County: Butler County, Ohio


City: Hamilton, Ohio

Date: September 9, 2010

Type: Three-Car Accident
 
A three-car accident on State Route 127 shut down the highway for over three hours September 9. The crash occurred on the bridge that spans the Great Miami River. One of the three cars rolled onto its top and caught fire. According to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, a car drifted left of center, hitting the other two cars head-on. Two helicopters were called to the scene, transporting two of the drivers to Miami Valley Hospital. The other was transported to Fort Hamilton Hospital.

Head-on collisions are very dangerous because the forces involved in the collision often lead to catastrophic injuries and even death. When two vehicles hit head on, each car brings a certain amount of force with it (equal to its mass times its acceleration). The crumble zones do not easily absorb the combined forces and airbags of the two cars, and even with seat belts, the remaining forces transferred to the occupants of both cars leads to serious injuries. At a minimum, the acceleration / deceleration injuries that results can be very painful. Herniated cervical, thoracic and lumbar discs are also common. The discs were not designed to absorb the sheering forces created by the ramping of the seat during impact. A MRI can help doctors correctly diagnose a herniated disc. Many times in my experience people originally diagnosed with sprain strain injuries from an Ohio accident who are not recovering find out later via MRI that they really had one or more herniated discs the whole time, and the injury may be permanent in nature, requiring painful epidural blocks, a lifetime of pain medication, or even invasive surgery.  Doctors often look for radiating pain into the arms or legs to justify ordering the MRI. This radiculopathy suggests that the disc is pressing on a nerve root that runs to the arm or leg.  But even without radiating pain caused by a nerve being pinched by the herniated disc, the disc injury itself can cause serious localized pain independent of any outside nerve involvement. It is known as discogenic pain, and is often ignored by doctors or defense attorneys. You do not need radiating pain to have suffered a lifelong disc injury.  Sure, if you play the flute, then having the nerve going to your hand being pinched is very bad, but "just" having localized neck or back pain caused by a non impinging disc can ruin the quality of a person's life, including walking, bending, sitting, sex, etc. So next time you hear someone say "it is only a non -impinging disc" think about this article and realize that they either do not understand the true anatomy of a disc injury or they are trying to play down your injury.  In my experience many family doctors do not even order an MRI unless there is radiculopathy. How many non-impinging discs go undiagnosed simply because the test result will not end up with surgery being needed? Every injury from the accident, no matter how small, must be found and documented and treated. Most herniated disc clients suffer horribly, but very few are severe enough to benefit from surgery. I cannot tell you how many current clients tell me they suffered in the past from a sore neck that never recovered.  If an MRI of the neck is currently required, we often find an old herniated disc on these individuals, never found or treated by their doctors in the past.  It is a sad but true fact in my experience that herniated discs go undiagnosed a lot of the time.

In addition, these types of accidents can lead to mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBI) at a minimum. According to the Center for Disease Control, you do not even have to strike your head on something inside the car to get MTBI. The sudden and violent movement of the brain inside the skull is enough to cause MTBI.  To illustrate this point, when you go to the grocery store and buy eggs you check the eggs inside the carton even if the carton looks undamaged. This is because you know from experience that the fragile eggs inside the carton can break even if the outside carton did not strike anything and become damaged. This is the same for the brain inside the skull.   



So don't listen to any insurance adjuster who tells you that you cannot have brain damage simply because you have no bruises on your head and you don't remember hitting the dashboard or steering wheel.  Watch for any change in memory, such as forgetting names, grocery list items, where your keys are, loss of balance, etc. These symptoms can show up weeks or months after an accident and many clients do not even realize they are from the accident. Talk to your family doctor about getting checked out by a neurologist if you notice any of these symptoms or any difference in cognitive thinking, bodily control, etc. 
 
Butler County, Ohio (population 332,807) had a total of 9,146 reported accidents in 2008, with 25 of those being fatal (29 total fatalities). In 2008, Hamilton, Ohio (population 60,690) had a total of 1,778 reported accidents. 506 of the total reported accidents were injury crashes, with a total of 787 injuries.


If you've been seriously injured or have lost a loved one in a Hamilton truck / car accident, call the Butler County auto accident and wrongful death attorneys / lawyers at Chester Law Group at 1-800-218-4243 or order your FREE BOOK entitled The Insider’s Guide to Handling Ohio Accident Claims at www.ChesterLaw.com.