The Economic Impact of Severe Injuries Suffered in a Car Accident in West Virginia

If you’ve ever been involved in a car accident, and you were not at fault, then you know how disruptive it can be. Depending on the severity of the accident, you could be facing a lot of challenges: a car that needs to be repaired or was totaled, a mountain of medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other kinds of losses. It can be overwhelming to face all those things by yourself, wondering how you’ll be able to overcome your losses and injuries.

You may think that your car insurance will cover everything, but then the reality slowly starts to sink in—that your insurance company most likely is not going to cover all the costs of your losses and damages. When you face those challenges and roadblocks, that’s the time to talk to a car accident attorney, who can help you to assess all your out-of-pocket expenses, and then work to help you get the compensation you deserve.

Common Injuries Suffered in Car Accidents in in Charleston, WV

Sometimes, your automobile accident only causes some minor scrapes, and recovery time is very short, or none at all. Unfortunately, it’s far too often that a car wreck causes significant injuries that have a long-lasting impact—even permanently. Some of the kinds of injuries you can sustain in a car accident are:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
• Burn injuries
• Back and neck injuries
• Amputations
• Lacerations
• Bruising
• Muscle sprains and strains
• Spinal cord injuries
• Psychological damage
• Broken bones

Most all of these injuries will likely require some sort of medical treatment, such as treatment for broken bones. Depending on the severity of the injury, recovery can even mean changing one’s lifestyle permanently (e.g., an amputation or a spinal cord injury). When you’re facing such daunting changes, it helps to have an attorney who specializes in car accidents to help pursue compensation to cover current and future medical costs.

The Cost of a Car Accident in West Virginia

So how much does a car accident cost overall? It really depends on several factors including:

• The severity of the crash
• Sustained car and property damages
• Car and property value
• Location of the accident
• The number of injured parties
• The severity of injuries sustained

Even though cars have become safer over the years, which means the severity of injuries are decreasing, the costs of injuries are increasing. In 2013, according to ISO, an analytics company, the national average claims for bodily claims was over $15,000, while property damage claims were over $3,000.

For more serious injuries, calculating the costs can be a more complex situation. For example, TBI can become a permanent condition, where the accident victim does not fully recover. If he or she was working before the accident and will now never return to work, one has to calculate what future earnings were lost. Additionally, a car accident victim who sustains a TBI will require some medical care, such as medical exams, for the rest of his or her life. So those additional medical costs have to be calculated.

Finally, there is pain and suffering as well as the psychological toll an accident can add to a car wreck victim. For psychological injuries, it could lead to emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These could all be short-term or long-term conditions and could severely impact the quality of life of an accident victim, costing you more.

Have you or a loved one been injured while in a car accident? You should reach out to an experienced West Virginia personal injury attorney from our firm for exceptional handling of your case. The compassionate and skilled car accident attorneys at Bailey Javins & Carter understand the challenges you will be facing in the days, weeks, and months ahead. We have more than 40 years of experience getting compensation for victims of West Virginia car accidents. We know how to handle insurance companies and to fight for the compensations and damages that you deserve for a car wreck that was caused by a negligent driver. Contact our office at (304) 345-0346.