Maison Law represents the victims of permanent injuries suffered in California car accidents. It’s critical that victims left with permanent disabilities receive support to pay a lifetime of medical bills and support their families. Victims and their families should contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out what type of support you’ll require to cover a lifetime of medical care and how to hold an at-fault driver fully responsible.
Do I Need a Lawyer After Suffering a Permanent Injury in a Car Accident?
A lawyer can be an important layer of protection for accident victims and their families. Victims suffering a permanent physical disability will need enormous financial support over their lifetimes. This cost should fall to the at-fault driver’s car insurance company. Unfortunately, when insurance adjusters see the high cost of care estimated over decades, they immediately search for ways to avoid taking the blame.
Insurers will try to blame innocent victims for an accident so they can stick them with the coming flurry of medical invoices. They may also try to downplay the severity of an injury, using their own doctors to attempt to show that an injury isn’t permanent.
A California Traumatic Injury Lawyer fights back against these tactics. Your lawyer would investigate your accident and use the evidence collected to force an insurance company to accept full blame for a terrible accident. Your Maison Law attorney then demands support to last for as long as you require help.
What Type of Permanent Injuries Can Car Accident Victims Suffer?
Many California traffic accident victims come away with just a minor bump on the head or a bruise or two. Thankfully, the thousands of accidents in California each year most often aren’t major.
But with thousands of careless drivers using heavily traveled routes like Ventura Boulevard, I-5, and Highway 99 each day, a devastating collision is always possible. Drivers speeding and driving aggressively can carry additional force into impacts.
The occupants inside vehicles can hit the car dash, the steering wheels, and doors made of glass and metal. Brain injuries, bone fractures, and internal damage are all possible results from a higher velocity accident.
The head is the most vulnerable area on any victim’s body. An impact affecting the brain can shut down control of all parts of the body and cause problems with a victim’s thought process. Using about a decade’s worth of data, The National Library of Medicine reported that Traumatic Brain Injuries sent an estimated 218,936 victims to the emergency room in the U.S. each year. 56,864 patients were hospitalized and, on average, 16,402 victims tragically lost their lives.
Along with brain trauma, here are some other injuries with the potential to cause life-changing injuries for California victims:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Victims can lose the ability to control certain body parts. They may have constant seizures and permanent memory loss that makes experiencing a normal life difficult. Memory care at home or at a nursing facility could be necessary.
- Amputations: An amputation may occur in an accident or may become necessary through surgery afterward. Victims who have lost a limb will need to learn to navigate daily activities. They may need to learn to walk and care for themselves again. The lifetime cost of home care and medical equipment should be covered by an insurance company.
- Spinal Cord Injuries: Damage to the spinal column or the spinal cord could affect the brain’s ability to control appendages. Total or partial paralysis could result. Victims might have to rely on wheelchairs or scooters simply to get from one room to the other.
- Nerve Damage: Nerves that carry messages and commands throughout the body may cease to function.
- Internal Organ Damage: Blunt force trauma or penetrating force in a collision could cause permanent damage to the heart and lungs, the kidneys, the liver, the intestines, and any other vital organ.
- Bone Fractures: A bone may be splintered or crushed in the force of a head-on collision. It may never heal right and victims may deal with pain or numbness in a body part for the rest of their lives.
- Facial Damage: The eyes may suffer unrepairable harm and victims may lose their sight. A jaw bone could be cracked, leaving victims unable to speak normally again.
The patient’s mental health after going through such a frightening accident and a difficult recovery must also be considered. Such a major change in lifestyle and perhaps a change in appearance would greatly affect a victim’s enjoyment of life and self-perception. A skilled Maison Law attorney would make sure this emotional trauma also earned support from those at fault.
Recovery Costs to Consider After Suffering a Permanent Injury in a California Car Accident
Survival is the main concern in the minutes and hours after a bad car crash. Victims may be driven or flown to the nearest Trauma Center for life-saving treatment.
Once a patient is stabilized in the hospital, the victim and, in some cases, family members, will have to consider how those immediate healthcare bills will be paid. Then the cost of medical care in the years ahead must be considered. And on top of that, the monthly financial support of the family must be factored in while a victim can’t work.
A physical disability could create hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses each year. Those costs should always be the responsibility of the insurance provider for the at-fault driver.
Your Maison Law Traumatic Injury Lawyer makes sure the bills get paid and that the future is covered for patients:
- Emergency Care – In the first few days of care, victims may build up emergency response bills, and build up expenses from nights spent in intensive care or in a trauma center. Emergency surgeries and amputations could be necessary. 24/7 monitoring could be required.
- Rehabilitation – Victims may need to learn to how to walk or use their hands again. Physical therapy may be required to help learn to live without the use of sight or sound if damage to the eyes and hearing has occurred. Families also need instruction on facilitating life with a disability for a loved one.
- Updated Medical Equipment – The purchase costs of medical devices and monitoring equipment. Devices are used to give patients with long-term injuries as much freedom as possible. The equipment will have to be maintained and updated. Replacement costs must be factored into the amount of any permanent disability settlement check.
- Home Renovation — Wheelchair ramps would be installed for many patients. New bedroom and bathroom apparatus would be used to help victims learn to take care of themselves.
- Job Training – Permanently disabled victims might find they can no longer perform the duties needed to keep their jobs. Without the ability to earn paychecks, insurance companies must provide support to pay normal living expenses for victims and their families. In some cases, victims should be provided with training to take up another more suitable career.
Major accident victims often sign away their rights by accepting the first settlement offer an insurance company floats their way. This offer might be far less than they’ll need to protect their health and wellbeing over a lifetime. They must trust their case to an experienced attorney who will work with doctors and other experts to determine what patients will need over the decades to come. That lawyer would then go to work demanding the maximum in compensation available from unhelpful auto insurers.
How long can I wait to file a claim over a permanent injury accident claim?
Two years. California offers victims two years from the date of their accident to file a lawsuit over their injuries. It’s important not to wait long if possible. The sooner you discuss your case with an attorney the easier it will be to secure evidence and round-up witnesses and testimony.
Can I get permanent disability benefits from California if I was hurt in a car accident?
You can receive temporary benefits. California offers State Disability Insurance to people hurt in non-work-related accidents. Victims might receive 60 to 70% of the weekly wages they were earning before the accident. This support commonly only lasts for about a year though. Then social security benefits might be the only source of additional support. This lack of long-term support is exactly why you must hold car insurance companies fully liable for your hardships now and in the years ahead.
What if I can’t afford to hire a California personal injury lawyer?
You won’t need any upfront money to hire the services of a skilled Maison Law accident attorney. Maison Law doesn’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our attorney’s fee comes out of the settlement money an insurance company must pay you.
Contact a California Traumatic Injury Attorney
If you are a victim of an accident and a traumatic injury at any level, make sure your physical and financial wellbeing stays the focus of your recovery. Don’t let hospital bills and other financial damages rob you of your strength when they should be someone else’s responsibility. Contact Maison Law of California and allow us to get started investigating the circumstances of your accident.
We can help you demand support for your current bills and for the cost of care, you could need as you learn to live life with a permanent disability. Maison Law makes sure you receive every benefit available, especially the benefits a car insurance adjuster may purposely forget to tell you about.
