Between 2 and 23 percent of car accident victims in the United States suffer a permanent disability. Permanent disability can mean lifelong changes in a person’s physical ability, mental health, or body function.
It’s not uncommon for car accident victims who’ve sustained catastrophic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, burns, or amputated limbs to be diagnosed with some level of permanent impairment or disability after a crash.
According to the National Safety Council, the average economic cost of a disabling car accident injury is $174,000, while the comprehensive cost of a crash of that severity is $1,167,000.
Fortunately, these aren’t costs or consequences you have to struggle with alone when you’ve suffered a permanent disability injury in an accident in Texas when someone else is at fault.
An experienced Georgetown car accident lawyer at Dow Law Firm can help you pursue compensation to cover today’s costs and those you have in the future.
What Is a Permanent Disability?
A permanent disability interferes with your ability to do your job and live your life. It can have direct and devastating consequences on your income, your earning capacity, and your quality of life.
Permanent disabilities that are common consequences of seriously injured car accident victims include:
- Vision loss
- Hearing loss
- Limited mobility, reduced range of motion, paraplegia, quadriplegia, or other functional impairment
- Nerve damage, limited range of motion, or contracture of scar tissue on a joint after a serious burn injury
- Organ failure related to internal bleeding, a traumatic brain injury (TBI), or spinal cord damage
- Complete or partial amputation of a limb
- Changes in cognitive function or mental health related to a TBI
When these accident-related consequences don’t heal fully once you’ve achieved maximum medical improvement, it’s considered permanent. Consulting a Georgetown car accident attorney early in your recovery helps ensure the full lifetime scope of these impairments is properly documented for your claim.
Damages Available to Victims of Permanent Car Accident Disabilities
Permanent disabilities can generate a lot of short-term and long-term costs, while also wreaking havoc on a person’s quality of life.
When you file a car accident lawsuit, you can seek compensation to help you manage the financial consequences of your permanent disability, as well as the harder-to-value life changes and struggles you have to deal with because someone else was negligent.
This can include money for:
- Emergency room care, hospitalization, surgery, medication, and other current medical bills
- Future medical expenses related to medical devices and equipment, prosthetics, specialist consultations and treatment, and more
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation
- Lost wages while you’re unable to work in any capacity during your recovery
- Diminished earning capacity if your disability prevents you from going back to the same job or doing the work at the same level
- Long-term disability for income you lose because of your disability
- Costs paid out-of-pocket for necessary medical travel if specialists for your disability aren’t located near you
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Reduced quality of life
- Emotional distress
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Embarrassment
- Inconvenience
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
Calculating the full financial value of these lifelong losses requires a detailed legal evaluation, which is why working with a car accident lawyer is critical to securing fair compensation.
Contact a Car Accident Attorney After Experiencing a Catastrophic Injury
If you have a cost that’s related to your permanent disability, you can pursue compensation for it through a car accident claim.
Dow Law Firm’s experienced car accident lawyers in Georgetown can help you understand what damages you may be able to recover, what they might be worth, and work to build a claim that makes you whole.
Contact a Georgetown accident attorney at (512) 240-9951 to schedule a free consultation today.