Jun 28, 2016 - Car Accident by Justin Roberts
If you are injured in a car accident and you are not at fault, you may be compensated for damages and losses resulting from the accident. This may include the cost of repairs as well as medical and other expenses that are necessary to restore you to the same quality of life you enjoyed before the accident occurred.
For property damage, you may be compensated for:
- Car repair costs
- If the car is a total loss, the value of the car prior to the accident
- Any towing or storage fees
- Rental car fees, if necessary
- Value of any other personal property that may have been in the accident
For bodily injury, you may be compensated for medical expenses, loss of wages and pain and suffering. In calculating the amount of compensation for bodily injury, both present and future damages are taken into consideration.
If you are injured in a way that has caused you to lose quality of life because you can no longer enjoy certain activities, you may be entitled to compensatory damages.
Some courts allow an injured person to be compensated for the loss of enjoyment of life, while other courts believe that damages for the loss of enjoyment of life are too speculative to determine. In some states, these damages fall within the “pain and suffering” category of compensatory damages.
Some courts also maintain that a person must be aware of the loss of enjoyment, while other courts consider it allowable if the injury places the party in a vegetative state.
What constitutes loss of enjoyment of life varies from case to case, but certain courts have upheld that the inability to engage in specific activities may qualify an injured person to compensatory damages.
Injuries that may be considered as causing loss of enjoyment include:
- Significant facial scarring
- Damage to the nervous system
- Damage to the heart that may cause a shortening of life expectancy
- Loss of sensation (such as smelling, tasting, hearing, feeling, or seeing)
Roberts & Roberts focuses on helping people who have been injured in accidents. Please call 800-248-6000 or contact us for a free consultation with our experienced personal injury legal team for the compassionate representation you deserve.
Justin is an attorney at Roberts & Roberts and focuses his practice on mass tort litigation, where he specializes in helping individuals who are harmed by recalled or unsafe pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices. He has earned recognition as a “Top 40 Under 40” Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers. Prior to joining Roberts & Roberts, Justin served as an attorney in all three branches of Texas’s state government, including as a Briefing Attorney on the Texas Supreme Court. He also represented electric and natural gas utilities in complex regulatory proceedings before the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Railroad Commission of Texas. Justin is a published author in the St. Mary’s Law Journal.
