If someone has gone into the back or the side of your car, you may not feel much more than shock immediately after the event. However, the symptoms of a whiplash injury may not become apparent until a few days later. An accident doesn’t have to be severe or occur at high speeds to cause whiplash, but the effects of this injury can be extremely painful and debilitating. The average recovery time for a whiplash injury is around a month, but the effects can continue for months.
Because whiplash may not appear for a day or two following the event, it may not be diagnosed by a doctor if you saw one immediately following your accident. The common symptoms include stiffness, pain, swelling or tenderness in the neck, difficulty in moving the neck and headaches. Additional symptoms can spread to the rest of the body too, including lower back pain, dizziness, blurred vision and tinnitus. If you think you are experiencing similar symptoms then you need to consult your GP, and following diagnosis you should then get in touch with some personal injury solicitors.
If someone drives into the back of you, they are nearly always at fault because they should have remained at a safe stopping distance from you. If you have whiplash as a result of an accident, then you are entitled to put in a whiplash compensation claim. As we have seen, this condition can be very painful and may result in loss of earnings through time off work, as well as medical expenses incurred. Of course, it is not only the driver of the car that could be suffering whiplash, but any passengers as well, and personal injury solicitors such as Fosters Solicitors will help to establish whether you have a viable case and then fight for you to get compensated.