The SUV came out of nowhere and sped through the red light. The driver of the sedan didn’t have time to react when they saw it coming. All they could do was brace for the sudden, violent impact of metal hitting metal right into the driver’s door. What had been a normal commute turned into a medical emergency in the next few seconds.
T-bone crashes, which are also known as side-impact or broadside crashes, are some of the worst kinds of car accidents that happen on California roads. In a frontal or rear collision, the structure of the vehicle absorbs a lot of the impact.
In a side strike, on the other hand, the force goes straight into the passenger cabin with little protection between the people inside and the oncoming vehicle.
Knowing what kinds of injuries these crashes usually cause can help victims notice symptoms that might not show up right away and get the medical care they need.
Why Side-Impact Crashes Cause Such Severe Harm
The design of vehicles puts safety first by protecting against front and rear impacts. Crumple zones in modern cars are designed to absorb the energy of a crash before it hits the people inside.
For example, the engine compartment compresses in a head-on crash, and the trunk collapses in a rear-end crash. These structures buy valuable milliseconds and lessen the forces that get to the passenger compartment.
The sides of cars don’t protect as well. In most cars, the door panel, window glass, and maybe a side curtain airbag are the only things that keep people inside from being hit by another car.
Studies show that the sides of a car only absorb about 5% of the force of an impact. The rest of the energy goes straight to the people inside and the structure of the cabin.
According to a report from the National Safety Council, angle collisions and T-bone impacts were responsible for almost 45% of all deaths in crashes involving two or more vehicles in 2022.
The same study found that these crashes caused more injuries that needed medical attention than any other type of crash, accounting for 43% of all such injuries.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that almost 25% of all passenger vehicle deaths in the US are caused by side-impact crashes. Even with side airbags deployed, people who are wearing seatbelts are still at great risk—these crashes cause more than 5,500 serious injuries and deaths every year.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
In a T-bone collision, the violent side-to-side movement often makes people’s heads hit door frames, windows, B-pillars, or other parts of the car’s interior. Even if there is no direct contact, the brain can move inside the skull when it speeds up and slows down quickly, which can lead to injuries ranging from concussions to severe trauma.
Diffuse axonal injury is one of the most serious brain injuries that can happen in a car crash. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that this condition happens when the brain’s white matter is damaged all over by shearing forces, which stops nerve cells from talking to each other. The injury usually happens in car accidents when the brain spins inside the skull because of quick changes in speed.
Contusions, which are bruises on brain tissue, can happen at the site of the impact or on the other side of the brain. The brain keeps moving when the head hits something and stops suddenly, hitting the skull at the point of impact. It then bounces back and hits the other side, which doctors call coup-contrecoup injuries.
The signs of traumatic brain injuries can show up right away or take hours or days to show up. People with mild cases may have headaches, confusion, dizziness, and trouble with light or sound. Moderate to severe injuries can make you lose consciousness, have seizures, have clear fluid drain from your nose or ears, become very confused, and speak in a slurred way.
The long-term effects are very different. Some people get better completely in just a few weeks. Some people have long-term problems with their memory, focus, mood, and physical coordination. Studies indicate that severe traumatic brain injuries elevate the risk of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease in later life.
Spinal Cord Damage
The spine goes from the base of the skull to the lower back. It has 33 vertebrae that protect the spinal cord, which is a bundle of nerves that sends signals between the brain and the rest of the body. When a T-bone crash pushes the door in or throws people to the side, the forces can break vertebrae, tear discs, or hurt the spinal cord itself.
The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center says that the most common cause of spinal cord injuries is car accidents. A side-impact crash that hits the spine directly can break or dislocate vertebrae, which can compress or cut the spinal cord.
There are two types of spinal injuries: complete and incomplete. A complete injury means that the person can’t feel or move anything below the injury site. Some function stays after an incomplete injury.
The location of the damage determines its effects: injuries high on the spine, particularly in the cervical region, can cause quadriplegia—paralysis affecting both arms and legs. Injuries to the thoracic or lumbar areas can cause paraplegia, which affects the lower body.
Another common result is herniated discs. The intervertebral discs that protect the vertebrae have a soft inside and a harder outside. Impact forces can break that outer layer, which can cause the inner material to bulge or leak into the spinal canal, putting pressure on nerves and causing pain, numbness, and weakness.
Severe back or neck pain that gets worse when you move, numbness or tingling in the arms or legs, weakness in the arms or legs, trouble walking, and in serious cases, loss of bladder or bowel control are all signs of a spinal injury.
The time between the accident and getting medical help is very important for spinal injuries. Getting help right away can stop more damage and improve long-term outcomes.
Broken Bones and Fractures
A side impact’s strong force often breaks bones all over the body. The place and severity depend on where the car that hit the victim’s car hits it and how the victim’s body moves during the crash.
Rib fractures are one of the most common types of bone injuries that happen in T-bone crashes. When the door panel or the seatbelt hits the ribs, they can crack or break. Rib fractures hurt and take a long time to heal, but the bigger problem is what is underneath them. Broken ribs can hurt blood vessels, lungs, the spleen, or the liver.
When impact forces focus on the lower body, pelvic fractures happen. The pelvis is a ring of bones that connects the spine to the legs. It can break in many ways, from small cracks to full fractures that hurt nearby organs and blood vessels. Most of the time, these injuries need surgery and a long time to heal.
People sitting on the side that gets hit are more likely to get hip injuries. The hip joint can come out of place, or the femur can break where it meets the pelvis. These injuries often need surgery to fix, and even after they heal, they can cause long-term pain or make it hard to move around.
Arm and leg fractures happen a lot, especially when the arms and legs are resting against door panels when the impact happens. When the door suddenly moves inward, it can trap and crush limbs, which can cause compound fractures that break through the skin.
Internal Organ Damage
Internal organ damage may be the most dangerous type of T-bone collision injury that isn’t obvious. These injuries might not show any signs right away, but if they aren’t treated, they could turn into life-threatening emergencies within hours.
The spleen, which is located under the left rib cage, is often hurt in side-impact crashes. This organ has a lot of blood vessels and helps fight infection and clean blood. A rupture can cause a lot of bleeding inside the body that fills the abdomen. People can live without a spleen, but taking it out makes the immune system weaker and makes people more likely to get some infections.
In car accidents, liver injuries are among the most common types of organ damage. The liver is on the right side of the abdomen and is important for digestion, blood clotting, and getting rid of toxins. Trauma can cause cuts or tears that lead to serious internal bleeding, which may require emergency surgery or even a transplant in the worst cases.
Studies on patterns of abdominal injuries have shown that the spleen gets the most injuries when the impact is on the left side or near side. Kidney and liver damage were the most common types of injuries in crashes on the right side and far side. This pattern shows how the direction of the impact affects which organs take the most force.
Side-impact crashes are especially bad for the kidneys. The kidneys filter blood and make urine. They are on each side of the spine, just below the ribs. Damage can make the kidneys work less well, cause internal bleeding, and in serious cases, it may be necessary to do dialysis or a transplant. After kidney trauma, bleeding can happen hours or days later, so it’s important to get medical help right away.
Some signs that your internal organs may be damaged are abdominal pain or tenderness, swelling or bruising in the middle of your body, blood in your urine, a fast heartbeat, low blood pressure, dizziness, and nausea. If you have any of these symptoms after a T-bone accident, you should go to the emergency room right away.
Neck Injuries and Whiplash
Whiplash and other neck injuries can happen in T-bone crashes, even though they are most often linked to rear-end collisions. The lateral forces can make the head and neck move violently to the side, which can stretch and tear the soft tissues that support the cervical spine.
Whiplash hurts the neck’s muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Neck pain and stiffness, a limited range of motion, headaches that start at the base of the skull, and pain that spreads to the shoulders and arms are all common symptoms. A lot of whiplash cases get better in a few weeks or months, but some people have pain that lasts for years.
Cervical disc herniation is a more serious neck injury that can happen in a T-bone crash. This is when the discs between the neck vertebrae bulge or break and press on the spinal nerves. This can make your arms and hands hurt, feel numb, and feel weak. Severe cervical injuries can lead to paralysis.
Facial Injuries and Lacerations
People who are in T-bone crashes often get cuts on their faces from broken glass, deployed airbags, or hitting things inside the car. Most cars have tempered glass side windows that break into small pieces when they hit something. These pieces can cut the face, eyes, and skin that is exposed.
The jaw, cheekbones, eye sockets, or nose can all be broken in a facial fracture. These injuries often need reconstructive surgery and can leave scars that last forever. Eye injuries can be as simple as getting glass in your eye or as serious as getting hurt badly enough to threaten your vision.
In addition to the physical damage, facial injuries can have a psychological impact. Visible scars and disfigurement can hurt your self-esteem, social life, and mental health for years after the accident.
Psychological Trauma
Injuries from T-bone collisions go beyond just the physical. People who survive often have mental health problems that need professional help and treatment.
A side-impact crash can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to develop. Some of the symptoms are flashbacks of the accident, nightmares, extreme anxiety, feeling numb emotionally, and staying away from situations that remind you of the trauma. People may feel anxious when they are driving or riding in a car, especially when they are getting close to an intersection.
Depression often follows severe accident injuries, especially when recovery is extended or leads to disability. People may feel hopeless and hopeless when they lose their independence, can’t work, have chronic pain, or have their daily lives disrupted.
People who survive T-bone collisions can also have anxiety disorders, such as panic attacks and generalized anxiety. These accidents can happen suddenly and without warning, which can make victims feel weak and on edge about possible threats.
Pursuing Compensation Under California Law
California’s pure comparative negligence system lets people who were in a T-bone accident get money even if they were partly to blame for the crash. The amount of money the victim gets back is lessened by the percentage of fault they had, but it is not completely gone unless the victim was completely to blame.
Most personal injury claims that come from car accidents have a two-year statute of limitations under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1. This deadline starts on the day of the accident, so it’s important to get legal advice as soon as possible to keep your options open.
Having proof makes injury claims stronger. Pictures of the damage to the car, the scene of the accident, and any visible injuries show how bad the impact was. Medical records that show the link between the accident and the injuries that were diagnosed are the basis for any claim for compensation. Witness statements and police reports can help figure out who is to blame.
The Injury Firm Represents T-Bone Accident Victims
T-bone crashes happen in a split second, but the effects can last a lifetime. The traumatic brain injuries, spinal damage, broken bones, and damage to internal organs that these crashes cause need immediate medical attention and long-term care, which costs a lot of money.
The Injury Firm helps people who have been hurt in accidents in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside counties. We know how complicated side-impact collision injuries can be, and we work hard to make sure our clients get the full amount of money they deserve for their injuries.
Call (949) 575-8875 for a free consultation if you or a loved one were hurt in a T-bone accident caused by another driver’s carelessness. We won’t charge you anything unless we get you money.
The effect only lasted a few seconds. The injuries could last a lot longer. You should have an advocate who knows what you’re going through.
DISCLAIMER:
This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. For personalized legal guidance about your personal injury case, contact The Injury Firm for a free consultation.
