If you get injured in a car accident caused by another driver, you may start by considering costs like your medical bills and your lost wages. For instance, perhaps the driver hit you on the way to work, and you then spent the next week in the hospital, so you lost at least a week’s worth of wages before you were even able to return home.
These are good places to begin when seeking compensation. However, when it comes to your earnings, it’s also wise to think about the future. If you suffered long-term injuries, that car accident could reduce your earning potential – meaning that you may deserve compensation for wages that you will lose.
Why would this happen?
It really depends on the nature of the injuries and the career that you have.
Imagine that you are a heart surgeon. You need to have incredible dexterity and precise physical control over your hand motions. But a car accident leaves you with a brain injury that makes it difficult to physically control yourself without slight tremors or shaking.
This isn’t the type of injury that means you can’t work anymore. It’s not the same as becoming paraplegic in a car accident, for instance, which could mean that you can’t hold any job. However, it still may mean that you can’t be a heart surgeon. You may have to take on a different career where those fine motor skills aren’t nearly as important. If that career pays you half as much money as you were earning being a surgeon, though, then you are essentially losing half of your expected salary every single year – all thanks to the car accident.
Seeking compensation
These concerns help to illustrate why it is so important to look at the big picture and seek full compensation for all potential costs after a car accident.