Injuries can occur in car accidents that leave little or limited visible property damage. There is no strong correlation between the amount of property damage and the extent of injuries. If such a strong correlation existed, there would be serious injuries from ever car accident that involved a car being totaled. Yet, everyone has heard or known about car wrecks where the property damage has been overwhelming but the occupants of the vehicle came out without a scratch. There are numerous factors involved as to why an impact from a vehicle collision that leaves limited visible property damage causes personal injuries including: 1) the location of the impact (i.e. rear end collision, side impact, etc.); 2) whether the person had warning of the impact; 3) the positioning of the person’s body at the time of impact; 4) the age of the person (older age results in a greater risk of injury); 5) whether both vehicles were moving at the time of impact; and 6) whether the injured person had a pre-existing condition thereby being more prone to injury. There are other factors as well. Additionally, just because there is limited visible property damage does not mean that there is no other damage to the vehicle. Bumpers have energy absorbing material behind their covers. In many impacts the bumper will show little damage, but when the bumper cover is removed there exists damage to the energy absorbing material.
The items listed above should be explored and potentially used in any car accident case involving personal injuries and limited visible property damage. It is important to pursue such a legal claim with an attorney who has trial experience with such cases. These cases can be won and have been worn by our firm. The most recent favorable jury verdict obtained by Attorney James Sabatini in a car accident case with limited property damage was on September 23, 2009.
