Warner Robins, GA
A concussion is a brain injury whose symptoms are mostly reported by the patient and may not appear until the next day. That makes it dangerous to ignore and easy for an insurer to question.
You do not have to hit your head to be concussed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a concussion as a brain injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or by a hit to the body that makes the head and brain move rapidly back and forth. Many people walk away from a wreck, decline the ambulance, and realize a day later that they cannot concentrate, the light hurts, and they are sleeping twelve hours.
Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law represents people with head injuries from North Carolina crashes. This page covers the symptoms to watch for, using the CDC’s own list, and the steps that protect both your recovery and your claim. It is general information, not medical advice.
The CDC’s HEADS UP program groups concussion symptoms into four kinds and warns that signs and symptoms may not show up right away; they may take hours or days to appear or be noticed. That delay is the reason a normal first hour proves nothing. Ask the people around you to watch as well, because the injured person is often the last to notice a change in mood or memory.
| Type | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Physical | Headache, dizziness or balance problems, nausea or vomiting early on, sensitivity to light or noise, tiredness, vision problems |
| Thinking and memory | Trouble concentrating or thinking clearly, feeling slowed down, foggy, or groggy, short- or long-term memory problems |
| Emotional | Irritability, anxiety or nervousness, sadness, feeling more emotional than usual |
| Sleep | Sleeping more or less than usual, trouble falling asleep |
| Danger signs: go to the emergency department | A headache that gets worse and does not go away, repeated vomiting, seizures, slurred speech, weakness or numbness, one pupil larger than the other, increasing confusion, or being unable to stay awake |
Summary of the CDC HEADS UP symptom list. General information, not medical advice.
Be examined on the day of the crash and tell the provider exactly what happened to your head and neck, including any moment you cannot remember. Follow the discharge instructions, and go back if symptoms appear or change. Keep the follow-up appointments, and if your doctor refers you to a neurologist or a concussion clinic, go.
Then write things down. Keep a short daily note of symptoms, missed work, and tasks you could not do. A concussion claim rarely rests on a single test result, so the proof is the record: what you reported, when you reported it, and how consistently. Ask family or coworkers who notice changes to note the dates too.
Insurers contest concussion claims on two fronts. The first is causation: a gap between the crash and the first complaint, a normal scan, or a history of earlier headaches will each be offered as proof that the crash did not cause the problem. Same-day care and steady follow-up answer that. The second is value, where the insurer measures the claim by the medical bills, and under N.C. R. Evid. 414 those are the amounts actually paid or still owed, not the amounts first billed. The larger losses in a head injury, lost work and lasting cognitive changes, have to be proved by doctors, employers, and the people who know you.
North Carolina adds a third front that most states do not have. Under the contributory negligence rule, if your own negligence contributed to the crash in any degree, the claim can be barred altogether, however serious the injury. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-139 puts the burden of proving that on the defense, but a person with a head injury is poorly placed to give an accurate recorded statement about speed, distance, and timing. Let a lawyer handle that conversation.
Most North Carolina injury claims must be filed within three years under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16). The statute ties the start of that period to when bodily harm becomes apparent or reasonably should have become apparent, but with a crash the safe assumption is that the clock starts on the day of the collision. Do not settle early. A release signed while symptoms are still developing ends the claim for good, and persistent post-concussion symptoms may not be clear for months.
If you or someone in your family is dealing with a head injury after a wreck, a North Carolina car accident lawyer can collect the records, deal with the insurers, and keep the deadline while you recover.
Joshua E. Palmer
Managing Partner · Joshua E. Palmer, Attorney at Law
Attorney Palmer concentrates in personal injury law and trained in North Carolina law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham. These answers are the ones he gives clients across a desk, written down: direct, in plain English, and tied to the North Carolina rule that applies.
Dealing with a head injury after a North Carolina crash? Call for a free case review. We will handle the insurer so you can concentrate on getting better.
Responsible attorney: Joshua E. Palmer, Managing Partner · 106 Moran Dr #5106, Bonaire, GA 31005 · (478) 887-3734. Attorney advertising. This page is general legal information about North Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation; contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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Each case is different. Any results, settlement figures, or benefit amounts described on this page depend on the specific facts of that case and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in yours. Statutes and benefit rates cited are current as of October 2026; confirm current law with an attorney before relying on it.
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