Crashes are a leading cause of spinal cord injury — the violent loading of a collision fracturing or dislocating vertebrae into the cord itself. What follows depends on level and completeness; what the claim must do is fund that ‘what follows’ for life.
The Medical Picture
- Mechanics: flexion, compression, and rotation forces damage the cord directly or through bone fragments; MedlinePlus covers levels and classifications.
- Level decides function: cervical injuries reach the arms and breathing; thoracic and lumbar injuries the trunk and legs — ‘incomplete’ injuries preserve some function and still change lives.
- The data: CDC and NHTSA track crash-caused SCI — high-speed, rollover, and truck collisions dominate.
What It Means for Your Claim
These are catastrophic claims by definition — life-care planning, economists, every coverage layer — run through our spinal cord injury practice. The early-settlement warning applies at maximum strength: no SCI claim should resolve before a professional plan prices the decades.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between complete and incomplete injuries for a claim?
Different care trajectories, both lifelong — incomplete injuries still carry attendant needs, complication risks, and work impact. The plan prices your actual trajectory, not a category.
The insurer offered policy limits immediately. Take it?
Not before mapping every other source — UIM coverage, additional defendants, umbrella layers. Fast limits tenders confirm value; see our policy-limits explainer.
How is future care actually calculated?
Through a life-care plan: clinicians project needs (care hours, equipment cycles, home modification), economists price them across a lifetime. It’s the largest number in the case and the one built most carefully.
Dealing with this injury after a crash someone else caused? Call (215) 464-4600 or contact us online — free, confidential consultations, contingency-fee representation.