Can You Sue for Lower Back Injuries in a Car Accident in Alabama?

Car accidents can be devastating, and one of the most common results for drivers and passengers is lower back injury. Whether it’s a significant muscle strain, severed spinal cord, or paralysis, these injuries can be life-altering for years. You may be unable to return to work or care for your children due to your back pain.

You can sue for lower back injuries in a car accident and be awarded damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other expenses. With a successful settlement agreement or jury award, you can achieve financial compensation. This is especially true if someone else’s negligence caused the accident – whether a drunk driver, distracted driver, or manufacturer who produced a defective vehicle.

The best way to learn about your legal rights after a car accident is to talk to a skilled and experienced back injury lawyer in Mobile, Alabama. An attorney can assess your situation and advise you about your legal options.

Get a Top-Rated Alabama Car Accident Lawyer on Your Side

When you choose the car accident attorneys at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana to take on your car accident claims, you can get the legal help you need when you need it most.

Our team will thoroughly examine the specific details of your case to determine which legal options are most likely to recover compensation for your damages. We are not afraid to negotiate with insurance companies, fight back when they attempt to make you insultingly low settlement offers, and present your case at trial so a judge and jury can hear how significantly your life has been affected by your lower back injuries.

What Our Team at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana Does to Support Car Accident Victims

When you are suffering from severe lower back injuries after being involved in a car accident, the last thing you should have to deal with is a complex litigation process. When our car accident lawyers take on your case, you can recuperate while we handle the legal elements of your insurance and civil claims.

We will thoroughly investigate how your injuries occurred, determine who caused your accident, and begin to quantify the damages so that you are compensated for every loss. Our team will need to analyze the details of your case so we can prove liability based on a preponderance of the evidence.

Common Lower Back Injuries in a Car Accident

Car crashes can result in several types of lower back injuries. Some of these include:

• Strains and sprains
• Herniated/slipped discs
• Bruised vertebrae
• Spinal cord trauma
• Broken back or neck
• Sacrum dislocation
• Severed spinal cord
• Paralysis.

In addition to lower back injuries, a person can sustain spinal cord injuries in car accidents. According to the Mayo Clinic, spinal cord injuries can cause one or more of the following signs and symptoms:

• Loss of movement
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
• Loss of or altered sensation, including the ability to feel heat, cold, and touch
• Difficulty breathing, coughing, or clearing secretions from the lungs
• Exaggerated reflex activities or spasms
• Pain or an intense stinging sensation caused by damage to the nerve fibers in the spinal cord
• Changes in sexual function, sexual sensitivity, and fertility.

The lowest part of a spinal cord that remains undamaged after injuries or crashes is considered the neurological level of an injury. The severity, or the “completeness,” is classified as one of the following:

• Complete. If all feeling (sensory) and all ability to control movement (motor function) are lost below the spinal cord injury, the injury is called complete.
• Incomplete. If a person has some motor or sensory function below the affected area, the injury is called incomplete. There are varying degrees of incomplete injury.

Why Does My Lower Back Hurt After a Car Accident?

Can You Sue for Back Pain After a Car Accident?

Your lower back hurts after a car accident because the violent jolt or jerking upon impact can strain muscles and whip your spine unnaturally. It often results in severe bruising, bulging discs, and damaged nerves – all painful.

People with nerve pain feel different types of pain, whether it is stabbing pain in the middle of the night, chronic prickling and tingling, or an unexplained burning sensation. Uncontrolled nerve pain is hard for a person to bear. How long your lower back will hurt after a car accident usually depends on the following:

• The severity of the initial injury
• The effectiveness of treatment
• Whether there are complicating factors.

How Much Should I Settle for after a Lower Back Injury?

A car accident victim with lower back injuries can collect damages from insurance companies.  Some of these damages cover:

• Medical care, including doctor visits, hospitalization, ongoing maintenance, therapy, rehabilitation, medications, and medical devices and equipment
• Damage to your vehicle and other property resulting from the accident
• The income you have lost while you recuperate from your injuries
• The income you may lose in the future if you cannot work or cannot work in the same capacity
• Mental anguish and physical pain and suffering you are experiencing.

A car accident victim can also demand payment for what is referred to as “non-economic” damages, such as emotional distress and trauma resulting in depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental states that diminish your quality of life.

The other driver can be liable for these because if you had not had the bad luck of being on the same roadway as that careless driver, you would not be undergoing physical and emotional trauma.

How Does an Attorney Establish Negligence in a Car Accident Case?

Our attorneys understand how to prove negligence in an injury case under Alabama law. To prove negligence, you must prove four elements:

1. Duty
2. Breach
3. Causation
4. Damages.

A plaintiff will need to prove these to have a successful claim. In a personal injury case, “negligence” refers to one party’s careless or reckless behavior that harmed another. That means the careless person is legally liable for the injuries the other person suffers. Most legal disputes use this method in personal injury cases for assessing and determining fault.

Contact a Back Injury Lawyer for Help Today

If you or a loved one has suffered a lower back injury in a car accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation, especially if the other driver was negligent. You do not have to pay all those medical bills by yourself. You can sue insurance companies to cover the cost of doctors, hospitals, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

In the terrible event that there was the loss of life in a car accident, you can file a wrongful death claim. A skilled attorney at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana can review your case and explain your legal options if you’ve sustained injuries in car accidents.

We are aggressive negotiators and fearless litigators. We fight relentlessly for our clients to ensure they get the justice they deserve. To learn more about how we can help you, call us for a free initial consultation at (251) 444-7000.