After trucking accidents, some types of injuries are very easy to spot. Burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other types of serious injuries often leave clear symptoms that make diagnosis simple. However, there are also many additional types of injuries which are often more challenging to diagnose and more difficult to quantify. All too often, truck accident victims have a difficult time getting support and compensation for these less-obvious injuries.
For example, many trucking accident victims experience emotional trauma after an accident. They may feel depressed or may experience anxiety or loss of concentration. For some of these patients, returning to work duties and a normal life may be difficult, and this often leads to considerable expenses for the patient. As a result of the emotional trauma, patients may lose income or may need to pay for therapy. Some patients have a hard time feeling comfortable behind the wheel again and may need to pay for transportation services as well. Unfortunately, without a qualified Florida personal injury attorney, many patients have a hard time getting recompensed for these losses and may end up paying these sometimes substantial costs out of pocket.
Another frequently-overlooked loss sustained through trucking injuries involves long-term rehabilitation. Many types of serious injuries sustained through trucking accidents require immediate care but also a long-term recovery time. Burn injuries, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries may all require months or even years of rehabilitation, all of which requires transportation to rehabilitation facilities, rehabilitation costs, and lost income. However, many patients find that insurance companies and providers for trucking companies sometimes underestimate the total costs and duration of rehabilitation, leaving the patient to bear the financial burden of the long-term recovery time.
Another type of loss that is frequently associated with trucking accidents is the loss associated with a change of lifestyle. Many serious trucking accident injuries – such as brain injuries and spinal cord injuries – prove to be permanent and require the patient to change their lifestyle. Unfortunately, calculating the cost of permanent lifestyle changes can be challenging and sometimes leads to under-estimation of total costs. A patient may need to have their home and car made accessible, but the patient may also require additional renovations after a few years to accommodate changing ability levels. This long-term cost is not always considered, leaving the patient to absorb the cost.
Head injuries are also often undervalued when it comes to trucking accidents. Some head injuries do not produce obvious external trauma and do not even manifest symptoms at once. This makes them challenging to diagnose in some cases. As well, some types of injuries to the head area – including whiplash – have a high chance of being misdiagnosed, which may mean that trucking accident victims are left to absorb the costs of the injury.
The frequency with which vehicle accident injuries are misdiagnosed, undervalued, and missed should give truck accident victims pause. Even with a generous offer from an insurance provider or trucking company attorney, it is possible for patients to be left with thousands of dollars in medical bills and associated costs that must be paid out of pocket. For this reason, a good Florida personal injury attorney is a must. A qualified personal injury lawyer can ensure that long-term costs as well as less tangible costs are considered, so that you get the fairest settlement possible.