T-Bone Car Accident Lawyer

Every type of car accident is different. Some types of car accidents, like rear-end accidents, usually aren’t too bad. Typically, car safety features will limit passenger damage, even if they are foolish enough not to wear seat belts in these types of accidents.

However, some types of accidents almost always cause serious injuries. One type of accident that is quite dangerous is a T-bone accident. These accidents often result in major injuries and have a high chance of resulting in fatalities.

If you have been injured in a T-bone accident, you could be facing a lifetime of treatment and may never fully recover. This is a terrifying prospect, made only scarier by the fact that these injuries could also financially ruin you. A skilled T-bone car accident lawyer can help prevent the latter outcome.

We understand that we can’t do anything to directly lessen your suffering. However, if you have been seriously injured in a T-bone accident, the T-bone car accident lawyers at Morgan & Morgan will help you seek the money you need to fully recover from your injuries.

Contact our law firm today to schedule a free case evaluation with an attorney who can explain your legal options.

T-Bone Accidents

A T-bone accident is one where the front end of one car strikes the side of another vehicle. The car that was struck from the side is usually said to have been T-boned.

These types of accidents usually result in severe injuries for one or more passengers in the T-boned car. Safety features in vehicles don’t protect as well against collisions from the side, and the sudden change in direction can seriously damage people in the vehicle.

Furthermore, there is a good chance that the car will cave in. You may even be directly struck by the other vehicle if the sides of the vehicle cave in enough. The human body can be harmed significantly when directly struck by a vehicle.

Typically, these accidents happen at intersections, usually when one or both parties violate traffic rules. For example, a driver running a red light can cause a T-bone accident.

Additionally, in most T-bone accidents, at least one driver is traveling at normal cruising speed or faster on the road. And since a T-bone accident usually stops all momentum of both vehicles, this means that one or both vehicles come to a sudden stop. The forces involved in stopping suddenly also often lead to serious injuries.

T-Bone Accident Injuries

The type of injury you are most likely to suffer in a T-bone accident depends on which car you were inside at the time of the collision.

The Car That Struck the Other Head-On

If you were in the car that struck the other car head-on, you probably suffered less serious injuries. Most modern passenger vehicles have crumple space built into the front of the car, and safety features are designed to handle head-on collisions well.

Even if you were driving at highway speeds, there is a good chance that your injuries were relatively minor. But just because they are relatively minor doesn’t mean they are meaningless.

The most common injury T-bone car accident lawyers see in this situation is whiplash. This happens when your movement stops suddenly. A moment before the accident, your body was traveling at 30 miles per hour, or maybe even 50 miles per hour. The next moment, the car stopped moving completely.

Unfortunately, momentum continues to try to propel your body forward while the seat belt holds it in place. This causes your spine to whip forward and back in an instant. Often, this results in nerve damage that may stay with you for the rest of your life.

And while a potential lifelong injury is serious, whiplash is rarely fatal and usually can be treated fairly easily. You likely won’t be working for a few weeks or months, but you should mostly recover after a few months.

The Car that Was Struck From the Side

The passengers in a car struck from the side usually suffer much worse injuries. Some common injuries in this situation are:

• Concussions
• Organ damage
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Severe lacerations
• Broken or crushed bones
• Dismemberment

Almost anyone in a T-bone accident is likely to suffer some head injury or concussion. When another vehicle strikes you from the side, it changes the trajectory of your momentum. Your head is likely to strike the window next to you, either initially or on the rebound.

Whether you are at risk for the other type of injuries usually depends on whether you were sitting on the side of the car that was struck. If you were, you might have been crushed between the grill of the other car and some portion of your car, resulting in injuries.

Finally, many cars that are T-boned also roll over. You can mitigate your bodily harm by wearing your seat belt when the vehicle rolls. But if you aren’t wearing your seat belt, you will probably get thrown around the car, which can result in multiple broken bones and potentially fatal injuries.

How a T-Bone Car Accident Lawyer Can Help

If you suffered any injuries in a T-bone accident, it is quite likely that you were seriously injured. This has some implications that aren’t true when you are less seriously injured.

To begin, if you were badly injured, there is a good chance you never had a chance to swap contact or insurance information with the other driver. While this is legally required if you can safely do so, if you are so badly injured that it isn’t possible, you won’t face legal consequences.

However, you still need that information to proceed with your injury claim. And while you aren’t in any condition to get the information, your lawyer is.

If you’re hurt badly enough, a T-bone car accident lawyer from Morgan and Morgan will meet you at the hospital and gather your information. Then we’ll contact the police to get the additional required information from the precinct that responded to the accident.

Similarly, we can send investigators to the scene of the accident to collect evidence. You could have collected some of this evidence immediately after the accident if you weren't injured. But if you are incapacitated, your T-bone car accident lawyer can do the work for you.

The next thing we will do is work to ensure that you recover as quickly as possible. We’ll start by ensuring you get treated by the best doctors. After a serious injury, you need to be treated by specialists who understand the full extent of your injury and can accurately explain your needs to the insurance company.

That last part is important because the insurance company will do everything in its power to pay you as little money as possible. Conversely, we will fight to get you every dollar you are eligible to receive. The easiest way to fully recover from a serious injury is to get the best medical treatment that money can buy.

What Causes T-Bone Accidents?

Typically, T-bone accidents occur because one or more drivers violate the laws of the road. And since they usually happen at intersections, this usually means that one or more parties either ran a red light or failed to stop at a stop sign.

While most people don’t intentionally run red lights, many people try to beat a light turning red. When they mistime this, and someone driving in the other direction starts moving, a T-bone is likely to occur. This can also happen when a driver tries to jump a green light and goes too early.

Stop sign accidents are similar, except accidents at stop signs are more likely to involve two drivers moving at normal cruising speed for the road. These usually result in the most devastating accidents because you have two cars traveling at different angles that strike at relatively high speeds.

How to Avoid a T-Bone Accident

The best way to avoid getting into a T-bone accident is to be observant when driving around intersections. Even if you have the right-of-way, look around to see if anyone traveling in another direction appears to be driving faster than they should. Also, use your ears. Sometimes you can hear a speeding car you can’t see.

And if you don’t have the right-of-way, never violate traffic laws. Even a “rolling stop” can result in you getting T-boned. Come to a complete stop and then look around you carefully before proceeding.