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Car accident victims often face several injuries, some of which can lead to chronic pain, temporary disability, permanent disability, and other complications like Oklahoma back injury. If you have pain due to a back injury from an Oklahoma car accident, you may be able to pursue legal options against the negligent driver.
What Kind of Accident-Related Injury Can Happen to Your Back?
Accident victims may feel pain in their backs without knowing the source of the pain. Car accidents can affect the human body violently. Your body can experience forces and stress that cause irreparable damage to your tissues in a matter of seconds during a serious accident.
Some common back injuries after an accident include:
- Herniated discs
- Broken vertebrae
- Torn muscles, ligaments, and tendons
- Broken ribs
- Internal organ injuries
- Whiplash
- Spinal cord injuries
These injuries range in severity and treatment options. While muscle soreness usually requires rest and alternating heat or cold treatments, vertebral or disc injuries may require surgery and physical therapy. Spinal cord injuries can cause chronic pain, and a severed spinal cord could cause paraplegia of the legs or quadriplegia of all four limbs, depending on where the severance occurs.
How Do Accident Victims Pursue Claims With an Insurance Company in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma is an at-fault state, meaning that you would typically file the claim for your injuries and property damage to your vehicle with the negligent driver’s insurance company. However, you may also file a first-party claim with your own insurance company if you have certain benefits, including uninsured motorist coverage or medical payments coverage.
If you suffered a back injury from a car accident in Oklahoma, remember that the insurance company wants to pay as little as possible for your claim. It could deny your claim outright or try to justify that your claim is worth much less than it really is. When you file your claim with the insurance company, get your adjuster’s information to give to your accident lawyer.
Never agree to give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster. The adjuster will use anything they can to reduce the value of your claim. Instead, have your attorney contact the adjuster to answer their questions on your behalf.
Do You Need To Pursue Compensation for an Oklahoma Back Injury in Court?
If the insurance company won’t pay the appropriate value of your claim, you can pursue a lawsuit against the negligent driver who caused the accident and your injuries. You can pursue economic, non-economic, and punitive damages against the other driver, including:
- Medical bills
- Transportation expenses for medical appointments
- Lost wages due to time away from work
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
- Loss of consortium
The jury may award punitive damages in your case if they find that the negligent driver was particularly reckless, malicious, or intentional in their actions that led to the accident.
Oklahoma is a comparative negligence state. Ask your accident lawyer about how comparative negligence could affect your award in your case.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in Central Oklahoma
When you show signs of a back injury from an Oklahoma car accident, don’t wait to contact our law firm at Bryan Garrett, PLLC. Call us at 405-725-2661 or contact us online to schedule your free initial consultation.
