Imagine driving and suddenly your car is covered in blowing sand. Your visibility of the road is reduced to zero. This just happened in Arizona, killing one person and injuring dozens. It was reported as a fast moving dust storm that blanketed the area. The blowing dust storm caused a series of chain reaction highway pileups. The fatal accidents occurred on a ten mile stretch of an Arizona Interstate. The dust storm moved at into the area at rapid pace. The swirling and blowing dust particles caused reduced drivers visibility” on a long stretch of Interstate. Two large chain reaction crashes happened and closed the westbound lanes. It was reported that many cars and trucks lost sight of the road and pile up on top of each other. The accidents involved both commercial trucks and passenger vehicles.

According to Chicago auto accident and injury lawyer, one of the most frequent types of personal injury claims involve transportation either by car, truck, bus or train. Every day as automobile drivers and passengers we are at risk for an accident. Thousands of automobile accidents happen every day in the US. Many times as indicated above they can be fatal or produce catastrophic injuries. Let's look at a catastrophic injury that can happen as a result of a car and semi collision crash. A spinal cord injury is usually severe and life altering. Spinal cord injuries usually lead to paralysis such as paraplegia or quadriplegia. A traumatic injury to the upper half of the spinal cord causes paralysis of the lower extremities of the body is called paraplegia. Multiple trauma suffered to other areas of the spinal cord can result in paralysis of all four limbs, e.g. both arms and legs, is known as quadriplegia.

An injury to the spinal cord could result in temporary and or permanent paralysis. The number one causes of spinal cord injuries are automobile accidents. Other causes can be workplace injuries, slip and fall injuries, and construction accidents. The causes of the spinal cord injury by age of the victim. Among persons under age 65, automobile and other motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of spinal cord injuries. Another catastrophic injury suffered as a result of an automobile accident can be a traumatic brain jury. It can be a mild injury such as a concussion. Or a severe insult or injury such as coma or loss of brain cognitive function. A severe TBI can result in a massive amount of medical bills and require long term care. Injuries suffered as a result of a TBI can be devastating both financially and emotionally on a family.

If you are involved you or a loved one suffered an injury as a result of an automobile accident and think you have a claim, it is best to first speak to an experienced Chicago car accident lawyer before talking to the other parties, most importantly, insurance companies. Finding an experienced and knowledgeable personal injury attorney can be the key to a successful recovery for the victim.

Source: 1 dead, 4 critically hurt after Arizona dust storm triggers pileups, CNN Newswire, Oct 4, 2011