Brain Injuries From a Car Crash Can Change Your Life. We Can Help You Take the Next Step.

Brain Injury Car Accident Lawyer Wheeling WV | Big Bubba

If you’re looking for a brain injury car accident lawyer Wheeling WV residents can reach, this guide explains how these claims work. A brain injury car accident claim asks the at-fault driver, or the driver’s insurer, to pay for harm to the brain caused by a crash.

What a Brain Injury Car Accident Claim Is and Who It Is For

A brain injury car accident claim is a personal injury claim for brain harm caused by a crash. It is usually brought against the at-fault driver or the driver’s insurance company.

The claim can fit many people on the road. Drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and motorcyclists can all be hurt. Crashes involving commercial trucks also fit, and those claims can involve more than one party, such as the driver and the trucking company.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) means a brain injury caused by a blow, jolt, or penetration to the head. A concussion is one form of TBI. According to the Veterans Affairs page on traumatic brain injury, motor vehicle accidents are a common cause of TBI.

Many people think a brain injury needs visible bleeding or a loss of consciousness. A brain injury can happen without either one.

Family members have a role too. When a crash causes a death, a wrongful death case is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate under W. Va. Code § 55-7-6.

Brain Injury Symptoms and Medical Testing After a Crash

Brain injury symptoms can start right away or appear days or weeks later. Get medical care quickly, even if you feel mostly fine.

Common symptoms include:

• Headaches
• Confusion or memory gaps
• Dizziness
• Sensitivity to light
• Sleep changes
• Mood or personality changes
• Trouble concentrating
• Vision changes

Delayed symptoms are a real concern. A PMC research article on brain injury care notes that traumatic brain injury effects may be long-lasting and may not be immediately apparent after an accident. It also notes that mild traumatic brain injury can be difficult to diagnose.

Doctors may use CT scans, MRI scans, and neurological or neuropsychological testing. Emergency staff may use the Glasgow Coma Scale, a score based on eye, voice, and movement responses, to judge how severe a head injury looks at first. Some injuries are hard to see on a standard scan, so symptoms and testing both matter.

Keep every discharge paper, test result, and appointment note. Your medical records are what tie your symptoms to the crash.

What a Brain Injury Claim Can Cover

A brain injury claim can seek payment for the losses the injury caused. Those losses often include medical care, lost income, and changes to daily life.

• Medical care: past and future care, such as emergency treatment, hospital stays, rehabilitation, therapy, medications, and follow-up testing.
• Lost income: wages lost now, and lost earning ability later if the injury limits work.
• Daily living help: support at home when recovery requires it.
• Pain and suffering: the effect of the injury on your daily life and your enjoyment of life.

West Virginia also uses a modified comparative fault rule, which means shared fault does not always end a claim. Under W. Va. Code § 55-7-13c, a person is barred from recovery only when their fault is greater than the combined fault of all others. How fault is shared after a crash can affect how much a person may recover, so the details of your crash are worth discussing with the firm in a free case review.

In a wrongful death case, the jury’s verdict may include damages for sorrow, mental anguish, and solace. It may also include lost income and services, care and hospitalization expenses, and reasonable funeral expenses, as set out in W. Va. Code § 55-7-6.

How the Claim Process Works, Step by Step

The claim usually moves through five steps, from a free case review to settlement talks or a lawsuit. How long each step takes depends on the facts of your case.

1. Free case review. You tell the firm what happened. The firm reviews the crash and medical details you have. The free case review is confidential and carries no obligation to continue.
2. Preserve evidence. Crash reports, photos, vehicle data, witness names, and any dashcam or traffic camera footage can matter. Acting early helps keep this evidence.
3. Gather medical records. The firm works with your treating providers’ records to show the injury and how it has progressed.
4. Identify insurance. The at-fault driver’s policy may apply. West Virginia’s motor vehicle insurance statute addresses uninsured and underinsured motorists’ coverage in W. Va. Code § 33-6-31. W. Va. Code § 33-6-31 requires uninsured motorist coverage to pay the insured all sums the insured is legally entitled to recover as damages from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle, within limits no less than the requirements of section two, article four, chapter seventeen-d of the code. The statute also gives the insured an option, with appropriately adjusted premiums, to recover up to $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, up to $300,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident (subject to the one-person limit), and up to $50,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others in any one accident. A separate option covers underinsured motor vehicles, up to an amount not less than the insured’s own bodily injury and property damage liability limits, without set-off against the insured’s policy or any other policy.
5. Present, negotiate, and file if needed. The firm presents the claim to the insurer and negotiates. If needed, the firm files a lawsuit to protect your rights.

Timing matters. Under W. Va. Code § 55-2-12, a personal injury action must generally be brought within two years after the right to sue accrues. Under W. Va. Code § 55-2-12(c), a personal action that, in case a party dies, could not have been brought at common law by or against the personal representative must be brought within one year next after the right to bring it has accrued. Under W. Va. Code § 55-7-6, every wrongful death action shall be commenced within two years after the death of the deceased person, subject to the provisions of section eighteen, article two, chapter fifty-five of the West Virginia Code. W. Va. Code § 55-7-6 reads: “The provisions of this section shall not apply to actions brought for the death of any person occurring prior to July 1, 1988.”

Commercial truck crashes can add rules. After certain truck crashes, including those involving a human fatality, the employer must test surviving drivers for alcohol and drugs. Under 49 C.F.R. § 382.303, an alcohol test not given within two hours must be documented with the reasons, and attempts end after eight hours.

Brain Injury Car Crash Claims in Wheeling and the Northern Panhandle

We serve Wheeling and surrounding Northern Panhandle communities, including Weirton. Our service area includes Ohio, Marshall, Brooke, and Hancock counties. The firm also serves injury victims across all 55 West Virginia counties, so a crash elsewhere in the state can still be reviewed.

Crashes involving commercial trucks can happen on any regional route, from highways to busy local streets. If your crash involved a truck, note the route, the direction you were traveling, and the time of day. These details help the firm move faster on the facts.

Big Bubba is a brain injury and car accident firm serving Wheeling, WV families, who can call for a free case review. Bring what you have, even if some pieces are missing.

Common Questions About Brain Injury Car Accident Claims

Timing, medical proof, and insurance are the questions people ask most often.

Talk to the Firm About Your Brain Injury Crash

If a Wheeling-area or Northern Panhandle crash left you or someone you love with symptoms that still affect daily life, the time to act is now, while records and evidence are fresh. Before you reach out, gather these items:

• Discharge papers and imaging results
• Names of the providers you have seen and when you first had symptoms
• Any letters from insurance companies
• Crash report numbers, photos, and witness names, if you have them

Tell Bubba what happened, in your own words. Contact the firm to request your free case review.