How to Cope If You’ve Been Injured in a Lyft Crash

Millions of people use Lyft daily as a simple way of getting from A to B. However, Lyft drivers are just like any other motorist, meaning their vehicles can be involved in crashes. Whether you were hit by a Lyft vehicle or a Lyft passenger, the experience can be traumatic and leave you with serious life-changing injuries that can impact your mental well-being, financial circumstances, and much more. In the aftermath of the accident, you’ll need to learn how to manage your emotions, injuries, and cope with life.

 

Attempt to Remain Calm at the Scene

Coping after being injured in a Lyft crash begins immediately after the accident. Even though emotions will be running high, you need to stay calm and get to a safe place if you can. Whether you’re a passenger in the Lyft vehicle or you’re another motorist, make sure you collect the vehicle and driver details, wait for the police, and collect any witness information.

 

Liaise with Police Where Necessary

California state and many others require all accidents to be reported to the police, so you should make sure you wait for them to arrive. The more accurate information you can supply to the police, the more substantial official evidence there will be for our Lyft accident lawyer to successfully claim compensation on your behalf. However, even if emotions cause you to miss vital details, we will conduct a thorough investigation.

 

Seek Medical Attention Immediately

Injuries from Lyft accidents can vary from minor to serious, but it’s important to have a medical assessment and keep the records regardless of how severe it feels. In some cases, serious conditions don’t present for a few days. However, if you fail to have a medical assessment as soon as you’ve left the scene, our expert Lyft car accident lawyer may struggle to seek the compensation you deserve. After all, the absence of records allows the defense to argue the injuries happened after the crash.

 

Keep a Record of All Financial Losses

Depending on the severity of your injuries, you may have to take time off work or even have to leave your job altogether. The absence of work will leave you in financial distress, which is where your emotions can get the better of you if you don’t have control measures in place. Even though you’re at a loss financially, you stand a fantastic chance of winning a settlement to cover all damages, especially when you have an expert Lyft accident attorney from our team on your side. As well as loss of earnings, your financial losses may include:

  • Medical expenses
  • Interest on missed loan payments
  • Vehicle repair or replacements
  • Travel expenses arising from the crash
  • Lost wages

Speak to Your Employer

Your injuries might force you to take time out of work or leave employment completely, which will leave you without wages. However, we recommend talking to your employer to find out if they can help. For example, if your position involved lots of activity, they may facilitate a faster return by creating a remote working opportunity with very little moment.

 

Explore Government Benefits

If your Lyft accident injuries leave you disabled, you’ll have to adapt to a whole new way of life, which can be a daunting prospect. However, you may be eligible to receive disability benefits from the government, which can help eliminate some of the financial uncertainty and allow you to focus on making positive changes. As well as financial benefits, you may find a number of support groups to attend, which can make you feel much less alone.

 

Report the Incident to Lyft

Lyft drivers are covered by liability insurance, which allows the company to pay compensation when their drivers are at fault. Therefore, whenever the Lyft driver’s insurance doesn’t cover the damages, Lyft’s policy will kick into action. However, you’ll need to prove beyond doubt that the Lyft driver was at fault, which Karns & Karns Personal Injury and Accident Attorneys can do by conducting a thorough investigation before putting together a strong compensation claim.

 

Let Us Notify Your Insurance Company

To avoid saying anything that will harm your case, let an experienced Karns & Karns Personal Injury and Accident Attorneys liaise with them after the initial accident notification. Our expert team knows how to communicate with insurance companies using the language they speak – and we know how to circumvent their crafty tactics to avoid paying out.

 

Consider Mental Health Support

Being involved in a Lyft accident can have a detrimental impact on mental health as well as physical, which can make coping with life much more challenging. Therefore, we recommend speaking to a counselor or therapist to help overcome any mental distress. While our Lyft accident lawyer CA can offer you support throughout the proceedings, nothing will compare to the benefits of seeking out mental health support.

 

Focus on the Here and Now

When you’re facing a long road of recovery, financial distress, and potential post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it can be difficult to remain focused on the present and move forward. To help with this, we recommend exploring mindfulness to bring yourself back to the here and now. If you have a look at your smartphone’s app store, there are plenty of fantastic tools to facilitate guided meditation and relation.

Being involved in a Lyft accident can leave you with physical injuries and mental distress, alongside potential life changes and financial hardships. If you’re searching for a Lyft accident lawyer near me, let Karns & Karns Personal Injury and Accident Attorneys fight for the compensation you deserve. Although we’re based in Los Angeles, we have offices in California, Texas, and Nevada. With zero cost for a free consultation, contact us today.

Understanding the Different Types of Brain Injuries Caused by Car Accidents

brain injury attorneys

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has been a major cause of death in the United States. In 2020 statistics by the Center for Disease and Control Prevention there are 64,000 deaths caused by TBI and motor vehicle accidents is one of the leading causes of TBIs.

TBIs are also tricky most especially in the older individuals who have pre-existing conditions like dementia or individuals who are taking blood thinners. TBIs may be classified as mild, moderate or severe. Whatever the classification is, they all need immediate diagnosis and treatment.

The impact of TBIs are both short term and long term and it is a paramount step that victims of motor vehicles be able to understand the different types of brain injuries caused by car accidents. This is a crucial step in determining the claims and compensation that your brain injury lawyers will be working for you.

Diagnosing A Brain Injury

As for any kind of disease or sickness, the accuracy of diagnosing a brain injury will determine the medical intervention to develop a treatment plan.To be able to do so a comprehensive evaluation has to be done including the patients’ medical history, experiences and current physical condition. Your brain injury attorneys recommend undergoing these tests to have the best prognosis of your injury.

Technology has contributed to a better diagnosis of TBI and some of the tests conducted are the following:

CT Scan: Computerized tomography scan combines a series of X-rays images with different angles to create images of bones, blood vessels and brain to name a few to identify any signs of injury.

MRI: Magnetic Resonance imaging employs a powerful magnet which produces a magnetic field forcing the protons of the body to align with that field. MRI can see what the disease could be most especially for the non-bony or soft tissues of the body including the brain.

Neuropsychological evaluation/testing: assess how the brain functions with questions and administrative tests which indirectly yields information about the structural and cognitive function of the brain.

EEG: Electroencephalogram detects brain abnormalities in your brain waves or electrical activity. This is done by pasting metal discs with thin wires in your scalp.

Treatments Available for TBIs

There are available interventions that will help you recover and avoid a long-term effect of TBIs. You should immediately research and get in touch with the best providers of these therapies and look for the best medical specialist in this field.

  • Physical Therapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Cognitive Therapy
  • Medications

Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries

TBI is a general term or a category that covers the different types of damages. Once the kind of brain injury is determined then the symptoms and prognosis for recovery will come next. Your brain injury accident lawyer will guide you on the steps you need to immediately take and follow religiously.

There are 2 main categories of TBI, first is the closed injuries and the second is the open (or penetrating) injuries.

Below are the different types of TBIs:

  1. Concussions are the most common type of TBI and this occurs when a strong force strikes your head, your brain moves in the direction of the force causing it to collide in your skull thus causing damage. You may experience headache, vision concerns, nausea and hear ringing in your ear. It may cause a long term problem that impacts your memory and sensitivity to light and sound. This was considered a minor problem but this time it is taken seriously because of life-long difficulties.
  2. Contusions happen when you usually have concussions. It is a bruise in the brain meaning there may be a mild form of bleeding. If a contusion does not heal on its own, it can be a hematoma which will require a surgery to remove.
  3. Brain Hemorrhage is the uncontrolled bleeding on the brain’s surface or within the brain tissue itself.
  4. Hematoma is a common TBI resulting from motor vehicle accidents. This is a collection of blood outside of blood vessels. Severe hematoma was experienced by 1.25 M from the 16 million subdural hematomas caused by car accidents. Because of a blunt force trauma from the impact of the collision, hematoma can happen in the head, neck or chest. Large hematomas in the brain that are not treated can lead to serious injury or even death. There are cases where these injuries develop days after the accident. If you experienced vomiting, severe headaches or unequal pupils, you should immediately go to your physician for immediate testing and diagnosis.
  5. Skull Fracture is a break in one or more bones. You may experience clear fluid running from nose and ears, cranial swelling, bruising around the eyes and being disoriented. This is a very serious TBI as 1/3 of people who sustained this injury do not survive while 25% sustain a permanent disability.
  6. Coup-Contrecoup Brain Injury is another serious type of traumatic brain injury. The term coup and contrecoup are French words for “blow” and “counterblow”. The coup injury occurs at the point of impact while contrecoup occurs on the opposite side of the brain where the blow struck. This usually occurs when the brain is struck on a stationary object, such as a steering wheel on a car or motor accident.
  7. Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) is considered one of the most severe type of traumatic brain injury. In case of a motor vehicle accident where the impact occurs in a high speed collision. The brain is shaken or twisted inside the skull. As the twisting of the brain happens, the cerebral tissue slides back and forth until the axons (long connecting fibers in the brain) stretch and tear leading to widespread brain damage. This can result in loss of brain function like loss of consciousness, coma or persistent vegetative stage.

Building Your Case

The victim or loved ones of car accidents will realize that calling a brain damage lawyer at the soonest possible time as you understand the types of brain injuries caused by car accidents. Your brain injury attorneys will immediately work in determining the appropriate claims and compensation as they build your case and gather all evidence. Experts and medical specialists will be contacted not just to serve as witness in case of a court trial but also to provide the best medical advice for the injured victims.

Help And Support

Seek for help and support if you or your loved one suffer from TBI. There are a number of organizations that are providing the help and assistance you need during these trying times. Realize though that you are not alone there are people who are committed and dedicated to help you or your loved ones. Get in touch with them now while your brain damage lawyer is working on your case.