Insurance Companies Try to Deny Claims Related to Whiplash

Whiplash can not be seen which gives insurance companies an excuse to deny claims.

Keene, NH (Law Firm Newswire) November 19, 2010 – “Usually car accidents take the lead for the highest number of cases. However, they are certainly not the only way to wind up with whiplash. That can happen to anyone riding a bicycle, skiing, taking a spin on a motorcycle, riding a horse or even on skateboards. It gives one pause for thought, doesn’t it?” asked Charlie Donahue, a New Hampshire personal injury lawyer located in Keene. Donahue handles injury cases in New Hampshire and across the United States.

Take the case of a young man – henceforth referred to as Mike – who was skateboarding down a familiar trail one day, when all of a sudden he realized there were construction barriers up at the end of the trail.
He hadn’t expected them to be there, because they weren’t there the last time he’d skated. Unable to stop his high-speed trajectory, Mike plowed into a metal barrier and did a complete, full stop-on-a-dime body stop with the metal bar in his mid-section. His head whipped forward and then backwards in a snapping motion and he crumpled to the ground. Did Mike suffer whiplash?

“Yes, he sure did, and it will take him a long time to recover. He first had just a dull ache in his neck, which rapidly progressed to shooting pains down his shoulders. A passerby took him to hospital where he was diagnosed with whiplash. It was thankfully a relatively mild case given his accident, but whiplash doesn’t differentiate grades when it comes to pain,” Donahue said.

One of the worst examples of whiplash is shaken baby syndrome. Cases like this make ER personnel and the police very angry. Things like that should not happen to kids. They deserve only the best in life. Being shaken violently usually happens to a small child, most often five years old or younger, when a caretaker wants them to be quiet. Believe it or not, this shaking action creates the same type of sudden acceleration/deceleration that a car wreck does.

Whiplash symptoms may include blurred vision, memory loss, headaches, stiff neck and shoulders, difficulty turning either right or left, shooting pains down the torso, mood swings, the inability to concentrate and irritability. “Whiplash isn’t a lot of fun for the victim and what’s worse is that many insurance companies figure that if they can’t see it, then it’s not as bad as the victim is making out. In other words, they’ll try just about anything to reduce or deny a whiplash accident claim. This is one of the reasons you will want an experienced New Hampshire personal injury lawyer in your corner; to get justice,” Donahue said.

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you feel OK the day of the accident, that you are OK. Many whiplash symptoms don’t show up right away. If you don’t deal with it when it makes itself known, you run the risk of having pain for the rest of your life, time off work and pricey medical bills. If you’ve been in a car wreck or hurt on a skateboard, give me a call. We’ll talk,” Donahue said.

To learn more about New Hampshire personal injury attorney, Charlie Donahue, visit http://www.donahuelawfirm.com.

Donahue Law Firm
143 West St.
Keene, NH 03431
Call: (603) 357-2363
Toll Free: (800) 498-4554