Rear-end car crashes often occur at slow speeds and often happen at intersections. Even a slow speed collision can cause a lot of damage. Bankrate indicates when an SUV and car are involved in a rear-end crash with vehicles going just 10 miles per hour, as much as $10,000 in property damage can be done. Both slow-speed and high-speed rear end crashes in Indianapolis can also cause significant injury to collision victims, including whiplash injuries and many other different types of bodily damage.
After a crash happens, all parties involved in the accidents should seek medical attention. Going to a qualified, licensed medical care provider and having a comprehensive exam could save your life and your financial security.
Why Seek Medical Attention After a Rear-End Crash?
You should seek medical attention right after a rear-end crash happens for many different reasons. For example:
- Injuries without outward symptoms can be diagnosed and treated.
- Prompt treatment for serious injuries can begin to improve prognosis.
- Injuries can be documented, with detailed medical records kept of exactly how severe the injuries are.
- The cause of injuries can be documented in medical records.
Obviously, getting treatment is the single most important reason to see a doctor, because you do not want a serious medical condition to go untreated even briefly. Mayo Clinic warns brain injury symptoms are sometimes delayed, so a victim could have bleeding or bruising causing swelling and damage to the brain and not know it right away. Web MD also indicates whiplash symptoms could be delayed 24-hours or more. Victims may not even know they are hurt until they get medical help and their bodies could be damaged worse as they wait. By seeing a doctor, you can find out exactly what happened to your body due to the crash and treatment can begin immediately.
Seeing a doctor is also important to ensure your finances remain stable. Car accident losses can be very costly, with Auto Insurance Center indicating claim costs for bodily injury claims had risen to $15,506 in 2013. Most people don't have $15,000 to spend on medical care for injuries, or even a fraction of this amount. It is important to try to get auto insurers to cover these costs, but auto insurers will pay damages only if victims can prove they are entitled to them.
Indiana is a fault state, so drivers at fault for accidents have to pay. Buying liability insurance is required at $25,000 per person injured and $50,000 per accident minimum total coverage (some drivers buy more). If a crash victim can show who was at fault for the accident and can demonstrate the extent of injuries with medical records, the victim can be compensated for losses.
Rear-drivers are presumed to blame, so those who are in the front car can usually be compensated provided they have comprehensive medical data showing how badly they were hurt when the rear-end crash happened. Seeing a doctor right away ensures detailed medical records are available to be used as evidence in an injury claim.