When you get into an accident with another car, you could be seriously injured, or you could walk away with no long-term effects. When you are involved in a truck crash with an 18 wheeler, however, your chances of sustaining a life-altering injury are far higher. The sheer size of big-rigs means there could be literally tons of force bearing down on you in a crash. You might not even realize until much later – after the swelling goes down, or the adrenaline wears off – just how badly hurt you are.

The four most serious injuries you or your passengers may sustain in a truck crash include:

• Paralysis and spinal cord injuries. The impact of a truck crash could be enough to break a person’s back and sever his or her spinal cord. This could lead to partial or temporary paralysis. Even if the spinal cord is not severed, the nerve damage to that area could lead to a lifetime of pain and mobility issues.
• Traumatic brain injury. In a collision, you could crack your head against the steering column, have your head jerked back into the head rest (usually referred to as “whiplash”), hit your head on a window or be injured by the impact of your airbag. If you brain jostles around in your skull (it does happen), or you sustain a cracked skull or a penetrating injury to your head, you could suffer long-term or even permanent brain damage as a result of the TBI.
• Loss of limb. When two vehicles hit, the crumple zones should bear the brunt of the force. In an accident with a tractor-trailer, the crumple zones may not be enough to protect you, and the car could be crushed. If one of your limbs – a leg, an arm – is caught, it might necessitate the amputation of that limb.
• Wrongful death. Under the most tragic of circumstances, a person could lose his or her life in an accident with a commercial truck.

Commercial trucking accidents are always serious. Even if you hit the truck (as opposed to the other way around), you could end up suffering with life-long knee problems (from slamming the brakes), dislocating your shoulder, breaking a wrist (from the impact on your hands while holding the steering wheel) or suffering with soft tissue damage, like a punctured organ or permanent scarring from lacerations and burns.

Regardless of the circumstances of your crash, you’ll need strong and aggressive legal counsel on your side to ensure that you obtain the compensation you need to care for yourself and your family during the healing process. The Knoxville truck accident attorneys of Banks & Jones can help. Please contact us to learn more about your options after a serious crash with a big-rig in Knoxville or the surrounding areas.