Crashing into the Stark Reality after a Car Crash

Crashing into the Stark Reality After a Car Crash

Your day starts out normal and possibly even mundane. You get in your car or truck and head to your destination. Then in mere seconds your body, your mind, and everything you thought you knew about the world at large is turned upside down. You have been involved in a car accident. It is terrifying and unsettling risk that anyone navigation the United States highways must be take into account prior to getting into his or her car or truck each day.

Driving While Impaired

Arguably, the nation’s highways have never been more unsafe. From the heroin epidemic plaguing much of rural America to the legalization of recreation marijuana in some U.S. states, there are more things to worry about than drunk drivers on the roadways. The Taconic Highway Crash is a tragedy seared into most American’s memories when Diane Schuler, with a BAC well beyond the legal limit and THC from marijuana found in her at autopsy, crashed on a New York state highway and killed herself, three children, and three other men.

Some prescription drugs, combined with just one or two alcoholic beverages, can render a person much more intoxicated than he she would be normally. This is called the multiplier effect and anyone drinking alcoholic beverages while on certain medications including recreational marijuana and OTC drugs should be aware of it.

Pedestrian Fatalities

Pedestrian Deaths via car crash are an alarming problem. When a driver is impaired, he or she is less likely to notice a passerby whether the passerby is merely walking alongside the road or if the pedestrian is waiting at a bus or trolley stop. Pedestrians are advised by authorities to wear bright or reflective clothing if he or she is walking or jogging on the roadways after dark or just at twilight. Pedestrians should never wear head-to-toe dark clothing as he or she will simply blend in too well with the night. Hitting a pedestrian is often fatal, or at minimum disfiguring to the pedestrian, and it carries lifelong trauma effects on both the driver and the person that was hit if he or she was lucky enough to survive the hit.

Psychological Effects of a Motor Vehicle Accident

When we think of motor vehicle accidents, most of us imagine the musculoskeletal injuries such as bruises and lacerations or in more severe car crashes the amputation of arms and legs or burns to significant portions of the body. The psychological components of a motor vehicle accident are just as scary. Many people involved in a car crash never regain the security they once had either as a driver or a passenger following a motor vehicle accident. Many car crash victims develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, of PTSD, as a result of the car crash. Survivors of motor vehicle accidents are more likely than others in the general population to suffer from depression following the motor vehicle crash. The mental future for car crash victims is bleak. Many will require intensive therapy and/or medication to deal with their new realities, and in some more rare cases the victim of motor vehicle accident never makes it back onto the road following the crash.

Lawyers

Many people with PTSD or depression may not feel up to arguing with insurance companies and claims, and an attorney will be a formidable force in representing the car crash victim. Seeking counsel from a lawyer is a good idea even if there are not lasting physical or mental impairments. A lawyer knows the legal system better than a layperson. A lawyer can best represent a car crash victim, so he or she is adequately reimbursed for the pain and suffering he or she has experienced. If you are at fault in a car accident, you should retain legal counsel immediately to obtain sound legal advice and to protect your assets in the event the other party sues.

Technological Advances

Many car manufactures have started adding safety features to their automobiles to keep automobile accidents from occurring and make the roads a safer place to drive. It is becoming commonplace for cars to have a video screen that the drive can view to make sure he or she is now backing into anything when he or she is backing up. Other car manufactures have a safety feature that cause a car to beep if something is in the car’s “blind spot” and the driver attempts to change lanes. There is little doubt that a self-driving car is going to be available in the near future. This is promising as it would eliminate a lot of the human error component that is a catalyst in many motor vehicle accidents.