Car Accident Steering Wheel Injuries
Steering wheel injuries are among the most dangerous injuries that occur in vehicle collisions. From bruising to traumatic brain injury, they are often severe and may require long-term medical treatment.
If you’ve experienced a steering wheel injury in a car crash, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your injuries, lost wages, and more. Contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. to discuss your legal options in a free consultation.
Our Chicago Car Accident Lawyers Can Help with Your Steering Wheel Injury Claim
When you’ve been involved in a car crash, you may be facing severe injuries, overwhelming medical costs, and anxiety. Hiring an experienced car accident attorney gives you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your legal process is in capable hands. You have enough to worry about after an accident, let us handle the insurance companies that try to minimize your personal injury claim. Leave navigating the legal system to professionals you can trust to always have your best interest in mind.
For more than 40 years, Salvi Schostok & Pritchard P.C. has fought for justice that car accident victims deserve. We’ve secured over $2.5 billion in compensation for our clients. Our more than 350 multi-million-dollar victories have included numerous vehicle collision cases.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Steering Wheel Injuries?
The blunt force of a car accident often causes the body to project forward hitting the steering wheel and causing serious injury. Several factors can make steering wheel injuries more likely, including:
- Sitting too close to the steering wheel — Being too close to the steering wheel can prevent the airbag from doing its job as effectively as it should. In cases where the airbag fails to deploy, being close to the steering wheel can lead to severe injury.
- Failing to wear a seat belt — Your airbag and seat belt are a team. Failing to wear your seat belt significantly reduces the effectiveness of the airbag.
- Position of the body — The positioning of your arms, legs, and torso at the moment of impact may cause certain body parts greater injury if they hit the steering wheel.
- Rear-end collisions — If another driver rear-ends you, the impact may cause your head to be thrown backward and forward, potentially making contact with the steering wheel, leading to different types of injuries.
- Front-end collisions — In a front-end collision, your vehicle will stop abruptly while your body remains in motion. While your seat belt will restrain the rest of your body, your head is vulnerable to violent movement and at risk of serious injury.
If you hit your head on the steering wheel due to another driver’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for the resulting injuries.
Consequences of Steering Wheel Injuries
Steering wheel injuries tend to have severe consequences because they result from violent movements of the head and neck paired with the force of the impact. Sometimes, these injuries can be treated with relatively hands-off measures like pain medication and rest. However, many steering wheel injuries require weeks or even months of physical therapy or rehab on top of surgery and other more intensive measures.
The consequences of steering wheel injuries from a car crash depend on the level of severity. Some injuries will heal fairly quickly, while others have permanent consequences. Severe pain, diminished quality of life, and extensive medical bills can follow a car crash.
Diagnosis and Treatment Options for Steering Wheel Injuries
It’s critical that you seek medical attention right away following an accident in which you suffered steering wheel injuries, particularly if you hit your head on the steering wheel. They’ll diagnose your injuries through observation, X-rays and other imaging tests like CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds.
The treatment plan for your injury will depend on the type and severity of the injury. You must precisely follow the doctor’s instructions, both to promote your physical recovery and to benefit your legal case if you decide to seek compensation.
What Are the Most Common Types of Steering Wheel Injuries?
Some of the most common steering wheel injuries include:
- Facial injuries — If your face hits the steering wheel, it can cause significant trauma, including facial fractures, eye injuries, dental injuries, lacerations, nerve damage, and more.
- Traumatic brain injuries — The impact of hitting your head on the steering wheel can result in concussion, bruising of the brain, and damage to brain tissue. Symptoms of severe head injuries may not be immediately apparent when you hit your head on the steering wheel.
- Broken bones and fractures — Accident victims may suffer hand and wrist injuries because drivers might grip the steering wheel harder when bracing for an impact. Broken ribs are also typical. In serious accidents, a life-threatening skull fracture may occur.
- Internal injuries — Steering wheel impact can cause serious internal injuries, such as ruptured or displaced organs, internal bleeding, and more.
- Thoracic injuries — When the chest hits the steering wheel, it can result in lung collapse, broken ribs, other chest injuries, and contusions on the heart, lungs, and other internal organs.
- Soft tissue injuries – Soft tissues in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments can also be injured in car crashes. Neck injuries like whiplash are also common.
Seek medical treatment immediately if you hit your head on the steering wheel or are experiencing symptoms of any of these injuries.
Seeking Compensation for a Steering Wheel Injury
When another party is at fault in the accident that led to your steering wheel injuries, you have the right to seek compensation. Most often, the other party will be the at-fault driver. However, there are rare cases in which a steering wheel malfunction or other auto defect may make the vehicle manufacturer liable.
You can seek to recover economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages cover medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage. Non-economic damages are compensation for non-monetary losses, such as pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of quality of life. These may be harder to quantify, but they can have just as much of an impact as your physical injuries.
Contact a Car Accident Lawyer in Chicago
If your car accident resulted in steering wheel injuries, contact the Illinois attorneys at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. today. We have over four decades of experience fighting for the rights of injury victims. When we represent you, you don’t pay unless we recover compensation for you. Reach out for a free consultation.
