What to Do After Suffering Whiplash in a Truck Accident?
Whiplash is one of the most common truck accident injuries. It is an injury that is typically caused by a person suffering a severe jerk to the head. At Pike & Lustig, LLP, we have extensive experience handling whiplash cases. Here, our West Palm Beach truck accident lawyer offers a step-by-step guide if you suffered whiplash in a crash.
Step #1: Seek Immediate Medical Attention for Whiplash
Whiplash is commonly associated with rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head and neck. After a serious truck crash, you should obtain a medical evaluation even if you are initially able to walk away from the collision. A doctor can evaluate neck pain, stiffness, headaches, reduced range of motion, neurological symptoms, and other complications.
Know the Law: Prompt care is a must under Florida insurance law. If personal injury protection (PIP) coverage applies, Florida Statutes § 627.736 generally requires initial medical services and care within 14 days of the truck accident for medical benefits to be available.
Step #2: Save All As Much Evidence as Possible from the Truck Accident
Evidence is key. All serious crashes should be thoroughly investigated by an experienced attorney. A commercial truck accident can generate considerably more evidence than a typical passenger vehicle collision. Along with photographs, witness information, police reports, and vehicle-damage evidence, potentially relevant trucking evidence may include electronic logging data, dispatch information, maintenance records, driver qualification materials, onboard electronic data, dash-camera footage, cargo information, and more.
Step #3: Follow Your Treatment Plan and Seek All Necessary Follow-Up Care
Whiplash claims are built on medical evidence. You need to seek follow-up care not only for your health and well-being but also for the sake of your legal claim. Among other things, your follow-up medical records may establish the nature of the injury, the persistence of symptoms, physical limitations, treatment provided, and whether the condition improves or becomes chronic.
What to Know About No Fault: In a Florida truck accident claims are subject to the no-fault threshold, whiplash can support recovery for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and inconvenience only if the injury satisfies Fla. Stat. § 627.737(2). For most whiplash claims, the key issue is whether the neck injury caused a significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function or constitutes a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability. A whiplash diagnosis alone does not satisfy the threshold. The claimant needs medical evidence establishing the required permanence or functional loss before recovering these non-economic damages.
Step #4: Be Extremely Cautious With Insurance Adjusters
You may hear from an insurance company shortly after a truck accident. Either your own PIP provider or the truck company’s insurer. A key point to remember is that the big insurance companies are not on your side. With that in mind, you should be especially careful about detailed recorded statements, broad medical authorizations, or early settlement proposals from a liability insurer. An insurer may investigate whether the collision caused the claimed whiplash, whether treatment was reasonable and necessary, or even whether your whiplash was pre-existing.
Contact Our West Palm Beach Truck Accident Lawyer Today
At Pike & Lustig, LLP, our West Palm Beach semi-truck accident attorney has the knowledge and personal injury expertise that victims can trust. If you or your family member suffered whiplash in a commercial truck, we can help. Give us a call now for a free consultation. With an office in West Palm Beach and an office in Miami, we handle whiplash injury claims throughout South Florida.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0600-0699/0627/Sections/0627.736.html
