Your rights after a serious auto accident: should you consider legal action?

Your rights after an auto accident

If you have been seriously injured in a car accident you are entitled to compensation for your expenses, including:

• Payment for medical and hospital expenses and compensation for anticipated future medical care.
• Repair or replacement of your vehicle.
• Car rental expenses.
• Compensation for your loss of earnings while injured and losses of future income.
• Reimbursement for other out of pocket expenses incurred.
• Compensation for pain and suffering from your physical injuries and for emotional distress.

Planning for your future

An auto accident can leave a person with devastating, life-changing injuries. Traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries resulting in tetraplegia and paraplegia are all too frequent outcomes of auto accidents. These and other injuries may leave you unable to work, unable to take care of your family, and unable to enjoy the life you had before the crash.

Traumatic brain injury, TBI, may result from a fracture or a penetration of the skull. Damage to the brain may occur at the instant the head impacts a hard surface, and it may also occur later, as swelling or bleeding within the brain puts pressure on brain structures.

TBI can also result from a closed-head injury in which the skull is not penetrated. A closed head injury often occurs when there is a rapid acceleration or deceleration of the head that frequently occurs in auto accidents when a driver or passenger is hurled against the windshield or is thrown from the vehicle, and lands with great force against the pavement. The risk of traumatic brain injury or other severe injury is much greater if seatbelts or airbags are not used.

Following a traumatic brain injury, significant improvement will continue for 16-22 months after the auto accident. At one and a half to two years post trauma, a person has largely stabilized; whatever recovery the person has achieved at that time is very likely all that will be achieved. For the rest of that person’s life, a person who has suffered a TBI and those responsible for their care will have to work with the limitations of that recovery. It is critical that the victim’s injuries be carefully evaluated, so that a plan for rehabilitation and care can be developed, including a realistic appraisal of lifetime expenses.

Another frequent outcome from being thrown from a vehicle is a spinal cord injury. An injury in the lower spine can result in paraplegia, the loss of use of the legs, imposing severe restrictions in a person’s life. If the paraplegia is permanent, a person must plan their entire life around the restrictions that come with the loss of use of their legs, including permanent use of wheelchairs. Seasoned auto accident attorneys understand the realities of wheelchair use, and the need to redesign and rebuild a home so that a person can use their kitchen, their bathroom and can navigate other spaces.

Injuries higher up the spinal cord can result in tetraplegia, a loss of use of both arms and legs. An individual with tetraplegia may need mechanical assistance to breathe, and 24- hour around the clock assistive care to survive. An experienced auto accident injury attorney knows what this diagnosis can mean to a person and their family and can help them think through their needs.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured, or if a loved one has died in a car crash, you may be facing serious changes in your health, your lifestyle, your earning power, and your expectations for you and your family’s future.

In the case of a serious injury, your first concern must be getting the best medical and rehabilitative care, and the best possible resolution of your injuries. During this process, as you or your loved one face the changes ahead; you will likely begin to think about how you will deal with the financial consequences.