Lawsuit Info Center / Car Accident Lawsuits / Back Injury Car Accidents Settlement Guide

Back Injury Car Accidents Settlement Guide

When you are involved in a traffic collision, the resulting injuries can devastate your life. This is especially true when a car accident causes a back injury, which can be excruciatingly painful and expensive to properly treat. Car accidents are one of the leading causes of back injuries and often have long lasting effects, sometimes for the remainder of your life. According to the Mayo Clinic, car accidents account for around 35% of all back injuries each year. When you have a back injury caused by a car accident, you are left wondering what to do next, and if it’s possible to receive back injury compensation.

Depending on the severity, back injuries can lead to extensive treatment, therapy, and possibly surgical intervention. Lost wages due to missed work can cause normal household expenses to seem insurmountable, not to mention the medical bills you are now responsible for. If you have a permanent injury, you may never be able to recover the lost income, leaving you confused and left with few options.

We’ve put together the factors determining the amount of a back injury car accident settlement and how it might affect your case. There are several examples of verdicts and settlements as well as critical information we hope you find helpful so you can get the most from any back injury claim you make.

Factors Affecting Settlement Amounts

Back injury settlements after car accidents can be worth a lot of money. You need to consider how the accident has affected your work and the overall impact on your daily life. Here’s what factors impact the average settlement amount for car accident back injuries.

Time Away From Work

Back injuries require time to rest and heal, meaning work is likely limited or out of the question. A back injury may also lead to a permanent loss of abilities related to your job.Carefully consider these details for your settlement. Whether this was time away from work due to immediate treatment and recovery or potential loss of wages because of a decreased capacity or permanent disability, be aware of how your injury impacts your ability to work as this is an essential part of a car accident back injury settlement.

Strength of Your Case

Liability is a huge part of determining how much money you’re entitled to. If the other driver is completely at fault, then your case is likely a strong one. However, if you share fault for the accident, things can get complicated. For example, if the other driver blames you for the accident, regardless of the injuries suffered, you may be looking at little to no compensation.

Statute of Limitations

Each state has its own standards regarding the statute of limitations for car accident claims. These laws give you a specific window of time in which you must file an insurance claim and/or file a lawsuit in order to receive back injury compensation. The length of time can be anywhere from one to 10 years, and there are exceptions that extend the length of the statute of limitations, according to Forbes. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the laws of your state in order to avoid missing the window to claim a settlement for a car accident back injury.

Impact on Your Quality of Life

Perhaps you were an avid hiker before the accident, and now sciatic pain and a herniated disc prevent you from taking the adventure you could easily do before. Maybe you can no longer handle long trips in the car because you can’t sit for long without pain. Circumstances like this diminish your ability to enjoy life and can lead to depression or other mental health challenges. This is another important factor that could possibly increase the amount you can expect. More impactful injuries will, for the most part, be better compensated.

What Will Decrease The Value Of My Car Accident Back Injury Settlement?

There are ways in which you can harm your own case. First and foremost, your liability for the accident will have a major impact on the amount of money you can expect. Different states have different laws regarding fault and how your fault affects your ability to collect compensation. In some states, such as Virginia, you will not get a settlement at all if you were found even slightly responsible for the crash.

It is also important to make sure you seek medical attention right after the injury so it cannot be seen as a result of some other circumstance. If you wait, the amount you are entitled to will likely be lower.

There is also a need to get any documentation showing who was at fault in the accident and statements from eyewitnesses that corroborate what happened in the collision. If you do not have the supporting documentation, your claim for back injury compensation may not be deemed legitimate, and you may receive nothing. Without enough evidence, the amount you receive may not even be enough to cover the necessary damages. Not having the evidence and documentation will only hurt your case and lower your back injury compensation.

Car Accident Settlement

Types of Car Accident Back Injuries

Your spine is the basis of mobility and supports our entire skeletal structure while also providing a pathway for the central nervous system to branch out from and protecting the integrity of the spinal cord. A car accident can damage this critical part of your body in numerous ways and can lead to other injuries you need time to recover from. Understanding some common back injuries and the extent in which it can affect you factors into the car accident back injury settlement amount.

Soft Tissue Injuries

The forceful impact of a car accident forces your body into unnatural positions and can result in injuries to the soft tissues of your back that help to support you and your spine. The tendons and ligaments attached to the spinal column can stretch beyond their usual limits or tear. Soft tissue damage may present as mild pain, or it can be severe depending on the situation. Usually, these injuries do not often result in large payouts and can potentially range from $5,000 and $15,000.

Vertebral Disc Injuries

There are 23 discs in between the vertebrae of your spine, cushioning it and allowing you to pivot and bend. .When a collision occurs, there is an immense amount of stress, causing the discs to move out of place, rupture, or crack, which usually results in a herniated or bulging disc. When spinal discs are out of place, they can end up pressing on your spinal cord or other nerves, causing pain directly where the injury occurred. You may even feel pain radiate through your arms and legs. If not treated properly, this injury may cause degenerative disc disease later in life. Due to the nature of this injury to the vertebral discs, the payout is often higher. Herniated disc car accident back injury settlements range from $80,000 to $150,000, and pinched nerves yield an average of $15,000 to $100,000.

Compression Fractures

Compression fractures occur when the vertebrae are forced into one another because of an impact, resulting in cracks from the pressure. The pain from this type of fracture is often severe. Fractures affecting the spinal cord or integrity of the spinal column may require surgery to mend the damage and, in most cases, a brace must be worn to protect you from further injuries.

Compression fractures can also cause spondylolisthesis, where one vertebra is forced out of its correct anatomical position. This is specifically caused by a compression fracture and can require surgery or other invasive treatments. Any type of spinal fracture requires time away from work and can be extremely painful. Your car accident back injury settlement amount should be greater with these injuries, resulting in $10,000 to $100,000 payouts on average.

Spinal Cord Injuries

The spinal cord is the bundle of nerves that runs up and down your back, carrying electrical signals between your brain and other parts of your body. A spinal cord injury typically occurs when one or more vertebrae are broken or shifted out of place and can have detrimental impacts on a person’s life.

Car accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injury in the United States. Even a seemingly mild car accident can result in spinal cord trauma that affects the ability of the nervous system to send signals to different areas in the body and, in some cases, can result in partial or total paralysis.

Spinal cord injuries can also lead to secondary conditions affecting the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and musculoskeletal systems causing permanent disability and the need for lifelong care. The more severe the injury is, the greater the average settlement for a car accident back injury will be. Studies show that over a lifetime, a spinal cord injury that leads to total paralysis can cost up to $5,000,000 in medical care and living expenses. The average payout is between $60,000 to $500,000 but with severe, permanent injuries, payouts in the millions are not uncommon.

Lower Back Injuries And Sciatica

The force of an auto accident can cause injuries to the lower back affecting the lower thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. The stretching and tearing of soft tissue is common and weakens the ligaments that keep the spine properly aligned. Car accidents can also cause sciatica, which feels like a shooting or burning pain running down the legs or up the back. This type of pain can be lifelong and, depending on its severity, will increase the amount of a potential settlement for a back injury claim. Mild injuries will get you $15,000 to $75,000, while a more severe injury could earn you up to $100,000 or more.

Documenting Your Back Injury

Back injuries, especially caused by car accidents, require medical attention. The more severe the back injury is, the more likely a general practitioner is to refer you for chiropractic care or to a spinal or orthopedic specialist for treatment. A serious back injury is very likely to necessitate ongoing medical care and therapeutic recovery or surgery.

It goes without saying that extensive medical care results in extensive medical bills. Medical bills are one of the main components that determines how much a car accident back injury settlement will be, so it’s important to document any medical expenses resulting from the injury.

Some of the ongoing medical care that you may have include:

● Scans and X-rays
● Braces
● Surgery
● Physical therapy to regain movement and strength
● Occupational therapy to relearn how to do daily tasks
● Pain medication
● Pain management
● Steroids or therapy to lessen swelling
● Home health care
● Mobility aids such as walkers, canes, and wheelchairs
● Transportation to and from medical appointments
● Alternative therapy
● Over the counter treatments and medications

Keep track of all medical expenses, including things you buy over the counter to heal from or cope with your back injury. Having documentation is necessary for a successful car accident back injury settlement. It would also help if you can show future treatment plans that describe how long you’ll need ongoing medical attention. Consider keeping anything related to the accident in one location so nothing important is misplaced or lost. These documents, along with the traffic collision reports and any eyewitness statements you can obtain, are critical for your back injury claim.

Negotiating with Insurance Companies

When you are in a car accident, you need to file an insurance claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. This is where the documentation and evidence become extremely important. For the best results, you should send a demand letter to the insurance company outlining your injuries, the costs, and your desired compensation.

Here’s what you need to include in a demand letter. A demand letter should have both economic and non-economic damages in your compensation request. Economic damages are tangible monetary losses. The amount of economic damages should reflect the cost it takes to return you to your financial state prior to the accident. These include the cost of current and future injury-related medical care, lost wages, loss of future income from diminished work capacity, and property damages.

Non-economic costs attempt to compensate you for the pain and suffering caused by the accident. These are harder to calculate because you have to establish a monetary value for mental anguish and trauma. In some states, the amount you can claim for pain and suffering is limited. You may be able to seek punitive damages meant as punishment for negligent actions.

You also want to consider the strength of the claim and the evidence in your favor and make a reasonable request. Some insurers might try to offer you a settlement figure to settle fairly quickly after a collision, but be aware that these offers are quite often less than you deserve. You do not have to take an offer if it seems unfair. Anything that the insurance company can use against you will be brought up in an attempt to lower the amount they have to pay you. If you have questions about a settlement offer you receive, then it might be a good time to talk to a lawyer about your options.

Actual Back Injury Car Accident Settlement Amounts

Below are some of the settlement amounts we’ve seen for back injuries. Each of these is a unique case, and the amounts received were determined by taking all of the information into account.

$25,000 Back Pain Settlement: The plaintiff was stopped at an intersection, and was rear ended by a distracted driver. Not feeling an immediate pain, he did not seek medical attention at first. However, two days later, he went to his doctor because of back pain. He ended up with soft tissue injuries, specifically strained tendons and a torn ligament. Surgery was not required, but he did miss several days of work.

$800,000 Back Injury Settlement: A car failed to stop at a crosswalk and struck a pedestrian. The pedestrian, a 52-year-old woman, fractured her fibula and suffered a compression fracture to two vertebrae. She was hospitalized for over a week and required surgery on her leg, as well as physical therapy. The negligent driver was found completely at fault when claim negotiations failed and a lawsuit was taken to court.

$12,000 Back Pain Settlement: A man was a passenger in a vehicle that was rear ended by a package delivery truck. He suffered a slipped disc and filed a claim with the company the driver worked for. The insurance company argued that the injury was minor and recovery was quick. The settlement covered medical expenses and included a small amount for pain and suffering.

$1.85 Million Back Injury Settlement: A motorcycle driver was struck by a truck driver and suffered back injuries that required multiple surgeries. The driver also sustained a broken arm and a concussion. The multiple surgeries resulted in a higher settlement amount.

$203,000 Back Injury Settlement: A driver fell asleep at the wheel and struck an SUV with a family of four inside. Luckily, most of the family members only suffered minor injuries, but the father, who was driving, suffered whiplash, soft tissue injuries, and a minor compression fracture. Fortunately the father healed quickly and had no lasting effects of his injuries.

$48,000 Back Injury Settlement: After pulling into an intersection, a woman was struck on the side of her vehicle. She was hospitalized with pinched nerves and a minor spinal cord injury. Her spinal cord injury did not result in any paralysis or loss of feeling, but her recovery was long. However, the woman was found partially liable for the accident. Her settlement was reduced accordingly.

Car Accident Settlement

Legal Representation for Back Injury Cases

Though certain things can be handled without the help of a lawyer, with a back injury, it might be a good idea to consult with one. Many lawyers who represent individuals in car accident claims will offer a free consultation that you can take advantage of. A large number of lawyers also work on contingencies, meaning they do not get paid until you receive a settlement, at which point they take an agreed-upon fee from the settlement payment.

A lawyer will advise you on things that you should and shouldn’t do after an accident and during the claim or lawsuit process. For example, follow all orders made by your doctor. Not listening to medical advice does not look good and indicates that you do not take your recovery seriously. Once your treatment has concluded, your lawyer will collect your medical records and bills and will then send a settlement demand to the at-fault drivers insurance company on your behalf. Once the insurance company has reviewed the demand, they will make an offer on your case. A lawyer can advise you if the offer is a good one and they can help you determine if there is a need to pursue the matter further by declining the offer and taking the case to trial.

A lawyer can handle your entire car accident case, making sure that your medical bills are paid, and that you receive the best care and treatment possible for your back injury. While calculating a car accident back injury settlement amount is not an exact science, your car accident attorney will help you calculate your damages, including your pain and suffering, and can give you an idea of how much you may receive.

Conclusion

So, how much is the average settlement for a car accident back injury?

It’ll depend on all the different factors or the claim you make. Most likely you will receive somewhere between $10,000 and $100,000.

There is some variation in these numbers depending on the source, but in general, this is an accurate idea of what you may receive. Make sure you can get the most from your claim and take the right steps to maximize the payout and get the back injury compensation you are entitled to.

Frequently Asked Questions about car accident settlements

Back Injury Settlements

National data suggest average costs for spinal fusion surgery runs from $80,000 to $150,000. This does not include your hospital stay beyond a few days, follow up care, medical equipment, drugs and related costs..

There are some cervical spinal fusion surgeries that could cost slightly less, in the $50,000-$70,000. It depends on where you live, the severity of the back injury, and the underlying health or the surgery recipient. Whatever the cost of the surgery, it should all be covered in your auto accident settlement amount – just make sure to keep good records of all the costs associated with the back surgery.

Beyond medical costs, there are other factors that will influence the amount of the back injury settlement amount you receive:

  • Liability: Was the other driver clearly at fault? Is their insurance provider fighting the claim?
  • Permanent impairment: Even a successful surgery can lead to you being unable to return to your previous ability to function.. This has a huge effect on your claim
  • Claim or lawsuit: If you settle your car accident claim through an insurance company, you will probably get less, but a trial incurs much higher legal fees, and there is a change you could get nothing.

If the other party was at fault and you suffer permanent back injuries because of the crash, it is possible to have a back injury settlement amount in the mid or upper six figures, possibly over a million.

The average settlement figure for your back injury will vary widely based upon the sort of injury you had.. According to a recent national study, 16% of verdicts in spinal disc injury settlements were more than $1 million, and 7% were more than $2.5 million.. Thus, a serious back injury involving the spinal cord and vertebrae may settle for millions of dollars.

However, less severe injuries to your back, such as a disc herniation, also can yield a large settlement.. These settlements can be harder to diagnose because the injury cannot be seen on an x-ray.. A CT or MRI might be needed to diagnose such an injury.. A herniated disc personal injury typically yields a lower settlement than a ruptured of bulging disc.

A major factor that influences your settlement for a back injury is how much the injury causes you pain and damages your way of life.

In summary, the injury type, severity of pain, and the extent of impact on your life, your back-injury settlement could easily range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.

Back injuries can range widely from strains and sprains to injuries to the spinal cord that cause paralysis.. So, the settlement amount for any one case has to be decided on a case by case basis.

But generally, typical compensation for a back-injury claim has both non-economic and economic damages.. Your economic damages may include compensation for your past and future medical bills and lost income and wages.. It is important to provide you attorney with all of your medical bill and lost wage information so that you can be fully compensated for your financial losses.

Non-economic damages are for non-monetary losses that are related to your back injuries.. These are more challenging to place a dollar value on.. Non-economic damages normally include pain and suffering; emotional distress and possibly loss of consortium, or loss of the ability to have an intimate relationship with a partner.

You can get a good concept if you got a fair settlement by looking at how the insurance company valued your pain and suffering.. They typically will use a multiplier ranging from 1.5 to 5, times your economic damages.. Your attorney should be able to effectively negotiate a fair multiplier based upon your level of pain and suffering.

Since there are various types of back injuries a car accident victim may sustain ranging from sprains to paralysis, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact settlement amount. Each individual case will have different scenarios with different injuries making it difficult to generalize a settlement value. In order to get an estimated value of what a decent settlement should be, you must take a closer look at what you are being compensated for. These include:

  • Medical expenses
  • Future medical expenses
  • Loss of wages
  • Property damage
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of mobility/quality of life
  • Emotional distress

Once you have reviewed how much all your expenses set you back and established how much the non-economical damages are worth, you can add everything up to get a rough estimate. To find an estimated amount, you can follow this general rule by taking those values, adding them up, and multiply the sum by three for the estimation. An example of this would be $8,000 in medical expenses (surgeries, x-rays, PT) and loss of wages equating to $3,000. Adding that up totals $11,000 and multiplying that by 3 gives you $33,000. Your settlement will could range anywhere from $26,000- $40,000.

It is not uncommon to walk away from an accident thinking you have escaped without any injuries. Oftentimes, back injuries will not show symptoms until several days after the accident. Lower back pain after a car accident can sometimes correlate with whiplash, or may be a more serious injury with a longer recovery time such as a herniated disc. This is why it’s important to always exchange insurance information, take pictures of the accident scene, and get contact info for any potential witnesses to the car crash – even if you don’t feel any back pain at the time of the car accident, symptoms can show up days or even weeks after the crash.

However, if you are experiencing any type of back pain after a rear end collision, you have the right to file a claim with the at fault drivers insurance and get compensated for your injuries – as long as you were not found at fault for the accident.

Once you’ve filed the claim for your back injury car accident settlement, be cautious of signing any type of release liability form until a medical professional has examined you for injuries. If you sign the form, you forfeit any opportunity to include any subsequent back injuries that may pop up in your final back injury settlement. Most personal injury attorneys recommend that you finish up any medical treatment before submitting a final back injury settlement demand to ensure that you’ve seen the full and final scope of all your injuries.

Cervical fusion is a type of surgery performed on victims of car accidents who have suffered neck injuries. These surgeries cost tens of thousands of dollars and take months to years for recovery, if the victim is able to make a complete recovery. Let’s take a look at the average settlement amount for cervical fusion so you know what to expect if you ever require such a procedure after suffering a neck injury in a car accident.

Factors That Lead to High Settlements

The nature of the injury as well as the extent of the injury will both be major factors in determining the settlement amount for your case. There are four other important factors that must be taken into account and they include the following:

  • The amount of insurance coverage that is available
  • If the negligence of the at-fault party is at 100 percent
  • The experience of the personal injury attorney you hire
  • If the defendant is a large company

Should the liability of the at-fault party in the accident that led to your injury be accepted, as in not argued, the amount of compensation you receive should be quite high. The compensation package will be smaller if there is a chance that full liability will not be placed on the at-fault party. The risk of not receiving any compensation is also present if the no liability is placed on the defendant in the case.

Estimating Non-Economic Damages

A tricky part of obtaining a settlement in a cervical fusion case is estimating the non-economic damages. These are damages that don’t come with a price tag, such as lost wages or medical expenses. These include loss of consortium, pain and suffering, and mental anguish among others.

The bottom line is that the average settlement for a cervical fusion procedure varies based on each individual case. Some settlements might come in around $500,000, while others can reach the multi-million dollar range.

In the event that you endured neck, cervical spinal injuries or any other type of wounds after an auto collision and were not found at fault, you have the right to sue and receive compensation for damages. Like any other personal injury settlement, they differ from case to case. How much compensation you may receive depends upon numerous variables. Neck injuries often call for surgical repair called a cervical fusion and can require a lengthy recovery along with months of pain and immobilization. These types of injuries are generally awarded large amounts of compensation due to the severity of the injury. Some real life examples of how much car accident victims of cervical spine injuries have received include:

  • $2,750,000- neck injury car accident victim requiring a 3-level fusion and anterior cervical discectomy
  • $537,000- car accident victim requiring cervical fusion surgery
  • $775,282- car accident victim suffering a herniated disc requiring surgeries and a spinal fusion.
  • $7,000,000- woman suffered herniated disc and nerve damage requiring anterior cervical discectomy and fusion two vertebrae
  • $1,200,000- truck struck woman from behind at a stop light, requiring anterior cervical discectomy with fusion
  • $2,760,000- victim suffered injuries requiring anterior cervical discectomy with fusion

Back injuries are some of the most common injuries victims of auto accidents suffer. Why? For starters, the body might be violently shaken during the crash, which can easily damage the spine, a muscle, tissue or other part of the back. If the crash is violent enough the victim could be slammed against their door, thrown through the windshield, or bent over the dashboard. Back injuries can include herniated discs, sprains, strains and serious injuries to the spinal cord. Today, we will tackle the question of how much should you settler for a back injury after an auto accident.

The Economic Compensatory Damages

The economic compensatory damages in your case will be where most of the compensation comes from in a back injury case stemming from a car accident. Compensatory damages include the following:

  • Lost wages and income: in this type of claim you are entitled to compensation that will cover any lost wages and any lost future income due to your injuries.
  • Medical bills: you are also entitled to compensation for all past and future medical bills associated with the back injury suffered in an auto accident.

The Non-Economic Compensatory Damages

You can also seek compensation for non-economic damages. These are damages that do not result in financial or economic losses to you or your family. These damages can include any of the following:

  • Loss of consortium
  • Emotional distress
  • Pain and suffering

Other Factors

There are a few additional factors that could play a role in determining your compensation package following a back injury in an auto accident. These other factors include failing to mitigate the damages (usually on the part of the plaintiff) and contributory or comparative negligence. This is when you might be partially at fault for the crash, which could prevent you from obtaining any compensation.

There’s no set amount of compensation for which you should settle after suffering a back injury in an auto accident. Each case is different and needs to be analyzed by an experienced personal injury attorney.

It’s not uncommon for various injuries or pain to take a few days to manifest following a car accident. The adrenaline running through an accident victim’s body in the moment’s immediately following a crash might mask any injuries you suffered or pain present in the body. Because of this, you might refuse medical care. Then, days later, you experience back pain. Delayed onset of pain is real and is quite common following car accidents.

However, when this happens it usually send the victim into a state of mild panic. What was a seemingly minor fender bender with no injuries a couple of days ago, now seems like a mountain of doctors visits and missed work. Without a police report showing your injuries, how will you get compensated for the injuries you suffered in the car accident? Will the insurance company think you’re trying to file a fraudulent claim since you didn’t report the accident right away?

Luckily, you can still collect a car accident settlement from the at fault driver’s insurance company, even if your injuries were’t visible or even reported at the accident scene. It might be a little harder to prove that your injuries are severe, which is when speaking to an attorney may be very helpful.

In general, there are 2 types of delayed onset back pain – upper and lower:

Delayed Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident

Lower back injury settlements are often filed many days after the crash, speaking to the fact that it can take awhile for the car accident injuries to show up. If the pain in your back comes with tingling or numbness you might have suffered a herniated disc or some other spinal injury, especially when the pain is located in the lower portion of the back. Delayed back pain could also be caused by muscle damage or a sprain, both of which can take a few days to show symptoms.

Delayed Upper Back Pain After a Car Accident

Delayed upper back pain after a car accident is generally a sign of either whiplash or a bulging disc in the upper spine. While a bulging disc settlement probably won’t be affected by filing your claim a few days after the accident, things could be tricky with delayed whiplash. Because the injury doesn’t show up on x-rays, insurance companies are notorious for trying to avoid paying fair whiplash settlements. Taking this a step further, if you file your whiplash claim late there’s a decent chance the insurance company will try to claim that it’s not serious (or that you’re faking the injury altogether), and try to drastically lower or flat out deny your claim.

This is another situation when speaking to a personal injury attorney can be helpful. They can make sure you don’t make any mistakes when you file your claim that could cost you money down the road.

Car Accident Lawsuit

Back pain after a car accident can be debilitating. For some, the pain might go away within a couple of hours. Others might experience days or weeks with pain. Then, there are those who won’t even experience pain until hours after the crash because of their adrenaline, but can experience long lasting injuries once the pain does set in.

Every car accident injury is different and some take longer to heal than others. When it comes to back injuries after an auto accident, it is common to feel pain and discomfort for up to 6 weeks, sometimes longer depending on the injury.

In order to determine just how long you will be experiencing pain you will need to consult with a medical professional. Your specialist will perform many different exams including motion tests and x-rays to diagnose what type of injuries you have sustained and determine a rough estimated recovery time. Do not delay, and go to see a doctor in order to receive a proper diagnosis and treatment options in order to recover as fast as possible. Even if you believe you do not have any injuries, it is very common to experience symptoms the following days or weeks later. You may have injuries that you aren’t aware of and overtime without treatment, may worsen causing issues later down the road.

Factors That Lead to Back Pain in Car Accidents

Some of the factors that influence how long back pain can last after car accidents include:

  • Where the vehicle was hit
  • If you were wearing a seatbelt
  • If the airbags deployed
  • The speed at which the accident happened
  • The sizes of the vehicles involved in the accident
  • The severity of the crash and the injuries suffered
  • The age and underlying health of the people involved in the accident

Your doctor will want to know all of this information when examining you for back injuries after a car accident. It will help them determine the severity of your injuries, the treatment needed, and help put a timetable on how long you will experience pain following the accident.

Length of Recovery Time with Back Pain

There isn’t an exact formula used to help determine how long you will experience back pain following a car accident but the majority of people will feel some level of pain for up to six weeks after the crash. There are people who will feel pain for more than six weeks after a crash and those who might even have pain in certain areas of the body for the rest of their lives due to the injuries suffered. Another factor in how long you will experience pain after a car accident is how your body responds to pain. If you heal quickly, you might not feel pain for too long after the crash.

The simple answer is YES! If you are experiencing any back pain after a car accident no matter how minor the accident may seem, it’s always a wise decision to contact a personal injury attorney to speak with as quickly as possible after the accident occurs to discuss further actions in assuring you are owed compensation for your injuries. Back pain after a rear-end collision may only last a few days but may also last a few months or even a few years. It’s risky to wait a while before taking action and talking to an attorney due to statutes running among other things. Sometimes back injuries may not appear immediately but will worsen over time. Be sure to seek medical attention right away as well as contacting your local personal injury attorney.

If you are experiencing any back pain for any period of time after an auto accident it is important to seek out medical attention immediately. Collisions, even minor ones, can cause a great deal of hardship including pain and discomfort from injuries as well as the inconvenience of property damage issues. But to what extent will your back pain last after a car accident? There’s no straight answer as to how long you will experience back pain after an accident, however, back pain can last for days, months or even last a lifetime. Some questions you may want to ask yourself to determine how long the pain may last include:

  • What angle was your car hit from?
  • What type of vehicle hit your car?
  • What type of vehicle were you in?
  • Were you wearing a seatbelt?
  • How fast were both cars going at the time of the impact?
  • Were any airbags deployed?
  • How severe is the back injury according to the medical professional?

Lower back injuries settlements caused by an auto accident vary greatly due to specific circumstances and how severe the injury is. Lower back injuries range from minor bruises and sprains to extreme spinal cord injuries and paralysis, making it immensely difficult to place an average settlement amount for a low back injury. Many factors go into determining how much you may be compensated such as the more extreme and enduring the damage, the higher the car accident settlement may be. Hard injuries such as broken bones or fractures tend to have a higher settlement value due to the danger of damaging the vertebrae, which can leave one paralyzed or even, result in death. These injuries tend to be long lasting causing major hardships in life. Some examples of lower back injury settlements include:

  • $9,500 settlement for neck and back injuries from a rear-end collision.
  • $100,000 settlement for bulging discs from rear-end collision settlement.
  • $10,000 settlement for sciatica following a pedestrian being hit by a car.
  • $9500 verdict for a back and neck injury due to a rear end crash.
  • $100,000 settlement for bulging back and neck discs that required surgery after a 60-year-old was rear ended at a stop light.
  • $250,000 settlement for the aggravation of a pre-existing back injury in a car accident.
  • $300,000 verdict for a woman in a car accident who had disc herniations in her back and neck.
  • $1.2 million settlement for the aggravation of a pre-existing neck injury that needed surgery after a rear end accident.
  • $313,000 semi truck accident settlement from being rear-ended by truck resulting severe lower back injuries.
  • $300,000 settlement for disc herniations, required surgery and loss of range in her neck.
  • https://lawsuitinfocenter.com/ufaqs/whats-the-average-auto-insurance-settlement-for-back-neck-injuries/
  • $60,000 compensation for cervical herniated disc in a t-bone accident settlement.

Car accidents cause many different types of back injuries such as herniated discs and lumbar sprains causing trauma to the sciatic nerve allowing you to experience extreme muscle strain specifically over the sciatic nerve. Sciatica occurs when the nerve is being squeeze or pinched by some protruding object such as a bone spur or a herniated disc. If you are experiencing pain in the leg or numbness, it may be a result from trauma to your sciatic nerve. Symptoms often include:

  • Sharp pain starting from your lower back or buttock shooting down the back of your leg (typically only one side)
  • Pain may even continue all the way down to the foot.
  • Numbness in leg or foot
  • Lower back pain
  • Standing up may cause a more intense pain; laying down relieves pain

There are many different types of back injuries you may sustain from a car accident. Unfortunately, back injuries are frequent in car accidents and can result in pulled muscles, sprains, herniated plates, and even spinal cord wounds. They can be extremely painful and significantly more costly. Depending on the severity of the injury, back settlements range in value. So how much compensation should you expect for your back injury settlement? The settlement value varies based on damages which includes:

  • Wages lost
  • Medical bills
  • Future medical expenses
  • Loss of future income
  • Loss of mobility
  • Property damage

Each injury will have a different value due to the medical treatment required. For example, a herniated disc surgery is extremely expensive costing on average around $15,000 with extra expenses following the surgery that can leave you with a total around $50,000.

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About Shelby Stone-Huff

Shelby Stone-Huff is an experienced writer in the automotive and law fields and brings her knowledge of both together for Lawsuit Info Center. She is proud to help others understand the legalities of automotive accidents through the knowledge she has obtained through experience.