There are many ways that car crashes may cause economic hardship for the people involved in a wreck. The first is through the creation of property damage expenses. Almost all collisions result in some degree of damage to the vehicles involved. Repairing a damaged vehicle or replacing a total vehicle can cost thousands of dollars.
The second economic concern is the possibility of medical expenses. While not every crash leads to serious injury, collisions are among the leading causes of several types of catastrophic injuries, including brain injuries and amputations. Even minor injuries like cuts that require stitches and broken bones can cost quite a bit to treat.
The injured party may also need to consider their lost wages. Not only can someone likely miss work on the day that a crash occurs, but they may also need to wait weeks before returning to their typical employment. The treatment plan that a physician recommends could very well mean that someone must miss out on weeks of income.
Injured workers may require rest or therapy
Treatment plans for injuries may involve invasive care or a period of medically-ordered rest. Depending on the nature of someone’s car crash injuries, they might spend multiple days in the hospital receiving emergency care. In some cases, their injuries may necessitate surgery, which might lead to a lengthy recovery period.
Occasionally, someone injured in a car crash may need to undergo physical therapy. Physical therapy requirements can range from a few weeks to several months depending on someone’s injury. While physical therapy on its own is not prohibitively expensive, it can lead to secondary economic losses for the person hurt in the wreck.
If the injured person works in a blue-collar profession or if their treatment plan requires inpatient care, they could lose out on wages for quite some time. That loss of income can prove devastating when coupled with substantial medical expenses. The higher the total cost from the crash climb, the more likely it is that the other driver’s insurance can’t pay for someone’s treatment in full.
As a result, filing a personal injury lawsuit may be necessary when workers require an extended leave of absence to undergo treatment and recover from crash injuries.