to anyone. Statistics show that young adults, aged 15 to 24, are at particularly high risk for brain injury, and adults aged 60 or older are similarly at risk. As such, people in these age groups need to take greater care to ensure that they are protected.
Men are also at a higher risk than women of experiencing brain damage, considering men are more likely to be involved in activities that carry a risk of brain injury. For example, violent incidents are more likely to not only be perpetrated by men, but the victims thereof tend to be men as well. Men are also more likely to participate in high-impact sports and do dangerous jobs, both of which could lead to a traumatic brain injury.
Injuries can happen in a matter of seconds, and a person may never recover completely, even if the injury is not fatal. If someone was negligent and contributed to your accident, they should compensate you in some way. Often, a person with this type of injury is unable to pursue justice, and a family member has to do it for them.
If another party was at fault in an automobile accident, for instance, the insurance company may offer you a settlement that is far below what you should be getting. It is in your best interest to contact a brain injury attorney as soon as possible to make sure you get what you deserve.
This is extremely hard to do by yourself. You would have to know the law, and personal injury law is very complex. Lawyers have the training to take care of the business aspects of your case. They can negotiate a good settlement for you, or if need be, take the case to court. Most cases are settled out of court, but you need to know whether your attorney will take the case to court if it becomes necessary. Insurance companies are much more willing to negotiate a fair settlement if your attorney has a record of taking companies to court when negotiations fail.
If you have an automobile accident and another driver causes damage to your car, it is a simple matter of them reimbursing you for the cost of repairing a dented fender. A traumatic brain injury is much more complicated, and cannot be a simple matter of paying expenses. The impact that has on your life is not something that can be measured, so it takes a lot of research and knowledge of both medicine and law to determine what your injuries are actually worth.
Basically, to have a case, you must show that there was an injury and the extent of the injury. You will have to prove the other party was responsible for the accident. If a police report says the other driver was at fault in a car accident, that is solid evidence that you have a case. Many injuries are not that simple, which is why you need a good personal injury lawyer on your side.
You will also have to prove negligence, which is not always as easy as proving who caused an accident. In legal terms, a person has a responsibility to not put another person in a situation where they could be seriously injured – whether that means acting recklessly or causing a hazard to exist. That they either knew, or should have known, and did not do what they should have to avoid the accident, is negligence. It does not have to be an intentional act that caused the injury.
If you have been injured because of someone else’s negligence, you should contact a brain injury lawyer to discuss your case. The initial consultation is free, and your lawyer can help you determine whether you have a case or not. If the lawyer takes your case, he or she will be paid as part of the settlement that is won either through negotiation or the result of a trial.
