What Should I Do If I Suffered An Eye Injury In A Trucking Accident In North Carolina?
Key Highlights:
- Wondering what should I do if I suffered an eye injury in a trucking accident in North Carolina? Start by contacting an ER for medical assistance, document your medical records and symptoms, and speak to an attorney prior to speaking with an adjuster from the trucking company’s insurance.
- Semi-trucks weighing 80,000 pounds can cause a violent impact, leading to flying glass, airbag chemicals causing burns to your eyes, and possible orbital fractures, which could potentially lead to permanent blindness.
- Time is of the essence when gathering evidence. All evidence from the trucking companies, such as electronic logs or “black box” data are subject to being overwritten, making evidence preservation vital.
- Many qualified catastrophic injury attorneys handle these types of intricate claims on a contingency fee basis, meaning the attorney does not collect a fee unless you receive compensation.
In a fraction of a second, a truck accident can happen; however, the aftermath of this type of crash can last for a long time. Eye injuries are some of the most serious injuries resulting from a truck crash. Common causes include shattered glass, the force of an airbag, blunt trauma to the eye, and chemical burn, which can cause you to lose your vision permanently in seconds.
Learning what should I do if I suffered an eye injury in a trucking accident in North Carolina can help you get immediate medical treatment and secure a truck accident lawyer in NC. At Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm, we provide legal services to victims of serious injury throughout North Carolina.
To schedule your free case evaluation, call (800) 529-0804; we do not charge you a fee unless we recover money for you.
What Should I Do If I Suffered an Eye Injury in a Trucking Accident in North Carolina?
The immediate actions taken after a truck accident will play a major role in determining the eventual outcome, both medically and legally.
Get Emergency Medical Care First
Because ocular injuries are time-sensitive, they can have many serious consequences, including internal bleeding, retinal tears, or foreign body penetration that can sometimes only be diagnosed using imaging techniques. Delaying a visit to an emergency room will only exacerbate both your health and benefits in a potential claim. In this case, it is critical that the ER doctor orders an ophthalmology consult.
Document The Scene And Preserve Records
Document the scene and keep in mind that thorough documentation of all records will help when filing your eventual claim.
Take photographs of the vehicles involved, along with taking photographs that portray road and weather conditions, any debris from the scene, and any visible physical injuries on your body. Also, be sure to obtain and keep with you a copy of the crash report, as it is essential to every eye trauma accident claim North Carolina.
Do Not Speak To The Insurance Company Alone
After an accident, trucking companies will immediately begin to deploy their claims adjusters and their legal team to investigate the crash. You should have equal representation by contacting Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm before giving any type of recorded statement to the trucking company or their agent about what occurred at the scene or the potential physical injuries.
How Do Truck Accidents Cause Severe Eye Damage and What Injuries Result?
Typically, a fully loaded semi truck can weigh up to 80,000 lbs. The sheer force of a semi truck striking a passenger car creates multiple crash mechanisms that threaten vision health:
- Windshields Can Explode: The high velocity of the glass pieces can strike your face directly.
- Airbags: The level of force with which airbags explode and the chemical dust generated can create abrasion on your cornea.
- Blunt Orbital Trauma: Trauma to your eyes by striking the dashboard or steering wheel can cause bones surrounding your eye to break.
- Cargo Spills: Improperly secured loads may leak chemicals or burn the skin and/or penetrate the skin.
The Spectrum of Eye Injuries
“Outcomes of injuries vary widely; some injuries, like corneal laceration and hyphema, can be treated with conventional medical means; however, other types of traumatic injury will have severe consequences.” – Robert Tatum, Founding Attorney
Some of the serious types of complications may include retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, traumatic optic neuropathy, and globe rupture (full-thickness laceration). Many truck accident victims from Virginia and NC wonder, “Can truck accidents cause blindness?” The short answer is “yes,” and losing one’s eyesight is much more common than would be expected, frequently resulting in permanent vision impairment.
Critical Red Flag Symptoms
If you experience any of the symptoms listed below following an accident, then you should go to the hospital right away:
- Blurred or dual vision
- Flashes or floaters
- A dark “curtain” falling over the vision
- Severe pain, especially when moving the eye
- Any open lacerations or objects embedded in the eye
Don’t wait for the symptoms to go away on their own. There have been many people who have waited too long to see an eye doctor after the initial vision loss after truck accident NC, and ended up with horrible outcomes that could have been prevented.
What Treatment and Specialists Are Required?
Your recovery starts in the ER with visual acuity tests, slit lamp exams, CT scanning of the orbit, and dilated fundus evaluation. After that, you will typically receive ongoing care from a group of specialists. These are:
- Ophthalmologists who will perform surgery on nearly all traumatic injuries to the eyes.
- Retinal specialists to manage retinal detachment and vitreous hemorrhage.
- Oculoplastic surgeons who will repair any fractures of the eye socket (orbital fractures).
- Neuro-ophthalmologists to manage damage to the optic nerve or vision loss due to damage to the brain or other nerves.
- Plastic and maxillofacial surgeons who will manage your combined facial injury truck crash lawyer NC case, whereby you sustained an injury to both your eye socket (orbital) and your skull.
In addition to ongoing treatment for the traumatic injury to your eye, every time you see a specialist, have surgery performed, or receive treatment for your traumatic eye injury, the purpose of those visits, surgeries, or treatments will be two-fold.
They will ultimately help you recover from your injuries and, at the same time, will document your damages in support of your traumatic eye injury compensation North Carolina claim.
Can You Recover Compensation and What Is Your Case Worth?
Yes. In North Carolina, if a truck driver, trucking company, cargo loader, or vehicle manufacturer is negligent, victims can sue for full compensation. In eye injury settlement truck accident NC cases, the types of damages that survivors can receive are the following:
- Medical expenses (past and future) – both surgical, rehabilitative, and related to vision aids, as well as those incurred for specialist care
- Lost wages and diminished earnings over the long term
- Pain and suffering the victim has endured
- Emotional distress or psychological injuries
- Permanent impairment or disfigurement
- Loss of the ability to enjoy life.
Permanent vision damage truck accident survivors who suffer permanent vision damage due to occupational eye injury after crash NC, particularly those whose jobs depend on good vision, usually receive substantial compensation. A competent eye injury lawyer North Carolina will take care to ensure that sufficient damages are advocated and that the defense does not minimize any of the non-economic damage claims made by the plaintiff.
One significant guideline for North Carolina is the contributory negligence policy, which states that if a plaintiff is found to be even partially responsible for his or her injuries, he or she may not be able to recover anything. This is why having an experienced catastrophic injury attorney North Carolina is so important, as the defense will do everything possible to allocate as much blame as they can to you, so you need an experienced lawyer on your side to fight for your rights.
What Evidence Builds a Strong Eye Injury Claim?
Multiple categories of evidence must work together to build indisputable proof for an eye trauma accident claim North Carolina.
- Comprehensive Medical Records: The starting point of your case is the connection between the eye injury and the truck accident, which is established through medical records and expert testimony regarding your medical condition.
- Crash Scene Evidence: Pictures taken at the time of the accident, combined with police or other report-based records regarding the accident and eyewitness testimony, form the basis of the accident’s cause.
- Trucking Company Records: Records of a company’s hours or service logs, maintenance records for their trucks, post-accident substance tests, and driver application data provide information relating to the negligent acts of the trucking company that may contribute to the accident and injury.
- Expert Economic Projections: For permanent vision damage truck accident cases, vocational and economic experts will be called to assist in determining how much a truck accident victim will lose in wages because they cannot work in their field anymore due to their permanent loss of vision.
Timing is Critical: Acting Fast to Preserve Evidence
Trucking companies must legally retain electronic data after an accident; however, there is a risk that the data may be overwritten or lost if action is not taken quickly.
- The Spoliation Letter: An attorney can issue a formal letter to preserve evidence in a crash within a few days of the crash, which helps to preserve “black box” (ECM) and Electronic Logging Device (ELD) records, before they disappear.
- Accident Reconstruction: Liability specialists can use physical evidence to determine the speed of the vehicles involved in the crash, how the vehicles were braking, and whether there was fault on the part of the driver. All this evidence becomes significantly more difficult to gather as time passes.
When Should You Call a Lawyer and What Does It Cost?
You want to contact us as soon as possible, preferably days and not months after an accident. The timing for your call is crucial in your eye injury truck accident North Carolina case because:
- The trucking company will start its own investigation right away; you need to be on equal ground with them from the beginning.
- The data from electronic log devices and black boxes can be lost very quickly.
- Witnesses’ memories will fade, and physical evidence will be gone from the accident scene.
The statute of limitations for personal injury claims in North Carolina is three years from the date of the accident; if you miss this time limit, you will lose your right to any compensation altogether.
Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm has an experienced team of North Carolina catastrophic injury attorneys working on a contingent fee basis; you will not pay unless we obtain a recovery for you. If you live and were injured in a truck accident in North Carolina, we can help you with the interstate complications of your injury.
Call Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm: No Fee Unless We Win
What should I do if I suffered an eye injury in a trucking accident in North Carolina? Start with caring for your health and protecting your legal rights. Trucking companies and their insurance carriers are not going to help you; however, Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm will assist you.
Our eye injury lawyer North Carolina and catastrophic injury attorney North Carolina teams have years of experience helping injured clients in North Carolina. Whether your eye injury is partial vision loss, complete blindness, or requires ongoing surgical treatment, Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm knows how to handle these types of cases and works hard to ensure that the insurance companies do not take advantage of what you are going through.
Call (800) 529-0804 for your no-obligation free consultation. We don’t collect attorney fees unless we recover money for you.
Frequently Asked Questions!
How much is pain and suffering worth in North Carolina?
The amount of suffering and pain will depend on the severity of the injury and how it affects your future. In the case of someone who has permanently lost all sight, the amount of money awarded could be more than the total medical-care costs.
Will insurance cover eye surgery after a truck accident?
The commercial liability insurance of the at-fault truck driver will ultimately cover necessary surgeries. Meanwhile, your health insurance or MedPay can pay for treatment and any related expenses upfront before your liability claim is settled.
Can broken glass cause permanent eye damage?
Yes; glass shards could cut (lacerate) a person’s cornea, enter into the eyeball, or create an infection within the eyeball that could cause permanent scarring, blindness, or loss of vision if the injury is not immediately surgically corrected.
What should I do after an eye injury in a truck accident?
You should get to an ER as soon as possible, take pictures of the scene of your accident, keep all records of medical treatment, don’t talk to your insurance company without your attorney being present, and contact a personal injury attorney.
Can somebody else cash a settlement check?
Typically, no. Settlement checks are made payable jointly to the client and the attorney; an unauthorized third party cannot cash a check made payable to you and your attorney without obtaining proper legal authorization or court approval.
