When One Crash Injures the Spine and the Brain

Quick Answer: Can One Crash Cause Both a Spinal Cord Injury and a Brain Injury?

Yes, one crash can injure both the spinal cord and the brain. A spinal cord injury damages the bundle of nerves that runs through the spine. The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation explains that spinal cord injuries can affect movement, sensation and bodily functions. A brain injury is harm to the brain itself. Medical providers may evaluate each one on its own track.

If you were hurt, rode along, or are a family member trying to understand the medical news, this page is for you. Nothing here predicts how any injury will turn out. It explains the medical and legal terms first, then the questions that may come up later.

Why Brain and Spinal Injuries Are Assessed Together

A brain injury and a spinal injury from one crash may be found at different times. Imaging, neurological exams and referrals may focus on the head and the spine on separate tracks. That means one diagnosis does not always answer the questions about the other.

Some people learn about one injury first and the other later. Each person’s timeline is different. Your records may list the brain and the spine under different departments or dates. Reading each report carefully helps you see what has been checked and what still needs review.

The two injuries may occur together, and each may need its own follow-up. Medical providers make the diagnosis and lead the treatment. Keep a written list of questions for each provider, so each track gets clear answers.

For a broader look at these injuries, read the firm’s spinal cord injury overview. It covers the basics before the legal questions later on this page.

Symptoms That May Appear Later

Some symptoms of a brain or spinal injury may not show up right away. Timing varies from person to person. A quiet first few days does not rule out an injury, and symptoms may change over time.

Any new change in how you move, feel, think or sleep is worth reporting to a medical provider, even if it seems unrelated to the crash. Describe when it started and how it has changed. Clear details help providers decide what to check next.

Short written notes help, even for symptoms that seem small. A brief daily note can capture details that are easy to forget later.

If a symptom worries you, ask your provider what it may mean and what the next step is. For more on what to do after a diagnosis, see next steps after a crash-related diagnosis.

How Crash Forces May Relate to Spinal and Brain Injuries

Medical records may describe how crash forces reached the spine and head. They may use terms such as axial loading, hyperflexion, hyperextension and rotation with compression. These are medical terms. A medical provider decides what they mean for one person.

Injury questions may also involve outside medical reviewers or accident reconstruction experts. Those outside reviewers may study the crash and the injuries. Their views are their own, not the firm’s.

Legal cause follows its own test.

Keep the medical reports that describe each injury. They are the starting point for any review of how the crash caused them.

Car and Commercial Truck Crashes: Why the Vehicle Type May Matter

A crash involving a commercial truck may raise extra questions about records, testing and the company behind the driver. These questions are for a lawyer to review with the facts of the crash.

Federal rules set out testing after some truck crashes. Under federal post-accident testing rules, a motor carrier’s testing duty after a commercial truck crash applies only in certain crashes, such as one involving a fatality, or one in which the driver is cited and someone injured in the crash immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene or a vehicle has disabling damage from the crash that requires it to be towed away. If an alcohol test is not given within two hours, the employer must keep a record of why. After eight hours, the employer must stop trying to give it.

Driver files also follow federal rules. Carriers must keep a driver qualification file for each driver. The file is kept while the driver works there and for three years after, except that certain records may be removed from it three years after they are executed, under federal driver file rules.

For more on these claims, see the commercial vehicle spinal cord injury page.

Fault, Deadlines, and Proof: Questions to Raise Early

Fault and deadline rules can shape whether a claim moves forward, so it helps to raise them early.

Virginia follows contributory negligence: if you are found even partly at fault, you may be barred from recovering, with limited exceptions. Talk to a lawyer about your facts.

Virginia generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit (Va. Code § 8.01-243(A)); the clock runs from the date of injury, not the date of discovery, with narrow exceptions. Some claims carry notice requirements that run out sooner.

If a crash caused a death, the timing and the parties change. A Virginia wrongful death action is filed by the decedent’s personal representative within two years of the death (Va. Code §§ 8.01-50(C), 8.01-244(B)), on behalf of the family members the statute protects. Family members do not file; they share in the recovery.

Virginia requires a driver involved in a crash with injury or death to stop and report it to police immediately (Va. Code §§ 46.2-371, 46.2-894). The two-year period is the deadline to file a lawsuit, not to report a crash. The Virginia DMV crash page covers crash report records.

Proof of fault may involve police reports, medical records and vehicle data. The proving fault guide covers that topic in more detail.

Medical Records and Documentation to Keep

Keeping a dated record of symptoms, visits and test results can help you follow your own care. Write down each appointment, referral and test result, with the date and the provider’s name. Note symptoms as they happen, along with anything that makes them better or worse.

Ask each provider for copies of your records, including imaging reports, referral notes and discharge papers. Medical providers make the diagnoses. The record is yours to keep, and you may share it with any provider you choose.

Keep a few other details too. Write down the police report number and the names of anyone who saw the crash. Save photos of your injuries and any letters you receive about the crash.

Bring your written list of questions and symptoms to each visit. That habit makes it easier for providers, and for a lawyer you may speak with later, to see the full timeline.

When It May Be Worth Discussing Your Situation With a Lawyer

You may wish to discuss your situation with a lawyer if one crash caused both spinal and brain injuries. The same is true if a commercial vehicle was involved, a family member died, or you have questions about fault or deadlines. Early questions can help keep records in order while medical care continues.

The firm’s offices are in Winchester and Harrisonburg. The firm handles car accidents, truck accidents, commercial vehicle accidents, catastrophic injuries, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and wrongful death in Virginia. It serves people across the Shenandoah Valley, Richmond and Henrico County.

Frequently Asked Questions