New York – A young child suffered a severe head injury during a collision where the van that she was in was rear-ended by a car. The van accident occurred in Hauppauge, Long Island and police there have charged the driver of the car with driving while impaired. They note that they detected signs of illicit drug use that could have made driving dangerous to others on the road. Sources say that the man was reckless driving, causing him to hit the back of the minivan and then jump the curb. Officials believe that the man’s drug use may have contributed to the reckless driving, causing multiple injuries to the victims in the minivan crash. The 7-year-old girl passenger in the van is listed as the most serious injured in the accident. The nature of the other injuries are unclear and doctors will have to do more extensive medical testing. However, trauma experts explain that injuries from this kind of motor vehicle accident often include traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, fractures and internal organ damage. They warn that some types of injuries are not even apparent for days to weeks after a crash, sometimes even longer. Legal experts in New York say that a driver who is under the influence of drug or is drunk driving when he or she causes a crash, they can be charged with criminal violations of the law as well as be sued in civil court. The civil lawsuit could deal with personal injury or wrongful death as well as property damages. For more information about this car crash, see this article.

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