Free Consultation
While people inside cars have seatbelts, airbags, and the car’s frame protecting them in the event of an accident, pedestrians involved in traffic collisions do not have anything to separate them from the full force of a motor vehicle. Unfortunately, this means that even relatively low-speed pedestrian crashes tend to cause long-lasting, often life-altering, and sometimes even life-threatening, injuries.
Recovering fair financial compensation for Philadelphia pedestrian accident injuries requires a lot of legal and medical expertise, but it can be helpful to start with a basic overview of what injuries happen more often than others in these types of wrecks.
Lower Body Injuries
Because the front bumper of most motor vehicles rises up to the thighs or waist of a typical pedestrian, injuries to the lower body are the most common outcome of pedestrian wrecks in Philadelphia. More specifically, fractures to the tibia, fibula, or pelvis are particularly common, as are soft-tissue injuries like lacerations, tears to ligaments in the knees or hips, and sometimes dislocations of one or both legs from the hip sockets.
Face and Neck Injuries
While not quite as common as lower body injuries, trauma to the face, neck, or skull also often occurs because of collisions between cars and unprotected pedestrians. Depending on the circumstances, this sort of injury may stem from a pedestrian rolling over the hood of the car that struck them or falling onto hard pavement or asphalt after the impact, but either way, lacerations to the face, fractures in the jaw or skull, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be the result.
Trauma to the Upper Body
Pickup trucks, SUVs, and other large commuter cars may strike a pedestrian in the upper body, causing injuries like arm and rib fractures, dislocated shoulders, and ligament tears and strains. At especially high speeds, organ damage may occur because of a pedestrian crash, which could have life-threatening effects on the pedestrian involved.
Spinal Cord Trauma
Damage to the spinal cord is also an unfortunately common injury sustained by Philadelphia residents caught up in pedestrian accidents. Even a minor twisting or tearing of the spinal cord could result in a loss of sensory or motor function lasting for months and requiring expensive medical resources to address, and any accident that results in the spinal cord being completely severed will invariably cause permanent paralysis below the injury site.
Let Our Philadelphia Attorneys Demand Fair Compensation for a Pedestrian Accident Injury
Even if the physical damage from a pedestrian accident heals with time and proper medical care, the financial and psychological effects of the wreck may persist for months, years, or even a lifetime. Crashes that result in permanent disability or disfigurement are exponentially more impactful. And, most importantly, either type of injury could be the basis for civil litigation.
Guidance from an experienced legal professional at Lowenthal and Abrams is crucial to getting every cent of restitution you deserve for your Philadelphia pedestrian accident injuries. Schedule an initial consultation with our firm by calling us today.
