Serious Personal Injuries Can Result From Minor Impact Car Accidents
As a St. Louis car accident lawyer, we fight insurance companies everyday to advocate for fair compensation for our seriously injured clients. Some of our personal injury claims involve instances with minor property damage. Minor property damage is customarily defined as damage to a vehicle resulting in less than $1000 in repairs. Insurance claims adjusters vigorously fight minor impact soft tissue (MIST) injury claims. They claim that no injuries could possibly result from a vehicular impact that results in damage less than $1000. Unfortunately for the victim, personal injuries can, and do, result from minor collisions and minor impacts.
Don't let the insurance claims adjuster intimidate you into believing that MIST claims are not meritorious. Fact of the matter is that insurance companies cannot make the argument at trial that minor impact collisions did not cause the injuries to the plaintiff. To do so would require the live testimony of a doctor who, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, believes that their is a direct correlation between amount of property damage and injury claimed.
Most qualified orthopedists and neurologists agree that minor impact car accidents can and do result in serious injuries to the head, spine, and nervous system. In fact, crashes occurring less than 10 mph have a high probability of causing some degree of spine trauma, including injury to the discs and spinal column. Injury victims often times experience numbness and tingling down their arms or legs, which is a sign of a serious disc injury, otherwise known as radiculopathy. These symptoms can eventually necessitate a spine decompression or spine disc fusion.
Arguing with insurance claims adjusters over a minor impact injury claim is a waste of time. Filing a lawsuit and getting the claim moving in the courts is often times the only way of getting the attention of a decision-maker at the insurance company. Defense lawyers know what is and what isn't admissible as evidence in court. They know that the position of the claims adjuster may not always be a viable defense in court. Do your homework. Contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer at Schultz & Myers by calling (866) 840-3636, or locally at (314) 448-0934. Don't be victimized twice.