Most drivers forsake their duty to pave the right path for pedestrians. From reckless driving to distracted driving, careless drivers cause severe harm and hurt pedestrians in San Diego every other day. Without a doubt, California suffers a lot of pedestrian accidents.

According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, California is among the four leading states with most pedestrian accidents. In San Diego, pedestrian accidents are mainly on the rise, creating the vision zero initiative to curb pedestrian accidents and other traffic fatalities by 2025.

Despite how careful a pedestrian is, he/she is always at risk of being involved in accidents because they cannot control other drivers' behavior. Even with all the benefits of walking, pedestrians are endangered and are likely to suffer severe injuries if they are involved in an accident with a motor vehicle.

If you or your loved one have been involved in a pedestrian accident even when obeying the state law, we at the San Diego Personal Injury Law Firm will help you fight for your justice. We are well skilled and have helped injured victims attain justice and the compensation they deserve. 

Common Pedestrian Accident Injuries

If a pedestrian is involved in an accident with a vehicle, he/she is disadvantaged. It is because car manufacturers have provided safety features in cars such as seat belts, crash avoidance systems, and airbags. On the other hand, the pedestrian is exposed and not protected from a collision with a motor vehicle. Hene in an accident involving a pedestrian and a  motor vehicle, the pedestrian often suffer severe injuries, including:

Head Injuries

Pedestrians have no protection on their heads, so any contact on their head or fall may cause a head injury. Since pedestrians hit by cars often suffer a severe blow on their heads, they are likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury. This kind of brain damage can be a life change and, at times, cause disability or death. Mild traumatic brain injuries are also known as concussions.

Pedestrians who are hit by a car endure rain injury in two ways. In most cases, they suffer at least one brutal blow to their head while other times, the impact results in a penetrating injury(open head wound) that affects the brain.

There are possible effects of traumatic brain injury on pedestrian accident victims. They include:

  • Thinking — These injuries can affect the victim’s learning, decision making, reasoning, and decision making.
  • Sensation — Victims endure a sensory problem together with balancing issues. Additionally, the victim may also suffer from double vision, loss of taste, bitter taste in their mouth, numbness, ringing in their ears, and severe pain.
  • Language — In some instances, the victim's ability to read, write, understand words, fathom ideas, communicate, and express their feelings may be affected.
  • Emotion — Pedestrians who have suffered a traumatic brain injury may experience changes in their personality, be more aggressive, develop depression or anxiety, and act out.

Severe traumatic brain damage may also expose the client to:

  • Epilepsy
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Alzheimer’s disease
  • Brain disarray, like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is caused by continuous blows to the head.

If you have been involved in a pedestrian accident, watch out for these symptoms to know if you have suffered a brain injury:

  • Headache that becomes intense wit time
  • Limbs numbness and decreased coordination over time
  • Excessive weakness
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Slurred speech. It could resemble the one caused by excessive alcohol intake.

If you are looking after a person who has suffered a blow to their head, you should contact emergency responders if you notice that:

  • The victim is exhausted and is unable to wake up.
  • The victim is experiencing some convulsions.
  • The victim becomes more confused with time. (agitated)
  • The victim behaves abnormally.
  • The victim becomes unconscious.

If you have suffered any of the above, you must contact a personal injury attorney who will guide you through and help you fight for your justice.

Spinal Injuries

Spinal injuries are common in car accidents, and they oppose serious harm to your body. Every year, America records around 17,000 new spinal cord injuries caused by road accidents. Some of the common symptoms of spinal cord injuries are Severe pain, numbness, or tingling.

Different Types of Spinal Cord Injuries

A cord consists of tissues, vertebrae, and nerves that run through the back and connect with the brain to form a central nervous system. It plays essential roles in the body, and when injured, it can cause severe pain and affect the body's functionality.

The spinal cord has three central regions, namely:

  • Lumbar spine — It is found at the bottommost back.
  • Thoracic spine — intermediary back.
  • Cervical spine — top neck and back.

Common types of spinal cord injuries include:

  • Fracture Vertebrae — Your spine is composed of 33 vertebrae, and when one vertebrae fractures can affect the rest of your spinal code. The stability of your spine after the fracture determines the severity of the fractured vertebra.
  • Bulging Discs — In most cases, when involved in an accident, your neck moves forward and backward (whiplash). In case a disc is forced to protrude out of its alignment by the tremendous force, it causes a Bulging Disc. If untreated, it can lead to a rupture.
  • Herniated/Ruptured discs — Discs in the spine consist of tough cartilage bound and a soft inside. When there is a sudden impact on your range, like that in a rear-end accident, it may cause tears in the soft inner layer leading to severe pain called Ruptured disc or herniated.
  • Pinched Nerves — Spinal cord nerves are meant to signal different body parts. But when a herniated or bulging disc pushes a nerve, It may cause numbness, tinglings, and hurt to other muscles.
  • Paraplegia — It is a form of paralysis that affects the function of muscles from the waist downwards. It is mainly endured from injuries that affect the Thoracic rachis.
  • Quadriplegia — It is a form of paralysis that mainly affects the movement's functionality from the neck downward. In most cases, it develops from cervical spine injuries.
  • Spinal Stenosis — When the spinal canal areas start to decrease, they add pressure to the spinal column and nerves, which leads to spinal stenosis. However, few people are born with this condition, but it mainly results from severe spine injuries.
  • Spondylolysis — It is a common word used to refer to a regressive condition of the spine. Although in some cases, it is a result of aging or wearing and tearing, it also results from traumatic injuries like a severe crash.

If you suffered a pedestrian accident and have any of the following symptoms, it is essential to get a check-up as you may have a damaged vertebra:

  • Movement difficulties
  • Weak muscles
  • Contraction of muscles
  • Loss of sensation of touch or temperature
  • Breathing problems
  • Sexual defectiveness
  • Digestive problems
  • Tingling or numbness
  • A Pinching outrage in the back.

You should seek medical conditions if you have severe back pains or any of the mentioned symptoms.

Neck and Back Injuries

Most back and neck injuries result from rear-end collisions. When a pedestrian is hit by a car, he/she can suffer minor and severe neck and back injuries. While some injuries require little care, others need lifelong medical care or extended care. These injuries could also affect various body parts' functionality and stop you from performing your duties.  Some of the minor injuries include:

  • Broken bones
  • Bruises
  • Scrapes

While significant injuries include whiplash, in some cases, it could also lead to spinal cord injury or any injuries mentioned under the spinal injuries. Common types of neck and back damage include:

  • Back strains — Back strains result from pressure or force that damages the soft tissue causing them to overstretch. Back pieces cause severe pains and mobility issues.
  • Back sprains — Back sprains also result from damaged soft tissue in the back. It could also result from damaged ligaments that connect bones or joints.
  • Compression Fractures — Compression fractures are serious injuries that usually cause breathing problems and severe pain. It is a crack or a small breakage in the spine bones.

Some of the common symptoms include:

  • Neck stiffness
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Pain when moving the neck in various directions
  • Tension on the shoulders
  • You can feel some numbness and tingle in arms or hands.
  • Fatigue
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Abnormal reflexes
  • Mood swings.

Chest Contusions

Due to the impact of the vehicle, a pedestrian may experience severe bruising on their chest. The effect can cause other damages like:

  • Myocardial Contusion — This is a bruise on the heart that mainly affects the heart's nerves and the muscle tissue. These effects reduce the ability of the heart to pump and contract blood through the whole body. If myocardial contusions are severe, it can lead to sudden death.
  • Pulmonary Contusion — A pulmonary contusion endangers the victim's life since it does not show immediately. In most cases, it only affects the lungs. Fluid and blood build up around the lungs, thus reducing the oxygen supply in the body. Improper treatment can be life-threatening.
  • Broken Ribs — Direct force on the chest can lead to breakage of ribs. There is no specific thing that can be done to a broken rib. The process of its treatment takes longer and can even last for months. Broken ribs can lead to complications like pneumonia, collapsed, or punctured lungs.
  • Pneumothorax — Pneumothorax is a term used to refer to a collapsed lung. This complication often results from blunt chest injuries. It also results when fluid or air moves into space affecting the chest cavity and the lungs. Mainly, the fluid or the air adds pressure to the lung's outer part, making it collapse.
  • Hemothorax — Hemothorax is mainly caused by a chest contusion or a broken rib. It refers to the oozing of blood between the lungs and the chest wall. A hemothorax and pneumothorax occur concurrently.

Injuries to Abdominal Organs

If the discoloration affects the abdominal part, it may injure the abdominal organs. These organs include:

  • The liver
  • The small intestine
  • The spleen
  • The large intestine

Common symptoms of chest contusions include:

  • Breathing difficulty
  • Blood loss may lead to hypotension.
  • Coughing blood
  • Lungs fail to expand correctly.
  • Flail chest(a section of the trunk depends on when inhaling)
  • Bruises on the chest
  • Crunching sounds, mainly when skimming the rib cage.
  • You can have a wound on the chest that sucks air.

Broken Bones and Fractures

Broken bones also referred to as fractures, are a typical result of pedestrian accidents considering the jolting a pedestrian faces dr. Fractures usually happen when bones are put on more force than they can handle, which is always the case in accidents. Broken bones from accidents can impact your life compared to other simple breakages since the motor vehicle collisions are usually complicated. You could suffer various fractures, and some could take several reconstructive surgeries to heal. It may make you disabled for some time while recovering. You must learn different types of fractures and their symptoms and their severity if you look forward to taking any legal action.

Depending on the bones' strength and the situations involved, different bones break in various ways. For instance, if an older person and a younger person are hit by a car, the older person's bones are likely to fracture even with a low impact than those of the younger person. Some of the common fractures that result from pedestrian accidents in San Diego include:

  • Closed/simple Fracture — This kind of fracture happens when bones break underneath the skin.
  • Open/compound fracture —This takes place when a broken bone pierces the skin. It may be visible or invisible.
  • Transverse fracture — The bone breaks horizontally in a straight line running through the bone.
  • Oblique fracture — This occurs when a bone breaks diagonally across the bone.
  • Comminuted fracture — This occurs when the bone fragments into three or more parts.
  • A segmental fracture — happens when a single bone fractures into two, causing a single bone piece.
  • Compression fracture — It happens when a bone is suppressed, making it appear flat.
  • Greenstick Fracture — It is referred to as an "incomplete break"; the bone slightly breaks and bends such that the broken part does not entirely separate. This kind of fracture is common in young children and teenagers since their bones are flexible compared to adults.
  • The spiral fracture — occurred when the bone was twisted and formed a spiral shape around the bone.
  • Avulsion Fracture — Happens when the movement of a ligament /tendon pulls off a piece of a bone.
  • An impacted fracture — occurs when two bone pieces are driven simultaneously and break in the process.
  • Stress Fracture — A tiny crack caused by a repeated movement, for instance, when run over several times.

No bone is resistant to breaking; any bone can fracture if excess force is applied to it. However, in a pedestrian accident, various bones are likely to crack more than others. These bones include:

  • Leg — Pedestrian accidents can lead to the breakage of the tibia, fibula, and femur.
  • Wrist/Arm — A pedestrian accident is likely to fracture all the three arm bones, including the radius, the humerus, and the ulna. When a reasonable amount of force is put on the arm and wrist bones, they are likely to break, mainly because it is human nature to protect themselves with their hands when in a vulnerable situation.
  • Collarbone/clavicle — This bone is among the most broken bones. The clavicle does not become strong enough until one is 20 years. That is why children these breakages are common in children and teenagers.
  • Ankle — Ankle fractures don't heal quickly and may require several surgeries to recover.
  • Hip — Hip bones are mainly broken in pedestrian accidents involving older people. Young people are not entirely safe from this breakage as some still break their hip bones depending on the collision's circumstance. Hip bones require surgeries to fix.

The common symptoms of Broken Bones and Fractures include:

  • Severe pain in the injured part, especially when touched.
  • Deformity
  • Tenderness, bruising, swelling.
  • Tingling and numbness
  • Unable to move a limb.

Pelvic Injuries

Pelvic injuries are common due to the structure of the car. When a person is struck by a vehicle while crossing the road, the pelvic area is at a higher risk of being injured than the front or back. There are two common types of pelvic injuries. They include:

  • Blunt Force Injuries — Affect the pelvic and abdomen parts without protruding to the skin.
  • Penetrating injuries —These are injuries that Impact the pelvic and abdomen areas and penetrate through the skin leading to severe bleeding and damage to the internal organs.

Symptoms of Pelvic Injuries

  • Bruising
  • Bleeding
  • Rupturing of the intestines
  • Bleeding of the organs
  • Broken/fractured bones.
  • Soreness

Cuts, Sprains, Strains, and Bruises

These are among the minor injuries suffered in a pedestrian accident. While they may be little than the above-listed injuries, they still can limit your movement or your ability to do your daily tasks. They are also considered as soft tissue injuries and may cause severe pain to the victim.

  • Sprains — This is caused by an injury that puts extra pressure on a joint, causing it to rupture its ligaments or overstretch. The most sprained joint is the ankle.
  • Strains —This is caused by either pulling or stretching a muscle. There are two common types of pieces which include:
    1. Back strain — Happens when muscles that brace the spine are injured.
    2. Hamstring Strain — Happens when extensive muscles at the back of the thigh stretch or tears. This injury can take up to 6 months to heal.
  • Bruises — results from damaged blood cells within the skin.

Internal Injuries

During a pedestrian accident, you can sustain muscle injuries in the lungs, liver, torso, spleen, bowels, kidneys, and heart. These injuries can, at times, result in internal bleeding. Symptoms of internal bleeding include:

  • Swelling on the abdomen
  • Abdominal pain
  • Fainting
  • Dizziness
  • Developing purple areas on the skin
  • Seizures
  • Headaches
  • Loss of consciousness

Amputations

In most cases, the force in pedestrian accidents can profoundly impact the victim's life and body. Some victims may end up having accidental amputation of particular body parts like the limbs.

Injured Extremities

When a pedestrian is struck by a car, extremities risk being injured. Depending on the impact the vehicle had on the victims, they can cause scrapes, broken bones, and in extent, cases can lead to the loss of an extremity.

Psychological Injuries

In most cases, people only pay attention to physical damages after an accident, but traumatic incidents can lead to mental issues. Not all victims of pedestrian accidents can deal with the emotional trauma caused by accidents. Psychological injuries can be dangerous as well and may require regular therapy sessions. In some instances, psychological traumas lead to lifetime mental problems.    

Death

Pedestrians who are hit by a vehicle are at a high risk of dying. Unlike the car, the pedestrian lacks protection, thus exposing his/her body to vehicles with sheer sizes. Some victims die on the spot while others suffer severe injuries that lead to death while receiving treatment. In San Diego, over speeding is also causing the rise of pedestrian's death following accidents. If your loved one has suffered a wrongful death, reach out to us, and we will help you file a claim.

In case you have been injured in a pedestrian accident, you must immediately seek medical attention to prevent other occurrences. Look out to any of the listed symptoms above as you might have suffered an injury even though you are not in pain.

Find a Pedestrian Accident Lawyer Near Me

If you or your loved one was involved in a pedestrian accident that left them with substantial medical bills and severe damages. In that case, you must immediately seek medical attention to prevent other occurrences. Look out for any of the listed symptoms above as you might have suffered an injury even though you are not in pain.

We at San Diego Personal Injury Law Firm are dedicated to helping you handle the claim process and ensure you get justice and maximum compensation. We are familiar with CA personal injury and pedestrian laws, and our skills are exceptional. We have helped thousands of clients attain justice, and we can help you as well. We guarantee smart representation, superior services, and focused results. We are available 24/7, and we also offer a free consultation. Contact us at 619-478-4059 today.