Most Common Truck Accident Injuries in South Carolina

There were 1,786 people seriously injured or killed in truck tractor accidents in South Carolina in 2022.

Bobby Jones Law explains the most common truck accident injuries in South Carolina.

Why are truck accident injuries usually more severe than car accidents?

Truck accident injuries are usually more severe than car accidents because trucks are large and heavy. They can be filled with hazardous materials or loaded with goods that may break free and cause injury.

An 18-wheeler semi-truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds when loaded. By contrast, the average car weighs 4,094 pounds. Because of this weight discrepancy, passenger vehicle occupants can be severely hurt in truck accidents. Some types of injuries are especially common.

Leading Types of Truck Accident Injuries

Traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury can take many forms, including:

Concussion
Piercing injury, penetrating trauma
Broken skull
Bleeding, hemorrhage, bruise
Damage to the senses
Diffuse axonal injury (lesions over a widespread area from rotational or violent forces)

A traumatic brain injury can result from a truck accident when the brain is struck or when it ricochets. The person may hit their head on the steering wheel, or the head may be thrown back against the headrest. Physical contact with an object isn’t necessary to sustain head trauma, however. Just the forces of the accident can jolt the head enough to cause traumatic brain injury.

One study suggests that crashes in which a vehicle overturns are especially likely to result in brain injury. Because of the weight disparity between trucks and passenger cars, a person in a passenger vehicle may be especially at risk for brain injury as their body absorbs the forces of a heavy truck traveling at a high rate of speed.

Burns

There are several ways that a burn may occur in a truck accident. A person may be thrown from their vehicle along the ground. The friction as they glide on the pavement may burn their skin. A person may suffer burns if a vehicle catches fire. They may have electrical contact from a severed wire. They may encounter hot fluids from a semi-truck leaking after an accident.

Burns are classified by degree. First-degree burns are the least serious, only affecting the outer layer of skin. However, they are still painful and cause discoloration. Second-degree burns reach into the dermis layer of skin, causing blisters, swelling, and pain. Third-degree burns destroy the skin and may reach bones, muscles, and tendons. The burn may appear white. Damage to nerves may result in a loss of feeling.

Paralysis, spinal cord damage

Spinal cord injury may result in paralysis, quadriplegia, or paraplegia. When the spinal cord is severed or damaged, it can disrupt the normal transmission of information between the brain and the body. A loss of oxygen to the brain following a truck accident may be a contributing factor.

Like most common truck accident injuries, the severity of symptoms may vary. A person may still have some feeling or voluntary movement. When spinal cord injuries are severe, a person’s bodily functions—like the excretory and reproductive systems—can be affected.

Invisible injuries

Not all injuries after a truck accident are visible. In fact, invisible injuries can be some of the most serious. A person may have organ damage. There may be internal bleeding.

Symptoms may include dizziness, shortness of breath, chest pain, and nausea. Internal organs may no longer function normally.

Medical imaging tests can diagnose internal bleeding. A trained physician can recognize the symptoms. Emergency surgery may be required. Immediate care is critical when there may be invisible injuries following a truck accident.

Broken bones

There are many ways that a truck accident injury may result in broken bones. The force of the truck can cause bones to break. In addition, force may throw the person forward into the vehicle, backward into the seat, sideways into vehicle doors, or the entire car may crunch like an accordion. Bracing for impact or reaching to protect the face may put the bones in a position where they are vulnerable. Loose items in the vehicle or that fall from the truck can cause broken bones.

Common broken bones from a truck accident include:

Arms, humerus, radius, ulna
Legs, femur, tibia, fibula
Vertebrae
Skull, facial bones, jaw, cheekbones, orbital bones
Sternum, clavicle, ribs
Pelvis

A bone fracture may be closed, open, or displaced. The break may appear in a spiral shape, oblique, transverse, or as small pieces. The needed treatment depends on the location of the break, its shape, other injuries, and the person’s overall health.

Amputation

Because truck accident injuries can be severe, a victim may require amputation. The collision itself may sever a limb, or removing the limb may be medically necessary. A person may need physical therapy, medication, prosthetics, and other care.

Mental injury

Just like physical injuries are common in a truck accident, mental injuries are common, too. The trauma of a truck accident can result in anxiety, depression, flashbacks, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mental health injury can be as disruptive to a person’s life as physical injury. Counseling, medication, behavior modification, and other treatment can help a person with mental injuries from a truck accident.

Truck Accident Injuries Can Be Compensated

If you have common or uncommon truck accident injuries, they can be compensated. South Carolina allows truck accident victims to claim financial compensation.

It’s not easy to know what your case is worth. However, with pain and suffering, disability, loss of use, and changes in life activity compensable under South Carolina law, your case value may be significant. You can have representation from a truck accident lawyer.