Being involved in a motor vehicle collision can be a traumatic experience, but when that collision involves a taxi, there are additional factors to consider. Taxi accidents often result in injuries like whiplash or chronic pain due to the force and suddenness of the impact. If you’ve been injured in a taxi accident, understanding key points about liability and settlement can help you get fair compensation for your injuries and suffering.
The Impact of Whiplash and Chronic Pain
Whiplash and chronic pain are common injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions, including those involving taxis. Whiplash occurs when the head is suddenly jerked back and forth, straining the neck muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Symptoms include neck pain and stiffness, reduced mobility, headaches, dizziness, and more. The soft tissues can continue generating pain signals long after the initial injury, leading to chronic pain.
Chronic pain from whiplash and other collision injuries can linger for months or even years. The constant pain signals being transmitted from the damaged tissues can cause sensitization, where the nervous system gets overstimulated. Even after the injured area heals, the nerves continue firing pain signals. This results in ongoing headaches, neck pain, arm or shoulder pain, and other symptoms.
Both whiplash and chronic pain can severely impact one’s quality of life. They may prevent someone from working, caring for family, or enjoying daily activities. These debilitating injuries underscore the importance of thorough documentation and aggressive legal advocacy following a taxi accident.
Other Injuries Sustained from Taxi Collisions
In addition to whiplash and chronic pain, taxi accidents can cause a range of serious injuries. These include concussions and traumatic brain injuries from hitting the head on impact. Broken bones are also common, especially in the ribs, arms, legs, or hips from the force of the collision. Car accident injuries may also include lacerations from broken glass or debris. Internal organ damage can occur from the impact or seat belt. Soft tissue injuries to muscles, ligaments and tendons can happen as well.
Establishing Liability
In taxi accident cases, liability often falls on the taxi driver. However, situations differ and determining who the at-fault party is depends on the specific circumstances. If the taxi driver was distracted, speeding, ran a light, or broke other traffic laws, they would likely hold primary liability. But if another driver hit the taxi, liability may be shared or fall more on the other driver.
The police report from the accident will be important for determining liability initially. Then your attorney can collect additional evidence like footage from the taxi camera, witness statements, and more to clearly build your case.
Documenting Your Injuries
Whiplash and chronic headaches or pain often result from the sudden impact of a collision, even at low speeds. To receive fair compensation, you’ll need to extensively document how these injuries are affecting your life. This includes things like:
- Visiting doctors frequently to record symptoms and get referrals for specialists
- Describing how your injuries limit your daily activities or prevent you from working
- Tracking medical expenses and costs associated with your injuries
- Taking photos and videos to display visible symptoms like limited mobility
Thoroughly documenting your injuries provides critical evidence for receiving damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other costs.
Negotiating a Settlement
Once liability is established and your injuries are well documented, we can negotiate a settlement or take the claim to court if needed. Many taxi accident cases settle before going to trial since the evidence usually clearly indicates fault and extensive injury records exist.
The initial settlement offer is generally low, but your taxi accident lawyer can leverage the evidence to negotiate a fairer offer. Settlements should cover current and future medical expenses, lost income and benefits, decreased earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other applicable damages like property loss.
If a reasonable settlement can’t be reached through negotiation, filing a personal injury lawsuit through us may be the next step to get you the maximum compensation for your chronic pain, whiplash, and other injuries.
Recovering from a taxi accident can be very difficult, especially when injuries like whiplash or chronic pain persist. But consulting with one of our qualified personal injury attorneys can help you build a strong claim for compensation so you can focus on healing. With the right evidence and legal support, you can seek a fair settlement for your taxi collision injuries.
If you have been injured in a taxi collision, visit our office at: 445 S Figueroa Street Suite 2520 Los Angeles, CA 90071
Call now for a free and confidential consultation on (213) 593-9095.
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December 23, 2024