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A single event can change more than one life forever. Car accidents can have a serious impact on the lives of those who were not even present at the accident. It can alter your family’s dynamic forever, even if everyone recovers fully from physical injuries.
Income Loss
An automobile accident can result in the immediate loss of income from one or more breadwinners in your family. A protracted recovery time will quickly use up all vacation and sick days a wage earner has coming. Plus, the standard for employee health insurance requires the employee to work a set number of hours per week to cover the full portion of the health insurance premium. Even if you could afford the portion you pay out of your paychecks for health insurance, the rest of the amount paid by your employer becomes due when your paid days off run out. Employees involved in long-term recovery, even under the Family Medical Leave Act, are often surprised to discover that their full monthly health-insurance premium is often over $1,000 per month.
Long-Term Disability
The full physical and psychological damage of being involved in an automobile accident may not be realized until weeks or months later. You cannot begin to know what chronic pain you may have to endure until you have adequate time to heal from injuries and surgeries associated with being injured in an automobile accident. Chronic physical pain that endures after healing from the initial damage is a real concern.This can affect your ability to return to work or to do or enjoy the things you used to take for granted. There is also the psychological fallout caused by a car accident to consider from post-traumatic stress syndrome (formerly post-traumatic stress disorder) to clinical depression over health changes and disabilities leftover from the collision. The potential for long-term health issues are a reminder of why consulting with an auto accident attorney as soon as possible after an accident occurs is very much necessary to help protect your future.
Litigation Due to the Accident
Most of the advertisements you see from law firms that handle auto accidents are about getting a settlement for your injuries. However, there is the real concern that an automobile accident may result in you being the defendant rather than the plaintiff. Just as you would want the most qualified and experienced law firm on your side if you were suing someone, you want the same level of expertise and experience on your side if you are the one being litigated against. It is not wise to assume that if you are in an accident that it will have to be the other guy’s fault. It could very well be your fault, and your future is at stake when someone is pursuing you in a lawsuit.Car accidents can change everything. Family life can be disrupted even in relatively minor accidents that involve only short recovery times for health. The psychological impact of fear on children is another thing to consider. The full impact only becomes known by those involved in an accident, so do your best to not be a distracted driver and to drive defensively and safely.