Houston is an exciting city with beautiful scenery, world-class shopping, a vibrant art scene, and so much more to offer. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in Houston, you’re not looking very hard.
One thing no one is ever looking for, but Houston provides in abundance is traffic. Since there’s no way to escape it, it’s best to embrace it, with no small amount of poise and grace.
With all Houston’s traffic, of course, comes traffic accidents. One of the most dangerous and terrifying kinds of accidents on our roads are head-on collisions. It’s a frightening concept—your vehicle runs headlong into another vehicle. It’s a traumatic and terrifying experience any way you look at it. When another driver’s negligence causes the accident, this kind of accident is more upsetting still. Exceedingly dangerous and devastating head-on impacts can derail any life.
If another driver has left you injured in a head-on collision, you will need experienced legal counsel on your side. Every head-on accident is unique to its own set of circumstances, and they are often complicated claims. Ensuring that you’re compensated for the totality of your damages is critical. While no amount of money can ever return you to your pre-accident self, just compensation will allow you the ability to better travel the path toward emotional and physical recovery.
The dedicated legal team of attorneys at Stewart J. Guss, Attorney at Law, in Houston, works tirelessly to protect the rights of head-on accident victims. You may have sustained injuries, you may have questions about what to do next, and you may not even know where to start. Please know that the lawyers at Stewart J. Guss, Attorney at Law, offer a FREE consultation on your case, so call us right now at 800-898-4877, or click HERE to send us a question or get more information. If you decide to hire us, you pay us nothing up front, and you will pay absolutely nothing at all unless and until we’ve won your case.
Our experienced car accident attorneys have gone to bat with insurance companies for decades. We know the games they play, and we’re adept at turning the tables on them. If you’ve been injured by another driver’s negligence, we’re here to help.
The Head-On Collision
In a head-on collision, two vehicles traveling in opposite directions crash into each other, and while these accidents often occur at high speeds, they can take place virtually anywhere and at any speed. Because the two vehicles throw their separate weights directly into each other, the force of the impact can double. Usually, both vehicles are seriously damaged and every occupant of both vehicles faces a significant risk of serious injuries. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that head-on impacts accounted for 54 percent of car-accident related deaths in 2016. These accidents are responsible for more driver deaths than any other kind of car crash.
The amplified force associated with these accidents makes them extremely dangerous. While the impact of a head-on accident may effectively stop the two vehicles’ forward motion, the vehicles’ occupants may continue traveling onward into airbags, steering wheels, dashboards, or windshields—and they often sustain significant injuries in the process.
In addition, because the vehicles’ front ends rarely collide exactly head-on, the impact may send one or both of the cars spinning or flipping, which can exacerbate occupants’ injuries, create an even more dangerous situation on the road (including additional impacts with other vehicles), and cause one or both vehicles’ airbags to fail to appropriately protect the car’s occupants, if side airbags do not deploy. Furthermore, the intense force of head-on collisions can cause glass, plastic, and metal pieces within the vehicles to become deadly flying weapons as the accident plays out. It’s difficult to overstate the deadly nature of these accidents.
Head-On Collisions: The Common Injuries
Because cars now come with advanced safety mechanisms—including standard airbags and crumple zones in the hood, which help absorb the immense energy of head-on impacts—these accidents are no longer as likely to cause serious head and facial injuries (though such injuries remain obvious threats). While head-on collisions can lead to any number of injuries, several serious injuries are most closely associated with them:
Neck injuries – While many people think that neck injuries, such as whiplash, are related to rear-end accidents, these injuries are also common to head-on crashes. Although whiplash gets a bad rap as an exaggerated or even faked injury, these extremely serious injuries may produce severe pain and heal slowly. There is absolutely nothing funny about a whiplash injury.
Torso injuries – Injuries to the torso are common in head-on collisions. Such injuries can include fractured ribs, which can lead to intestine, liver, lung, or spleen damage. Such internal injuries can go undetected and thus undiagnosed, allowing them to progress into more serious health issues before treatment.
Lower leg and femur injuries – Even when passengers belt themselves in and when airbags engage properly, the intense impact of a head-on collision can hurl the front passengers into the instrument panel and the knee bolsters, which can cause serious injuries to the lower extremities.
Secondary injuries – The impact of a head-on collision is so intense and dangerous that it can lead to serious overarching health consequences that often include secondary injuries. Such injuries evolve out of the original injuries and can include infections.
Front-end accidents are so powerful that—even if you don’t think you were seriously injured—seek immediate medical attention. Some injuries, including whiplash and internal injuries, have a way of developing with time, and prolonging treatment can exacerbate the condition. Remember that early diagnosis is important for both your health and your legal case.
Head-On Impacts and Their Common Causes
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data reveals several variables that frequently contribute to head-on collisions:
- Drivers who exceed the speed limit or who fail to moderate their speed related to road conditions, including inclement weather, damaged roadways, and road construction (speed correlates closely with head-on impacts)
- Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- Drivers who drive when exhausted
- Drivers who interact with their smartphones—or who are otherwise distracted
- Drivers who don’t adequately compensate for their unfamiliarity with the roads they’re traveling
- Reckless and negligent drivers, including drivers who disobey the rules of the road
- Aggressive drivers—and drivers who allow their aggression to morph into road rage
When you get behind the wheel, you take on an immense responsibility. Driving is an extremely complex task that requires all drivers to pay the utmost attention as they fully adhere to the rules of the road. Drivers who fail to meet the responsibilities required of them endanger everyone with whom they share the road. When you head out on Houston’s busy streets, always put safety first.
Distracted Drivers
Distracted driving has become such a growing concern that the federal government has devoted a website to the issue. Anytime a driver doesn’t focus all attention on the singular task of driving safely, that driver engages in distracted driving.
Distracted driving is broken into three categories: visual distractions that engage the driver’s vision, cognitive distractions that engage the driver’s thoughts, and manual distractions that engage the driver’s hands.
The smartphone’s ascent of necessity into the every-day lives of society has boosted distracted driving to previously unknown levels. These handheld devices manage to incorporate all three classifications of distraction into one dangerous activity, making the smartphone the pinnacle of distractions. Driving is no time to interface with your smartphone—not when the lives of others are at stake due to a selfie.
Your Damages in a Head-On Accident Claim
Every car accident claim is unique, but calculating your comprehensive damages is critical to the successful and fair resolution of your claim. Serious accidents like head-on collisions often result and extensive if difficult to estimate damages. A skilled car accident attorney will endeavor to ensure that your claim adequately represents the totality of your losses.
Obvious, extensive, quantifiable damages, such as your medical expenses, are likely to include:/p>
- Emergency transportation from the scene of the accident and emergency care
- Surgery and aftercare
- Appointments, treatments, and care with doctors, specialists, and therapists
- Ongoing treatments and care
- Physical therapy
- Prescription medications
- Home adaptations and adaptive medical devices
- care
Beyond medical care, however, you may lose wages due to time lost from work. Furthermore, if your sustained serious or catastrophic injuries, you may experience a diminished earning potential well into your future. Beyond the financial losses inherent to such a career downturn, some people also lose a sense of self and worth in the world, leading to depression and other mental injuries.
All told, the damages a head-on collision may cause are difficult to overstate. You and your lawyer should also consider the pain, trauma, and suffering associated with such collisions. Head-on collisions are often physically, emotionally, and financially devastating. Your rights and your rightful compensation matter. Consult with an experienced Houston car accident attorney to determine your rights.
The Car Insurance Company
Most drivers carry car insurance due to the law, and for the very purpose of covering themselves in case they ever in an accident like a head-on collision. In no way should that mean that you should rest easy and simply allow the insurance company to take care of your head-on accident claim. While you’re obligated to carry car insurance, and the insurance company is bound by federal regulations and industry standards, insurance companies are first and foremost in the business of making money for themselves. Their motivation means they will exercise whatever means are necessary to minimize any and all payouts, including yours. Suffice it to say that your just compensation is far from the insurance company’s top priority.
What Not to Do
If you were injured by another driver’s negligence in a head-on car accident, a car insurance company is going to attempt any and ALL forms of contact in order to close the case as soon as possible, to pay out as little as possible, so prepare for that eventuality.
The insurance company is not your friend. You’re not obligated to provide the negligent driver’s insurance company with a statement related to the accident. In fact, it’s in your own best interests—and the best interest of your claim—not to do so. Insurance company representatives are skilled at tripping accident victims over their own stories and later using those victims’ own words to deny or diminish their claims.
While you may need to provide your own insurance company with a statement, a dedicated car accident lawyer can coach you on the process. The best policy is to hire a skilled attorney to handle all communications with a claims adjuster on your behalf.
Unfortunately, insurance companies aren’t known for consistent and forthright deals. The American Association of Justice published a report, Tricks of the Trade: How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse, which highlights exactly how low some insurance companies will go to maximize their profits. The report relays that some of the nation’s most prestigious companies pour a great deal of effort into denying claims, delaying payments, confusing claimants with insurance double-speak, and endeavoring to retroactively refuse anyone who could end up costing them money. It’s harsh but true—the insurance company is not on your side.
If a Head-On Collision Injured You, Call an Experienced Houston Car Accident Lawyer
Houston has so much to offer as a cultural hub, but one element of its offerings is traffic—in abundance. As such, dangerous head-on accidents happen here in Houston. The nationally recognized legal team at Stewart J. Guss, Attorney at Law, has protected the rights of car-accident victims for more than 20 years, and we’re here to help you. Please contact or call us right now at 800-898-4877 to schedule an evaluation of your case.
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