Seattle Seatbelt Injury Lawyer

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Experts agree that seatbelts save lives. In a recent year, seatbelts prevented nearly 15,000 traffic deaths. These devices prevent occupants from whipping around inside the passenger compartment or being ejected during a car accident. As a result, catastrophic injuries to the head and spine can often be avoided.

However, in preventing fatal injuries, seatbelts can exert enough force to injure drivers and passengers in Seattle, WA. These injuries can range from minor bruises to life-threatening internal damage.

A Seattle seatbelt injury lawyer from Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers can explain your legal options for seeking financial compensation. Contact our law firm at (206) 727 4000 for a free initial consultation.

How Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With a Seatbelt Injury Claim in Seattle, WA

Davis Law Group Car Accident and Personal Injury Lawyers represents clients in Seattle, Washington, against those responsible for harming them. Our attorneys have recovered tens of millions in compensation for our clients since the firm’s founding in 1994.

If you’ve been injured by someone else’s negligent or wrongful actions, we can provide the following services:

• Reviewing your case and identifying all possible legal claims
• Gathering evidence to prove your case
• Filing an insurance claim 
• Negotiating a settlement or filing a lawsuit if settlement talks fail

Contact our Seattle auto accident lawyer for a free consultation to discuss your injuries and how we can help you recover the financial support you need.

What Is the Connection Between Seatbelts and Chest Injuries?

According to one study, roughly 3.6% of traffic accident victims suffered chest injuries. Among those with chest injuries, doctors admitted almost 31% to the intensive care unit. Over 16% died.

However, this study included all traffic accident victims, including those hit by cars in pedestrian accidents and bicycle accidents. If you focus solely on multi-vehicle crashes, roughly 13.6% of drivers and passengers with chest injuries die.

This study doesn’t address how seatbelts affect chest injury numbers. For that, you must look at another set of research results.

A different study looked at the chest injury rate for drivers who relied on only airbags, seatbelts plus airbags, and only seatbelts during their crashes. Unsurprisingly, those who were only restrained by airbags had the highest rate of chest injuries.

However, the other findings were surprising. The second-most likely group to suffer chest injuries were those who used airbags and seatbelts together. This group was more than twice as likely to sustain a chest injury as those who used seatbelts alone.

Thus, seatbelts are highly effective — particularly at speeds less than 30 miles per hour — at preventing rather than causing chest injuries. Even so, between 1% and 2% of people wearing only seatbelts suffered a chest injury in this study.

What Does a Seatbelt Injury Lawyer Do?

When you hire a seatbelt injury lawyer, they’ll gather evidence, such as your medical records, scientific studies, and expert testimony, to prove the injuries you suffered resulted from your car accident. Such evidence will be crucial for holding the at-fault driver accountable for your injuries, including those caused by secondary impacts like your chest hitting the seatbelt.

Your attorney must establish the other driver’s liability for your injuries by showing that they acted negligently in causing the crash. This means that they failed to exercise reasonable care. Failures of this kind usually result from the violation of traffic laws or other dangerous activities, like talking on the phone while driving.

Here are some of the common seatbelt-related injuries for which an attorney can seek compensation:

Chest Bruises

A chest bruise happens when tiny blood vessels below the skin rupture due to a sharp impact. Bruises can produce pain, discoloration, and swelling, but they usually heal on their own within a few days or weeks.

Strained Chest

Strains happen when muscles and tendons hyperextend. 

The stretching and tearing of the chest muscles can lead to the following symptoms:

• Pain
• Weakness
• Swelling
• Muscle spasms
• Stiffness

A chest strain will usually heal within four to six weeks. In the meantime, you’ll need to rest and ice the affected muscles to reduce the swelling.

Fractured Bones

During a collision, a seatbelt can fracture a collarbone or rib due to the impact force.

In most cases, doctors consider a fractured collarbone or rib to be a minor injury that will heal without surgery. An exception is when you fracture multiple ribs in multiple spots, leaving a section of your ribcage that doesn’t connect to anything else.

The resulting injury, known as flail chest, requires emergency surgery to prevent the rib fragments from damaging the lungs.

Collapsed Lung

In a high-energy crash, such as a truck accident, the seatbelt can bend the ribs so far that they puncture the walls of the lungs. This can produce an air leak that causes lung collapse. Without emergency surgery, the victim could suffer permanent lung damage or even death.

Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Seattle Car Accident Attorneys

Negligent drivers are legally responsible for the injuries they cause, including seatbelt injuries. Contact our law firm today at (206) 727 4000 to discuss your injuries and your right to seek compensation for them. Our Seattle car accident attorneys offer a free consultation.