Head, neck and spinal cord injuries are all part and parcel of a roadway collision between a pedestrian and a car or truck. This is not to say that people injured on a motorcycle (or while riding a bike) are any more or less apt to be similarly hurt in a traffic accident, but those individuals on foot have no other protection other than their own bodies.
As Maryland personal injury attorneys, I and my colleagues know, first-hand, the physical pain and emotional suffering felt by those who have been hurt as a result of a negligent act by another motorist. For pedestrians hit by a motor vehicle, a trip to the hospital is more than likely. The length of their stay is dependent on the type and extent of those injuries.
Closed-head injury is one of the more serious kinds of accident-related bodily trauma that can occur when a person is struck by a truck or car. During the collision or in the aftermath as the victim falls to the ground, striking one’s head on part of a metal vehicle or onto hard pavement can impart serious force to the brain. In either case, the human skull can only provide so much protection to the brain as the result of an impact from a car crash.
Surviving such a collision is only part of the equation. For many people injured in car- or truck-related pedestrian accidents post-crash recovery can involve weeks, months, or in extreme cases, years of physical therapy following an already painful traffic wreck. In cases of negligence on the driver’s part, there may be cause to file a personal injury suit. For families of victims killed by a car or truck, a wrongful death lawsuit is sometimes brought against the party or parties responsible for the accident.
A little earlier this year a Harpers Ferry man was sent to the University of Maryland’s R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after he was critically injured by a tractor-trailer. According to news reports, 18-year-old Scott Hundley was crossing US Rte 340 when reportedly “made contact” with an 18-wheeler traveling north near Jefferson Terrace Rd.
Based on police reports, Mr. Hundley was crossing Rte340 as Jerry Hale, Jr. was driving a big rig belonging Keystone Freight Corporation in New Jersey. Emergency responders arriving on the scene rendered aid to the injured pedestrian, who was subsequently transported to a local hospital for addition medical attention. Apparently, the man’s injuries were more severe than could be handled by that facility; he was later taken by medivac chopped to Shock Trauma in Baltimore, MD.
There was little additional detail at the time of the news article. Local police officials stated that the accident was under investigation and there was no indication if the trucker would be charged for any traffic offenses. One thing is clear; this truck-related pedestrian crash occurred just after 11:30 in the morning, which rules out darkness as a possible reason for the collision. Until police can determine a cause of the accident, one can only speculate as to the factors leading up to the victim being struck and hurt by the passing motor vehicle.
Pedestrian struck by tractor-trailer airlifted, Journal-News.net, February 22, 2012