Statistics tell us that the chance of being involved in a car accident at some point during your lifetime is about one in four. Each year, over six million car accidents happen on the United States roadways. In Sacramento County alone, for the year 2008, there were 7,874 injuries related to vehicular accidents and eighty-four fatalities according to the California Highway Patrol. If you are involved in a car accident, one of the most important things you can do is seek medical care as soon as possible following the accident according to Sacramento car accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates.
In a catastrophic car accident, the victims are transported from the scene of the accident to the nearest emergency medical center and are checked for all possible injuries. Frequently though, in less sever accidents, the victims don’t feel the effects of the accident immediately and refuse transport to an emergency room for evaluation. Sacramento car accident attorney Emery Ledger says that refusing to be transported for evaluation can often be a mistake.
He most important reasons why you should agree to be checked out thoroughly immediately following a car accident is that many injuries do not present themselves with symptoms until some time after the accident. The most common example is whiplash. Many people suffer whiplash injuries after a car accident but they typically do not feel the pain from the injury until hours or days after the accident. While whiplash is not normally a life threatening injury, it can have complications and should be treated as soon as possible. Treatment may also prevent more sever pain from the injury. Other injuries, such as back and spinal cord injuries, can be much more sever and even life threatening. As with whiplash, the true symptoms of these injuries may not present themselves immediately. Unlike whiplash though, delays in treatment of a back or spinal cord injury can seriously hamper the recovery process and may even lead to additional injuries. The only may to be certain that you have not suffered any serious or life threatening injuries is to have a medical professional evaluate you immediately following the accident, says Sacramento car accident attorney Emery Ledger.
The other reason to seek treatment immediately following a car accident is that if the accident was not your fault and you hope to recover anything for your injuries, then you will need to prove that any injuries you have were a direct result of the accident. The longer you wait to seek treatment, the harder it will be to prove that the injury you have was a result of the car accident, according to Sacramento car accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates.
If you have recently been in a car accident and have not yet been evaluated by a medical professional, you should consider doing so immediately. If you were in an accident and believe that the other driver was at fault for the accident, then contact Sacramento car accident attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates for a free detailed evaluation of your case. Attorney Ledger can be reached at his toll-free number 1-800-300-0001 or you may visit him at www.ledgerlaw.com.
