If you have back pain after a car accident, you should seek medical attention right away. A full medical exam from your doctor will identify any injuries from the crash, including those you may not realize you suffered. Once you have received medical care, you can start looking into your options for taking legal action and pursuing damages. A car accident lawyer can help you with this process.
At the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC, we help car accident victims in Virginia recover compensation for their injuries. Our lead attorney, Jim Parrish, spent years representing insurance companies. He now uses the information he gained in that role to fight the same companies on your behalf, helping you recover fair damages after a crash.
For a free, no-risk consultation with a member of our team, call 571-229-1800 today.
Seek Medical Attention Right Away
The first thing you should do if you feel any pain – especially back pain – after a car accident is to seek medical attention right away. In fact, it is a good idea to get checked out by a doctor after a car accident even if you feel fine. There are several reasons to do so:
Treating Your Injuries
The quicker you get checked out, the earlier you can treat any injuries you have from the crash. With many injuries, including head and spinal injuries, early treatment is key to having the best chance of a full recovery. When you wait for days or weeks to seek medical care, you allow the injury to set in and, in some cases, worsen, making it more difficult to treat when you finally do get checked.
Discovering Any Hidden Injuries
Just because you do not look or feel hurt does not guarantee you escaped the crash unscathed. A medical exam can detect any hidden injuries you are not aware you have. Sometimes it is the worst injuries that wait several days or even longer before they manifest. But a doctor can often discover such injuries right away, enabling you to treat them before they become a problem.
Connecting Your Injuries to Your Car Accident
Connecting any injuries – whether minor or severe – to your car accident helps you recover damages from the other driver and their insurer. The longer you wait to seek medical care, the more tenuous this connection becomes, and the easier it is for the insurance company to cast doubt on whether it was the accident or something else that caused your injuries. It is best to get checked right after your crash, or at the very least, the same day that you start feeling back pain.
Take Legal Action to Recoup Damages
Once a medical exam has confirmed you have injuries, you can start the process of taking legal action to recover damages. If another driver was at fault for the crash, he is the one who should pay the costs you have incurred.
Compensation for Your Car Accident Injuries
You could be eligible to recover several damages for your car accident injuries. The specific compensation you may receive depends on the nature of the crash and the severity of your injuries but may include:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering and inconvenience
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
Comparative vs. Contributory Negligence in Virginia
While most states operate under a comparative negligence system, Virginia is one of a handful of states that use a contributory negligence system to assign car accident liability. Contributory negligence presents extra challenges when trying to recover damages because the other driver and their insurer may try to take away your right to compensation by claiming that you were partly at fault for the crash. A car accident lawyer can anticipate any such challenges and can draw up a plan to counter them, helping you preserve the ability to recover damages.
How a Lawyer Can Help
If you are ready to pursue legal action for your car accident injuries in Virginia, a lawyer can help. They can sit down with you, discuss the details of your case, outline the damages you might recover, and file a claim against the other driver and their insurer. Your lawyer can also investigate your accident and gather evidence, drawing a clear and compelling link between the other driver’s actions and your injuries.
Call 571-229-1800 Today for a Free Car Accident Case Evaluation With the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC
The car accident legal team at the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC, is eager to help you recover damages for your car accident injuries. We can hold the other driver liable and aggressively pursue compensation. Once you have taken care of your medical needs, call our office and schedule a free, no-risk case evaluation: 571-229-1800.
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