What if the Police Report Said There Were No Injuries at the Scene?
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], there are over 5 million reported car accidents per year. Most people are well aware that not all collisions between vehicles are reported to the police, so the actual total is quite a bit higher.
NHTSA’s statistics also reveal that, overwhelmingly [71%], motor vehicle accidents do not involve reported personal injury.
There are some reasons for this statistic as well. Not all injuries are reported at the scene. I’ve had countless clients who thought they could “shake it off”, but within a day or two had to get immediate medical care.
I’ve Attorney Eric T. Kirk never seen any statistics on this, but it is my sense that the number of accidents that involve comparatively minor injuries to the muscles, ligaments and tendons of the participant’s neck or back substantially outweighs the number of crashes involving catastrophic injury. Typically, the symptoms associated with the former category of injury can take several hours to fully manifest. Police officers often record fatalities and injuries where an ambulance is summoned, but not for injuries they determined to be ‘minor’ in nature. I’ve represented many people who suffered severe, lifelong consequences from injuries that were characterized at one time or another as “minor”. If you have an accident claim where the insurance company is claiming that there were no reported injuries, you should consult with an experienced accident attorney.
