The Short Answer
The most common car accident injuries are bruises, road rash, whiplash, sprains, muscle strains, brain injuries, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and emotional trauma. Any one of these can range from minor to life-altering—and many don’t show up immediately after a crash. If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Indiana, understanding what you’re dealing with is the first step. The second is making sure the insurance company doesn’t pay you less than what your case is worth. If you’d like to skip straight to getting help, contact the Indiana car accident lawyers at the Ken Nunn Law Office today for a free case review.
Key Takeaways
- Head and brain injuries are often invisible: Symptoms can appear hours or days after a crash, making early medical evaluation critical.
- Whiplash is the most common car accident injury, affecting an estimated 3 million Americans each year, and more than half of victims develop some degree of chronic pain.
- Fractures and broken bones vary widely in severity: Some require surgery, extensive physical therapy, and months of recovery.
- Back and spinal cord injuries can cause permanent disability: the full extent of these injuries often isn’t known right away, so you should never accept a quick settlement.
- Emotional injuries, like PTSD, affect 20–45% of accident survivors and are fully compensable, but only if they’re properly documented and pursued.
- Bruises, scrapes, cuts, torn ligaments, and strains are other common superficial and soft tissue injuries from car accidents.
- Insurance companies routinely dispute or undervalue every type of injury on this list. Having an experienced car accident attorney on your side changes that.
Table of Contents
How Common Are Car Accident Injuries?
Car accidents are one of the leading causes of serious injury in the United States. In 2024 alone, medically consulted injuries from motor vehicle crashes totaled 4.9 million nationwide1. That’s not a rare event—that’s over 13,600 injuries per day. And those are only the medically consulted ones.
Indiana is no exception. According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s (ICJI) 2024 Crash Facts report, there were 200,035 total crashes in Indiana in 2024, resulting in 44,033 non-fatal injuries and 872 deaths2. That works out to more than 120 people injured on Indiana roads every single day. If you’ve been hurt in a car accident in Indiana, here’s the most common types of injuries and how they play into a lawsuit.
Contusions and Superficial Injuries
Contusions (bruises), abrasions, and road rash are common injuries in car accidents but can be overlooked because they appear “superficial.” They can occur due to the impact of the collision, being thrown from the vehicle, airbags going off, or even from a seatbelt. In car accidents, these injuries are common in the chest, face, arms, and legs.
Abrasions and road rash are more common in bicycle and motorcycle accidents. However, they still happen in car accidents and can leave you with pain, risk of infection, and scarring. If this sounds like your situation, a lawyer can help you pursue compensation while you recover from the accident.
Whiplash
Whiplash is probably the most common car accident injury, and one of the most frequently dismissed by insurance companies. It happens when the force of a collision causes the head to jerk violently forward and backward, straining the muscles and ligaments in your neck. It occurs most often in rear-end collisions, but any crash that makes your head snap suddenly can cause whiplash.
Symptoms include:
- Neck pain, stiffness, and tenderness
- Reduced range of motion
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Radiating pain in the arms and shoulders
Here’s the catch: those symptoms may not show up until days after the accident. And many cases of whiplash result in long-term effects. Don’t let the insurance company convince you that whiplash is a minor injury. If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms after a car accident, even days later, see a doctor and contact an attorney. Soft-tissue injuries like whiplash are the most commonly disputed claims in personal injury cases, and having the right attorney makes all the difference.
Other Soft Tissue Injuries
Besides whiplash, soft tissue injuries like sprains and strains can occur anywhere in the body as a result of a collision. Overall, soft tissue injuries caused by a car accident are most likely to affect the neck, back, shoulders, chest, wrists, knees, and ankles.
Common soft tissue injuries from car accidents include:
- Sprains: ligament damage caused by overstretching or tearing
- Strains: muscle or tendon injuries from overstretching
- Rotator cuff tears
- Torn ACL or MCL in the knee
- Bursitis and joint inflammation
What makes these injuries particularly difficult is that they often don’t show up on standard X-rays and may not be noticeable immediately after a crash. Some sprains can actually take longer to heal than fractures and can be more painful. Despite that, insurance companies frequently dismiss soft tissue injuries as minor or exaggerated. Don’t let that stop you. Working with a lawyer can help you get the compensation you need to help you recover.
Head and Brain Injuries
Head and brain injuries are some of the most common car accident injuries we handle. Brain injuries can range from mild to severe (traumatic brain injury or TBI). There are two common types of brain injuries from car accidents:
- Closed Head Brain Injuries: Occur when your head strikes the steering wheel, dashboard, or another solid object in a collision. That impact makes the brain “bounce” around inside the skull, which injures the soft brain tissue.
- Penetrating Brain Injuries: Occur when an object penetrates the skull and brain, causing damage to the brain tissue.
Symptoms often include headaches, confusion, memory problems, and mood changes, which can take hours or even days to appear. While it might not seem like a big deal at first, even a mild brain injury can result in life-altering, permanent medical conditions.
Motor vehicle crashes account for roughly 50% of all TBIs in the United States, including:
- An estimated 218,936 emergency department visits
- 16,402 deaths each year on average
If you were in a car accident, get evaluated by a doctor immediately—even if you feel okay. TBI claims are complex and frequently disputed by insurance companies, and you deserve someone in your corner who knows how to fight for the full value of your injury. An Indiana car accident attorney can help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
Fractures and Broken Bones
Fractures and broken bones are another common car accident injury, and they’re often more serious than people expect. In car accidents, the most commonly broken bones include the ribs, wrists, arms, clavicle, legs, and pelvis.
Treatment depends on the severity of the break. Some fractures can be set and placed in a cast to heal, but more complex breaks may require surgery with pins, screws, and metal plates. Regardless of the treatment path, most fracture victims deal with significant pain and require physical therapy before returning to their normal routine.
Beyond broken bones, orthopedic injuries also include:
- Sprained or strained muscles
- Torn ligaments and tendons
- Dislocated joints
The severity of any orthopedic injury depends on a number of factors—the speed of the collision, whether a seat belt was worn, and the type of crash. A T-bone collision, for example, tends to produce very different injuries than a rear-end accident.
Even a fracture that seems minor at first can have lasting consequences. If you’ve suffered a broken bone or orthopedic injury in a car accident, don’t let an insurance adjuster rush you into a settlement before you fully understand your recovery timeline. An attorney can help make sure your claim accounts for the full cost of your treatment—including physical therapy, lost wages, and any long-term complications.
Back and Spinal Cord Injuries
Back and spinal cord injuries are some of the most serious common car accident injuries—and are often life-changing. The trauma of a collision can cause a wide range of spinal damage, including:
- Herniated or slipped discs
- Nerve damage
- Soft tissue damage
- Spinal cord injury leading to partial or full paralysis
One of the biggest dangers with back and spinal injuries is delayed onset. Adrenaline in the immediate aftermath of a crash can mask pain, and what feels like minor soreness in the hours after an accident can turn out to be something far more serious in the days that follow.
The numbers reflect just how common these injuries are. An estimated 869,000 traffic crash-related cervical spine injuries are treated in U.S. hospitals every year—the majority of which are sprain and strain injuries that are frequently underestimated.
Any damage to the spine needs to be taken seriously, no matter how minor it seems at first. Future treatment costs for serious spinal injuries can be enormous, and accepting a quick settlement before the full extent of your injury is known can leave you without the resources you need down the road. If you’ve suffered a back or spinal injury in an Indiana car accident, contact the attorneys at the Ken Nunn Law Office before you speak with the insurance company.
Emotional Injuries
When people think about common car accident injuries, they usually think about physical ones. But the emotional and psychological impact of a crash is just as real—and just as compensable. Anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are all recognized consequences of car accidents, and they can affect your quality of life just as significantly as a broken bone or a herniated disc.
PTSD in particular is more common after car accidents than most people realize. Somewhere between 20% and 45%3 of accident survivors develop PTSD symptoms, which can include:
- Flashbacks and intrusive thoughts about the crash
- Sleep disruption and nightmares
- Anxiety and depression
- Avoidance of driving or riding in vehicles
- Mood swings and emotional withdrawal
These symptoms can develop after any crash, not just severe ones. Even minor accidents can leave lasting psychological marks, with research showing that 25% of survivors avoid4 getting behind the wheel for up to four months after a crash.
Treatment is available and effective, but it takes time and money. However, insurance companies don’t always make it easy to recover the cost of treatment. If you’re struggling emotionally after a car accident, don’t dismiss what you’re feeling. It’s not something you should just push through. Document your symptoms, seek treatment, and contact an attorney. You deserve to get quality treatment for your mental health as well as your physical health.
How Common Are Fatal Car Accident Injuries?
Fatal car accident injuries are more common than most people realize. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)3, an estimated 36,640 people died in traffic crashes in 2025 alone, which is over 100 deaths every day.
In Indiana, the 2024 Crash Facts report recorded 872 traffic deaths1—the lowest number since 2016, but still nearly 2.4 lives lost every single day.
If you’ve lost a loved one in a car accident, you may have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. Compensation can cover medical expenses incurred before death, funeral and burial costs, lost future income, and the emotional pain of losing a family member. Our team of attorneys at the Ken Nunn Law Office handle wrongful death claims with the care and urgency these cases deserve. Contact us for a free consultation.
Don’t Wait To Talk to an Indiana Car Accident Attorney
After a car accident, the insurance company moves fast. Adjusters are trained to contact victims quickly—before you’ve had time to understand the full extent of your injuries or consult with an attorney. They may seem helpful and sympathetic, but their job is to settle your claim for as little as possible.
But the full impact of your injuries and losses can’t be known right away. Injury symptoms are delayed. Treatment costs add up. What seems manageable at first can look very different six months down the road. Don’t make the mistake of accepting a quick settlement! You need to know the full picture of how your injuries affected your life. And at the very least, you should consult an experienced attorney.
Here’s what our team at the Ken Nunn Law Office will do for you:
- Take over all communication with the insurance company so you don’t have to
- Make sure every injury—physical and emotional—is properly documented
- Fight for compensation that accounts for your long-term medical needs, not just your immediate bills
- Give you a free case review
If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Indiana, don’t wait. An attorney can help you understand what happened, what your options are, and what to do next. Contact the Ken Nunn Law Office today. No matter where you are in Indiana, we can help with your case either in person or over the phone! We serve car accident victims in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Greenwood, Anderson, Columbus, Muncie, Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Avon, and throughout Indiana.
Sources:
- National Safety Council, Motor Vehicle: Overview—Introduction, Injury Facts (2026).
- Jamie Palmer, Lee Ruess & Brendan Bow, Indiana Crash Facts 2024, Indiana University Public Policy Institute & Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, p.17 (2025).
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate in 2025, DOT HS 813 800, at 1 (Apr. 2026).
- Marija Trajchevska & Christian Martyn Jones, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Resulting from Road Traffic Accidents (RTA): A Systematic Literature Review, 22 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 985 (2025).
