T-Bone Accidents & Injuries in Pennsylvania
Some car accidents are more severe than others, and T-Bone accidents are among the worst for potential injuries.
A T-Bone accident takes place when the front of one vehicle impacts the side of the other, creating a T-shape at that point of impact. These motor vehicle accidents commonly take place at intersections where drivers run through red lights, ignore stop signs, or are otherwise not paying attention. As they cut through the intersection, the front of their car hits the side of the car going in the opposite direction.
An experienced personal injury attorney handling T-Bone Accident Lawsuits can help you determine whether you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills and the sum of all of your damages, including those to your physical and mental health. Our Pennsylvania personal injury team can also help you gather information for an impending claim if you are suing a negligent driver who is responsible for causing your T-bone accident injuries. Contact us for a free consultation at (215) 337-4915.
What are Common Causes of T-Bone Accidents?
When it comes to T-bone accidents, the common causes include:
- Negligent drivers who are eating or drinking while driving
- Negligent drivers who are adjusting their radio or other controls in their car
- Negligent drivers who are texting, calling, or otherwise using their smartphones while on the road
- Drivers who are fatigued or intoxicated
- Drivers who are running a red light or ignoring other traffic signals
Common Injuries from T-Bone Accidents
There are many common injuries sustained from T-Bone car accidents, including bone fractures and breaks, back injuries, neck injuries, damaged rotator cuffs, and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Bone Fractures & Breaks
Some of the leading injuries from a T-bone accident include broken bones or fractures. Bones break easily because of the sudden impact of a T-bone accident and can take months to heal. Broken bones and fractures can interfere with your daily tasks and inhibit your ability to work.
Back Injuries
In a T-bone accident, the force of the impact can cause critical damage to your spinal cord, damaging the nerves, reducing control over your extremities, creating a herniated disc which can result in regular pain and muscle weakness, or paralysis.
Neck Injuries & Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common car accident injuries that can manifest in the form of stiffness, neck pain, and headaches and later produce long-lasting physical problems like chronic neck pain.
Rotator Cuff Damage
If your shoulder joint is damaged as the driver who was impacted during the T-bone accident or the passenger, it can cause rotator cuff tears or strains between the muscle and the joint. These can result in long-term complications that interfere with your ability to work or handle daily tasks.
Brain Trauma
Traumatic brain injuries happen when the force of the accident damages your brain tissue. This can interfere with your ability to do day-to-day tasks, inhibit with your movement, and it can temporarily or permanently impact your cognition. It can take months or years for injuries like these to manifest, as TBI’s have the insidious ability to delay in presenting themselves until symptoms shockingly arise long after the immediate period following the accident that caused the TBI.
Determining Fault for a T-bone Accident
The state of Pennsylvania is a no-fault state. This means that all drivers must carry personal injury protection insurance or PIP insurance. If you get into a car accident, your initial medical costs are covered by your insurance provider no matter who was at fault.
However, with T-Bone accidents and injuries, your personal injury protection insurance may not be sufficient. When determining whether you can sue someone else at fault for a car accident comes down to the type of car insurance policy you have, whether it be limited tort or full tort.
Limited tort, as the name suggests, means there is a financial limit to how much you can sue someone else for after a car accident. Conversely, full tort, also as the name suggests, means there is no limit, and you can sue an at-fault driver for all remaining medical bills, rehabilitation needs, pain and suffering, and other losses connected with the accident, such as lost wages from missed time while unable to work or even permanent disability.
What to do if You Have Been Injured in a T-bone Accident?
If you are involved in a T-bone accident, you should follow these steps:
Exchange Information
Once the scene is safe, exchange information including contact information and insurance information with all other drivers. Collect contact information for any other passengers who were in the vehicles involved in the accident, bystanders, or witnesses.
Call the Police
Call the local police department immediately so that they can send officers to the scene who can file an official report. This police report will serve as the biggest piece of evidence you have if you decide to file a claim for compensation with not only your insurance provider but with the other party involved. It can be challenging for you to prove what transpired during the accident without the data-driven explanation of a police report. Police reports will also contain evidentiary support like pictures, official sketches, and information from witnesses who might need to be contacted later.
Document the Scene
If you can, take notes and document the scene. Take notes, including the names and badge numbers of any police officers who come to the accident. Use your phone to take pictures of the direction from which the other vehicle traveled, the license plates, damages to vehicles and property, as well as injuries. Taking pictures with your phone will come with time stamps and location metadata which can authenticate the pictures in court, if necessary.
Get Medical Attention
No matter how great you might feel after an accident, you should always immediately go to an emergency room or have your primary care physician give you a checkup. After an accident, your adrenaline might trick you into believing that you are perfectly fine, but just because you don’t see external injuries doesn’t mean that you haven’t been injured in your T-bone accident. A common mistake people make is to avoid going to a doctor or a hospital after a T-bone accident. But this can make it next to impossible to detect things like soft tissue damage or whiplash which will compound with time.
Contact our Bensalem T-Bone Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation Today
By contacting our firm at Cohen & Riechelson, our lawyers can review all the details of your T-bone accident case, help you determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit against another driver or other negligent party, file all of the necessary paperwork within necessary timeframes, and working diligently to achieve compensation through negotiation or litigation. We frequently advocate for injured clients whose T-bone collisions caused major impacts on their lives in Bensalem, Philadelphia, Bristol, Doylestown, Croydon, Fairless Hills, Bucks County, neighboring areas near Northeast Philadelphia & Lower Bucks County, and elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
Connect with us at (215) 337-4915 or fill out our online contact form to learn more about your rights when dealing with T-Bone Accident injuries and your available options for rectifying the wrongs and recovering financial damages caused by someone else.