What Causes a Spinal Injury in San Antonio?

Spinal cord injuries often result from auto accidents. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, vehicle crashes are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries, responsible for 39.3 percent of all injuries.

Many traffic accidents occur due to negligent or wrongful actions or a failure to act by a motorist, and all have the potential to cause a devastating spinal cord injury. These actions include:

Speeding: Failing to follow posted speed limits increases the risk of accidents. Additionally, faster-moving cars cause a greater impact, resulting in more severe injuries, such as spinal cord injuries.

Disobeying traffic signs and signals: Drivers and pedestrians must follow traffic signs and signals intended to control the flow of traffic. Ignoring stop signs, signal lights, and yield signs contributes to many collisions, especially at intersections.

Reckless driving: Reckless driving is the “willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.” It is distinguished from negligence to comprise a particularly egregious — or even intentional —act. Examples of reckless driving include changing lanes erratically, driving excessively over the speed limit or too fast for weather conditions, and road rage.

Driving under the influence: The legal blood alcohol limit in Texas is 0.08 percent. Driving while intoxicated is a significant problem in San Antonio and the wider state. Drivers might also use drugs, such as marijuana or prescription medications, which impair driving ability by impacting decision-making and reducing reaction speed.

Distracted driving: Drivers generally don’t have much time to react to changes in road, weather, or other conditions. Most drivers maintain a two or three-second “safe distance” from the vehicle ahead, so being distracted for just a few moments can lead to a devastating accident. Reading a text, changing a song, and inputting GPS coordinates all seem like quick, inconsequential tasks, but even the smallest distraction can result in a life-changing traffic accident.

San Antonio roads are among the most dangerous in Texas and even the country. Bexar County highways and intersections regularly feature on lists of the most accident-prone roads in the U.S. These include:

• Loop 1604
• Interstate 10
• Northwest Loop 410
• US 281
• Interstate 35
• West Loop 1604 North
• Highway 16
• Northeast Loop 410
• Alamo Ranch Parkway
• Westwood Loop.

An auto accident is the most common cause of spinal injuries, but it’s not the only one.

Contact our San Antonio spinal cord injury lawyer if you’ve suffered a back or neck injury after an auto accident or any other type of trauma. We can help you recover compensation after any of the following:

• San Antonio car accident
• San Antonio truck accident
• San Antonio motorcycle accident
• San Antonio product liability accident (including auto defects)
• San Antonio slip and fall accident
• San Antonio work injury
• San Antonio construction accident.

At your free, no-obligation consultation, we’ll evaluate whether you have a claim and explain the process of recovering fair compensation for your injuries. Our personal injury law firm puts your best interests first, providing individualized attention and care from beginning to end.

What Is the Impact of a San Antonio Spinal Injury?

Spinal injuries impact individuals in a variety of ways, including:

• Quality of life: A spinal injury can cause partial or complete impairment of sensation and motor function, so you may no longer complete everyday activities or participate in hobbies. Sometimes, even minor tasks become difficult.
• Medical: Spinal injuries often require lifelong rehabilitation with no guarantee of improvement. Accident survivors may also develop other physical and mental health conditions, including difficulty breathing, depression, and cognitive impairment.
• Financial: Spinal cord injuries cause significant financial strain. First, someone suffering from a spinal cord injury must seek medical care. Treatment for a spinal cord injury can prove costly, comprising hospital and emergency room visits, doctors’ fees, surgery, rehabilitation, and assistive medical devices. Second, a spinal cord injury victim often suffers a loss in income due to needing time off work to visit the doctor and recover from operations. Sometimes, an accident victim may be unable to return to work altogether due to permanent disability or job loss. A spinal cord injury victim may also incur expenses to repair their vehicle or modify their home to accommodate their disability.

How Do You Start a Spinal Cord Injury Claim in San Antonio, TX?

The first step in starting an injury claim is to contact a spinal cord injury lawyer in San Antonio to find out where you stand.

You should also seek medical attention as soon as possible after your accident to document your symptoms and begin treatment. Sadly, many spinal cord injuries are permanent, but how soon you begin treatment can make a significant difference to how much function you can recover over time.

It’s also vital to document everything. Evidence is key for successfully recovering compensation — you need to prove your injuries occurred during the accident and because of another party’s negligence. Your medical records, accident report, photographs of your injuries, and conversations with insurance companies are valuable evidence for a claim. Don’t forget to retain receipts, invoices, and estimates for bills you incur, such as for treatment and repairing your vehicle, as you can recover these costs.

You’re also entitled to compensation for the impact of your injury on your life. The best way to support your attorney ‌and set up your claim for success is to record how your spinal cord injury affects you from day to day. It’s helpful to document your progress in a journal. Consider the following:

• How much pain are you in, on a scale of one to ten?
• What activities do you go to do but cannot because of your injury?
• What do you need help with from family and friends?
  • Importantly, how does relying on others make you feel? Loss of independence can have a massive impact on your mental health, and you can recover compensation for the emotional distress your accident has caused.

What Happens After You Start Your San Antonio Spinal Cord Injury Case?

Your San Antonio spinal cord injury lawyer will begin by opening negotiations with the liable party’s insurance company. There are many benefits to settling an insurance claim, including avoiding a lengthy court battle and maintaining privacy. However, if your damages (the monetary worth of your claim) exceed the other party’s insurance, the insurance company denies your claim, or an insurance adjuster refuses to make a fair offer, you might decide to sue.

Few claims reach this stage, but your San Antonio spinal cord injury lawyer will explain your options and the pros and cons of going to trial to help you make a decision.

Before and after filing a lawsuit, your attorney will gather evidence to build a persuasive case. This process — called discovery — involves each side exchanging documents and information and interviewing witnesses by conducting interrogatories and depositions (written and verbal statements taken under oath, respectively).

Expert witnesses in a spinal cord injury case can help determine how an injury happened and its severity. Your personal injury lawyer will decide which witnesses are most beneficial to your case. Witnesses are often essential to a favorable outcome at trial. Medical professionals can help educate the judge and jury about the medical aspects of your injury and your projected recovery, while economic experts can testify to your future costs and projected loss of income.

As your spinal cord injury lawyer in San Antonio, Patino Law Firm seeks to negotiate the best possible settlements for our clients, but we’re also experienced trial advocates who are not afraid to go to court when you’re owed more. Whatever the case, we will represent you zealously to secure the outcome you deserve.

What Compensation Can You Secure for a Spinal Cord Injury?

A spinal cord injury can have a massive physical, emotional, and financial impact, and you may be entitled to a significant payout. Whether through negotiating a settlement or securing a judgment at trial, we will help you secure:

• Compensation for medical bills related to the injury: This type of compensation includes hospital bills, prescription drugs, operation costs, doctor visits, rehabilitation fees, assistive medical devices, including wheelchairs, home modifications, and vehicle modifications, and future medical expenses.
• Compensation for lost wages: You can recover lost wages due to missed work and future lost wages resulting from a loss of earning capacity.
• Compensation for pain and suffering: This type of compensation includes physical and emotional pain and loss of enjoyment if your injury prevents you from doing activities that previously brought you joy.
• Punitive damages: These damages may be awarded by a jury to punish the defendant for gross conduct and to deter similar actions, such as if you sustained a spinal cord injury in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

Frequently Asked Questions about Spinal Cord Injuries in San Antonio