Many car accidents are caused by the negligent actions of a driver, meaning that they were not exercising their duty of care to the other drivers on the road. That means they were behaving in a reckless or irresponsible manner that endangered the safety of other people on the road. Of course, a car accident can happen to anyone and be caused by anyone, so you might wonder whether age matters in a car accident.
According to the attorneys of Wattel & York, age might be a factor in some aspects of the case. The age of the victim can have some bearing on certain aspects of a car accident case, though other factors may be more prevalent. Regardless of their age, anyone who was in a car accident is advised to hire a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. An attorney can help you get the compensation you need to cover the damages caused by the car accident.
What Happens After a Car Accident
After a car accident, the victim should first check for any serious injuries and call 911. The dispatcher will send an ambulance to take care of the wounded and police officers to examine and cordon off the scene. If possible, you should take pictures of the accident scene before emergency services arrive. Be sure to take pictures of the damage to each vehicle, the general accident area, and any injuries you suffered.
Make sure you don’t admit fault or even apologize to the other driver; that could come back to haunt you later on. Make sure to exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver. Once the paramedics and police are finished with you at the scene, go see a doctor for further evaluation. You could have suffered latent injuries that take a while to surface. Next, you should contact an attorney so that you can get to work filing a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver’s insurance company. The attorney will help you to get the compensation you need.
How Age Affects the Car Accident Claim
When the victim files a personal injury claim, they seek compensation for the losses caused by the accident. Those losses are called damages, and they can be economic or non-economic in nature. Economic damages include measurable losses like repair bills, current and future medical bills, current and future lost wages, and so on. Non-economic damages include things like pain and suffering, depression, PTSD, loss of enjoyment of previous activities, and other things that don’t have a measurable financial value.
The victim’s age can be a factor in some of those damages, namely, future lost wages. If a person is fairly young, then the compensation for future lost wages will be far more than for a person who is closer to retirement age. All other damages are likely to cost the same regardless of age, but the loss of future earnings could make a big difference in the payout based on the age of the victim.
Contact a Car Accident Attorney If You Were Involved in a Car Crash
A car accident can be a life-changing event no matter your age, so you should make sure to hire an attorney to help you get your life back on track. An attorney can help you get the compensation you need to cover all you lost in the accident. And since most personal injury attorneys use contingency fees, there is no risk involved in retaining one for your case.