How Catastrophic Car Accidents Affect Families

You may have noticed that drivers in Mobile, AL are sometimes careless behind the wheel, speeding, failing to use a turn signal, tailing behind another car too close, and cutting off a vehicle. Most of the time, motorists get away with these reckless actions. But then life catches up with you.

A Mobile, AL driver has roughly a one-in-three chance of being in a car accident that leads to injury or death in their lifetime. Alabama is 12th in the nation for speeding-related crashes.

Drive Safe Alabama reports that 986 people were killed in 887 fatal car crashes in Alabama in 2021. For every fatality, there were about 40 injuries.

Whether an accident with another car, a bus, a motorcycle, or a single car accident, a catastrophic car accident in Mobile can change your life, that is, if you survive. Not only your injuries, the cost of medical care, and the effect on your family, but the trauma everyone will endure for now and into the future.

We have seen far too many of these situations that the driver could have prevented by respecting the driving process and valuing life.

Emotional Trauma

A Mobile, AL car accident could be considered a catastrophic event. Whether you are involved or someone in your family, there is that split-second realization just before the collision that your life is about to careen out of control, and there is nothing you can do about it.

The sounds and sights will be imprinted on your brain forever, enough to cause post-traumatic stress in some individuals. That mental trauma may need treatment along with your damaged body.

Besides the trauma of being in a significant car accident, other mental impacts can include stress, depression, fear, anger, shock, panic attacks, guilt, and mood swings.

Reliving the traumatic accident, along with flashbacks and nightmares, is very common and could cause someone to withdraw from society. Mental trauma requires treatment and is part of the compensation we will seek from the negligent party.

Physical Trauma

Many of the injuries received in a catastrophic car crash can eventually heal, but others cause life-long permanent injuries and a loss of quality of life.

Catastrophic injuries include:

• Brain injury
• Amputation
• Burns
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Paralysis

We must consider the individual’s quality of life moving forward when we ask for monetary compensation. If this is a young person, we will consider the years ahead lost to these catastrophic conditions.

Even with the best medical care, it is not always possible to heal from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), disfigurement, paralysis, and amputation.

Families and Catastrophic Car Accidents

The average family in Mobile is not prepared for the enormous cost of a catastrophic car accident. It is not only the medical expenses that can bankrupt a family, but that individual will have to have additional medical considerations and treatment for their life. Consider the cost of regular therapy, medications, personal mobility equipment, home health aides, nursing home or long-term assisted living, and lost income, both now and in the future.

In addition, someone’s life goal of being married and having a family may never happen. A parent who forgot to buckle their child securely in the car seat before they were catastrophically injured can result in a lifetime of guilt. No one thinks of all of these repercussions when they drive irresponsibly.

The cost of care from a catastrophic accident in Mobile is why working with an experienced and compassionate Alabama auto accident attorney is essential.

Your Alabama Car Accident Attorney

We understand that driving under the influence (DUI), distracted driving, speeding, and failing to wear a seat belt are the leading causes of traffic crashes. The loss of life and catastrophic injuries can be prevented if we take driving seriously at all times.

To fail to do so can mean millions in medical bills and a catastrophically injured family member who may never be the same.

Attorney J. Allan Brown understands what it means to fight for his clients and to have the responsible party pay for their negligence. The insurance company for the other driver will try to blame the accident on the victim to mitigate their losses. They may even say that he shares some percentage of the fault for the accident.

In Alabama, the contributory negligence statute bars your financial recovery from the insurer if they can prove that you share the fault for the catastrophic car accident.

Attorney J. Allan Brown will fight hard to gather the evidence you need to present to the insurer and, if they play hardball, will take your case to trial. The first step is yours. Call the Mobile Law Office of J. Allan Brown for a complimentary consultation on your case at 251-473-6691.

Sources:

Drive Safe Alabama
https://drivesafealabama.org/