Side impact car accidents, also known as T-bone or broadside accidents, can cause serious and even fatal injuries. Side impact accidents occur when one car strikes the side door of another vehicle. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, 25% of car accident fatalities were caused by side impact accidents.

How side impact accidents happen

Common scenarios leading to side impact collisions include the following:

  • Failing to yield – Side impact collisions often occur when one vehicle is turning across traffic and fails to yield to oncoming traffic.
  • Not following traffic signs and signals – When a vehicle runs a red light or a stop sign, often t-bone collisions occur.
  • Entering a street from a private drive – Pulling out of a driveway or parking lot into a public road is another common scenario in side-impact accidents.

Injuries from rollovers

Injuries can be serious because a car door is the material between the car and its passengers so there is not there to absorb the impact. Side airbags can help, but not all motor vehicles are equipped with side airbags. Some common injuries resulting from a side impact collision include:

  • Traumatic brain injury – vehicle occupants are three times more likely to suffer a traumatic injury in a side impact collision than other types of collisions.
  • Broken bones – Broken bone injuries in side impact car accidents are common, especially when the impact occurs at the occupant’s car door.
  • Paralysis – Traumatic brain injury, spinal cord, and neck injuries from a T-bone accident can result in temporary or permanent paralysis.
  • Loss of limbs – Severed limbs during the accident or post accident amputations can be the result of side T-bone accidents.
  • Spinal injuries – Spinal injuries to the back and neck occur especially in harder impact accidents.
  • Internal organ damage – High impact broadside collisions can cause damage to internal organs resulting in internal bleeding or organ failure.

Recovery

Physical recovery from a side impact collision can be stressful and overwhelming, and so can the financial recovery. Paying for injuries and damages out of pocket is difficult for many people and in serious injury cases, out of pocket pay may be impossible. Injuries and damages including lost wages and lost future earning capacity, medical bills, property damage, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, disability and disfigurement, and mental anguish should be paid for by the person whose negligence caused those damages.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a side impact collision, contact Philadelphia side impact car accident attorney, Daniel S. Doyle, to schedule a consultation and review of your case. Our car accident team will help to alleviate some of your stress and burden during your recovery by advocating on your behalf and taking necessary and appropriate steps to see that you and your loved ones are fully compensated for injuries and damages sustained as a result of your accident.

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