An auto accident attorney has the knowledge and training to understand exactly what kinds of damages have occurred as the result of accident. Most pri...
An auto accident attorney has the knowledge and training to understand exactly what kinds of damages have occurred as the result of accident. Most primarily think of tangible injuries and the medical bills affiliated with those injuries,
but there are other types of damages that occur as the result of vehicle crashes. Punitive damages, pain and suffering, replacement services, future wage loss, future medical treatment, and even loss of consortium should all be looked into on behalf of the plaintiff.
Punitive damages, though the laws concerning them differ in different states, can be obtained in some cases. If the defendant, the person who caused the crash, can be convicted of negligence, recklessness, or other intentional actions, he can be fined punitive damages in favor of the plaintiff who sustained injury or damages from the incident. Typically this is meant to be a punishment to deter the defendant from offending again, but the plaintiff sometimes gets a portion of the monies fined. An attorney will sometimes move forward with punitive damage claims if compensatory awards are not sufficient.
For injuries that go beyond the physical, compensation for pain and suffering can be sought with the assistance of an auto accident attorney. Some victims of traffic accidents can suffer mental issues. Some will have to overcome the fear and anxiety in order to be able to use a vehicle again. Some cannot emotionally bring themselves to drive or be a passenger, in which case counseling and other medical treatment may be needed. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often affiliated with war veterans, is often suffered by those involved in serious vehicular incidents. Victims can become depressed, distraught, or anxious due inabilities that affiliated injuries have caused. If one is housebound or unable to provide or perform normal daily tasks, an attorney may seek compensation for pain and suffering due to emotional or mental damages.
In a similar situation, if a victim is unable to complete daily life tasks and he has to hire others to complete such tasks, replacement service damages can be pursued. For example, if a victim can no longer mow the lawn, do the laundry, clean the house, or adequately care for children he may need to have help for those things, and he can be awarded financially reimbursement.
While the cost of immediate loss of wages and medical treatments are obvious, injuries can sometimes plague a victim for some time if not forever. It is a difficult amount to pinpoint and prove, but an accident attorney can fight to win money to pay future medical bills and to make up for probable lost wages.
Lastly, and maybe the least common, is a case called loss of consortium. This is sought by the spouse of the injured in a claim that he or she, by proxy, has suffered in that normal marital acts cannot continue as a direct result of the injuries the victim obtained
An auto accident attorney will know the details and legalities of all of these types of compensation and should be contacted in the case of any traffic incident that has inflicted injury upon someone.
