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Injured By A Driver Under The Influence Of Drugs?

When you think of car accidents caused by drugs, your mind may immediately jump to drivers who use cocaine, methamphetamine or other illegal drugs. You might not think about over-the-counter or prescription medications, but these powerful drugs can also cause motorist impairment and cause an auto accident.

While law enforcement officials devote significant resources to reduce the numbers of people who drive under the influence of alcohol, drugged driving has not received the same level of attention. This is despite the fact that a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey revealed that more than 16 percent of weekend, night-time drivers tested positive for at least one illegal, prescription or over-the-counter drug.

Understand Common Drug Impairments
Illegal, prescription and over-the-counter drugs can cause effects that can impair a person’s ability to drive. Ranging from mild side effects to severe, mind-altering impacts, these changes in mood and behavior can contribute to car accidents.

Among the most common impairments observed in drugged driving cases are:

Memory loss. A drug can limit a person’s ability to draw information from previous experiences, potentially increasing the risk of confusion or risk-taking behavior.
Loss of coordination. People under the influence of drugs may be physically unable to operate a motor vehicle safely.
Loss of judgment. Drugs often affect a person’s decision making abilities.
Altered perception. Hallucinations or distortions of distance, time and speed carry obvious risks on roadways, both to the safety of a driver and other motorists.
Anxiety. Extreme anxiousness or paranoia can make it impossible for a motorist to responsibly operate a vehicle.
Euphoria. Feelings of overconfidence, fearlessness or delirium often accompany drug use. These feelings can lead a person to make irresponsible decisions behind the wheel
Drowsiness or lethargy. Alertness is vital when driving a motor vehicle. If a person is drowsy or lethargic, he or she is likely to have longer response time to traffic events, endangering other motorists.
In a worst-case scenario, a driver may simply fall asleep or otherwise be rendered unresponsive by the effects of a drug. In these situations, a vehicle in essence becomes an unguided missile on the roadway, primed to catastrophically harm other motorists.

Get Justice After An Accident Caused By Drugs
If you or a loved one has been harmed in an accident caused by drugs, or a crash in which you were hit by a drunk driver, personal injury law may allow you to pursue compensation for injuries, property damage and lost wages. This can be the case whether illicit, over-the-counter or prescription drugs — or a combination thereof — caused a driver’s impairment.

An experienced attorney can help prove that a motorist took an illegal substance, misused a legally prescribed medication or failed to heed driving restrictions listed on the label of an over-the-counter product. This legal advocate will seek fair compensation on your behalf, serving as a go-to source of information throughout the personal injury process.

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Injured By A Speeding Motorist?

We live in a fast-paced world in which speed is a priority. This extends to our nation’s streets and highways, where the effort to shorten commuting times is a constant focus of many motorists. Roadway safety is often a secondary thought, unfortunately, and speeding drivers often cause car accidents that hurt and kill other motorists.

Speeding does not only endanger the safety of drivers, however. Especially in towns and cities, rules governing speed limits are also designed to protect the welfare of cyclists and pedestrians. For example, speed limits in schools zones are typically lower given that children walk in the area. In short, vehicle laws are meant to protect everyone’s safety.

If you or loved one has been injured by someone who was speeding in a vehicle, you may be eligible to pursue compensation for damages relating to injuries or economic losses sustained as the result of a crash.

Common Forms Of Speeding
There are a number of classifications of speeding that can have a bearing on your personal injury lawsuit. Common forms include:

Driving above posted speeds. Motorists who are driving above posted speeds, in addition to potentially being cited for a moving violation, may be liable in any car accidents that occur at the time of speeding.
Ignoring speed advisories. Advisory speed limits are recommended maximums that apply to a specific part of the road. Often speed advisories apply to curves or other challenging stretches of road where traveling the officially posted speed limit could be dangerous. While breaking speed advisories typically does not result in a moving violation, motorists who ignore them may be liable for any accidents that occur.
Driving at speeds that are unsafe for conditions. The posted speed limit applies when there are not adverse conditions that make travel difficult or dangerous. Motorists may be held liable for accidents if they drive at excessive speeds — even if they are below the posted limit — when rain, snow or other conditions make such speeds dangerous.
Aggressive or reckless driving tactics. Speeding drivers often also engage in aggressive behaviors on the road. These may include rapid lane changes (often without signaling), cutting other drivers off or driving very closely behind motorists.

When Speeding Drivers Cause Accidents
Speed limits establish the maximum velocity at which a road can safely be traveled; when a driver breaks the limit, he or she endangers the public’s welfare. Because speeding is considered a form of negligence, a motorist who drives at excessive speeds can be determined the responsible party in an accident, and thus, made liable for injuries and other damages.

An experienced attorney can be an important source of information following an auto crash with a speeding driver. A lawyer can investigate an accident and negotiate with insurance companies, working on your behalf to secure fair compensation for damages. An attorney can also offer insight into whether another factor may have played a part in a crash, including if drug use led to an accident.

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Suffering From Headaches After An Accident?

Car accident victims might feel no pain and show no obvious signs of injury immediately after a crash. While this can be a good sign, it does not necessarily mean that the body hasn’t sustained damage. Headaches, like back pain, may develop hours, days or even weeks after an accident occurs.

If you have recently been in a car accident and are currently experiencing headaches, it’s important to see a doctor right away. The reason? Headaches can be a symptom of potentially serious injuries to the back, neck and brain. Ignoring headaches can enable the advancement of potentially severe conditions that could include long-term debilitating effects.

Identifying The Source Of Headaches
The same forces that bend and mangle the reinforced steel frame of a car in an auto crash can severely injure a vehicle’s occupants. The violent movements inherent in an accident can put great pressure on the head as well as the tendons and ligaments in the neck and the back.

Headaches are often the first sign of an injury to the brain, neck or back. This pain may be accompanied by additional symptoms that include:

  • bruises on the head
  • loss of consciousness
  • sensory issues
  • nausea or vomiting
  • dizziness
  • fatigue

Any of the above symptoms could indicate a concussion or another more serious head injury. A physician can administer a diagnostic test, like an MRI or a CAT scan, to determine what injuries are. If the diagnosis is an injury to the brain, treatment might include rest or, depending upon the severity of the injury, surgery.

If, however, a medical examination rules out trauma to the brain as the underlying cause of the headaches, treatment will depend on their source. Headaches caused by strains or sprains to ligaments, tendons or muscles in the neck could be treated with a combination of rest, physical therapy and medications such as anti-inflammatories or muscle relaxants.

Recovering After An Accident
If you’re recovering from car accident injuries, you likely have concerns about how well you’ll recover. Depending on the stage of your injuries, you may feel a lot of uncertainty about your health outlook. At the same time, you may worry about how you’ll pay for medical treatments and fear that headaches will have a debilitating effects that limit your long-term ability to work.

One route you can explore for safeguarding the future for you and your family is to pursue compensation for damages you’ve sustained in the car accident. If another person was responsible for the crash, you may be able to obtain compensation of medical bills, property replacement costs, lost wages and other damages. An experienced lawyer can be an invaluable guide in the process, allowing you to focus on healing from injuries.

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Did You Suffer A Head Injury In An Accident?

Head injuries are very common in car accidents. When a person is tossed about in a vehicle during a crash, the head is in danger of striking a side window, the windshield or the steering wheel. Even motorists benefiting from a car’s seat belts and airbags can be violently tossed around at the time of impact.

Car accident injuries can vary significantly in terms of their severity, and this is particularly true in the case of head injuries. In one instance, a victim may make it through a crash with nothing more than a bump on the head. Another may experience a life-threatening traumatic brain injury (TBI). Tragically, many victims of head injuries do not survive collisions, opening up the possibility of a wrongful death lawsuit.

Types Of Head Injuries
Doctors classify a head injury as penetrating or closed. A penetrating injury occurs when something enters the brain. An example of a penetrating injury would be one that occurs when a person’s head smashes against a side window, causing skull fragments to damage the brain.

A closed injury occurs when a person’s head strikes a hard surface, but the skull remains intact. This type of head injury can cause:

Primary brain damage. Such injuries can include brain contusions and bruises, blood clots, lacerations to the brain or nerve damage.
Secondary damage. This form of damage results from brain swelling, sharp fluctuations in blood pressure, seizures and cardiac changes.

Symptoms of these types of injuries may include frequent headaches, seizures, dizziness, reduced coordination, vomiting and blurred vision. A person’s ability to communicate may also be compromised given that speaking and thinking functions can be impaired. It’s important to seek medical treatment for anyone affected by these symptoms.

Recovering From A Head Injury
If you or a loved one has sustained an injury to the head in a car accident, you know how high the health stakes can be following a crash. The stresses of recovering from an injury can be amplified by financial concerns. For example, perhaps the recovery process has required extensive (and expensive) medical treatments that you’re not sure how you’ll pay for.

Uncertainties may not end there. Brain injuries often result in permanent disabilities that may make it impossible for a person to work. The loss of a provider’s wages can put a household on even more difficult financial footing.

One route for moving forward is to contact an experienced personal injury attorney. A lawyer can serve as a legal advocate who has your short- and long-term interests in mind. For example, an attorney can negotiate with an insurance company with the objective of obtaining fair compensation that will allow you and your family to be provided for after an injury.

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