Low-Impact Collisions Can Cause Serious Injuries – Even Insurance Companies Agree!

We’ve written at length on this blog about the surprising extent to which low-speed and low-impact auto crashes can cause serious injuries to the drivers inside. Despite the fact that, from the outside, a car might not seem to have incurred serious damage, the passengers inside can be left badly wounded and permanently injured due to their bodies taking the majority of the force from the impact.

Well, it’s one thing to hear all of this information from personal injury attorneys; it’s quite another to hear it from the very insurance companies that so often try to reject claims based on this very idea!

State Farm, one of the largest auto insurance companies in North America, penned a blog directed at its policyholders, providing some tips to them on what to do and what not to do in the case of a low-impact collision. One of the most damning things State Farm revealed evidenced itself in them writing “even low-impact collisions can cause injuries, some not appearing until days after the accident.” See picture from State Farm’s website above. Ironically, our personal injury lawyers, backed-up by medical professionals, have been arguing this point for years, only to have State Farm and other insurance giants disregard this evidently irrefutable fact.

In advising their policyholders, State Farm is sure to stick with the facts. When it comes to other people, who happen to be injured due to the negligent driving of their policyholders, the insurance company conveniently puts out of its minds the knowledge that it passes-on to its own customers. Luckily for us, the Internet is characterized by permanence, and so we’d like to share with you some of the wonderful tips about what to do and what not to do following a low-impact car crash that State Farm found worthy of being shared with its clientele.

Do take photographs. In addition to exchanging insurance information with the other driver, it’s important to take photographs of the scene of the accident; take photographs of all cars involved in the crash, focusing in particular on the points of impact. While they may not seem particularly serious on camera, medical experts are able to testify as to how an impact at a certain point on the car can affect the bodies of the passengers inside.

Do contact the police. It’s important to always contact the police after even a low-speed or low-impact collision. The police will generate a police report, which will be used during the claims process. Without this official report, the subsequent conversations often disintegrate into a game of unsubstantiated finger pointing.

Don’t assume there aren’t injuries. This is a crucial point, and one that State Farm is clear about. Just because you might assume there were no injuries five seconds after the accident doesn’t mean that you won’t wake up tomorrow with an aching back or a throbbing neck due to the accident. For a variety of reasons, including the fact that post-impact anxiety can inhibit your ability to identify abnormalities in your physical condition, injuries from low-impact collisions often go unnoticed for days or even weeks.

We’re glad that State Farm had the decency to act, “like a good neighbor,” and share this vital information with its customers; hopefully this is evidence of a change in attitude, so that when our clients are injured in low-impact collisions caused by their policyholders, they won’t reject the claim on the basis that there wasn’t a tremendous amount of damage to the exterior of the vehicle.

If you’ve been injured in an auto accident due to the recklessness or negligence of another, please contact our experienced Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Ft. Lauderdale personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg for a free consultation. You can reach us by calling 561-266-9191 or by e-mailing us at daronberg@build.simple.biz. We look forward to assisting you!

Views: 2