Someone comes barreling down a residential street and slams into your car while you’re stopped or moving along at about 10 miles per hour. Or, you’re coasting along the freeway when someone slams into you and the vehicle flips, maybe it catches on fire, or perhaps it’s crushed so badly that you simply couldn’t get out until Fire and Rescue appeared on the crash scene. Serious car wrecks happen every single day in Ohio, and while first responders are certainly prepared, most drivers are not. These are all very real consequences of serious car wrecks, and it’s critical to understand the full effect of one bad decision.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a serious car accident, an Ohio automobile accident attorney can help you recover compensation.
Top Reasons for Serious Car Wrecks
In recent years stats on serious car wrecks, usually involving fatalities, exposed that drowsiness, distraction, drunk driving, and speeding were the top causes for the wrecks. These are all avoidable things, but still, many people get into their car in the early morning hours after only a few hours of sleep to head to work. Several hours later, they get back into their car, more tired than before, to head home.
Drunk driving and speeding are probably the most publicly criticized. With organizations such as MADD taking on drunk driving, it’s clear that there’s not much room for acceptance in these situations. The consequences of drunk driving often impact the victim more than the driver, and that has made for a rather toxic environment around the topic.
Finally, when you consider distracted driving, it’s almost socially acceptable. In stark contrast to drunk driving or street racing, there’s much more to look at in terms of distracted driving. Our vehicles are now built with tools to enable distracted driving, and still in 2016, distracted driving resulted in at least 3,400 fatalities.
Disfigurement, Burns, and Loss of Limb
Disfigurement can include burns, loss of limbs, loss of sensory perception, and more. It’s possible for someone to lose an arm or a leg in a wreck. It’s equally possible for someone to escape with their lives only to have to continue living with a completely different body or face because of a car fire after a crash.
These damages are not calculated lightly because, unlike whiplash, or a sprained shoulder. You won’t be bouncing back from these injuries. Loss of a limb can cost someone their livelihood, sources of enjoyment such as sports, and even opportunities with their children. A father paralyzed in a wreck may never get to walk his daughter down the aisle; these types of life events are difficult to put a value to.
Death and Trauma from Loss
Of course, the most serious trauma for anyone in a wreck is death. Not only is the loss startling and heartbreaking, but it can leave survivors with undue guilt. Those who experience a loss from an accident may have ongoing trauma and grief for years or decades. In 2019, 1,008 people died as a result of traffic fatalities, and there’s no doubt that there were survivors in many of those accidents.
The survivors, family members, and close friends will be left not only to pick up the pieces of their own life but also for the victim. They will have to take over on funeral arrangements, planning, and paying for it. But they will also have to experience losing an income in the household, losing a partner in life, and the cost of medical bills prior to the victim’s death.
Death and trauma have profound impacts on people, but still, serious car wrecks happen almost daily.
Will You Require the Assistance of a Cleveland Car Accident Attorney?
Yes, in short, you will need legal help to sort through all the issues that have come up because of your wreck. Now your insurance company may assure you that they will handle everything. Except for the moment that they can “handle everything,” you have to start submitting paperwork, arranging for your vehicle to go through an appraisal, and submit proof for any financial burden.
A Cleveland, OH car accident lawyer takes a different approach. By meeting with you or contacting you by phone, they collect all the information upfront and then complete the paperwork and submissions for you. The result is that you’re not jumping through hoops for anyone. You can be with your family or focus on your physical recovery during this jarring time.
Contact our Ohio automobile crash law firm. Our team often works with very serious car wrecks that may involve death, loss of limb, or loss of quality of life.