Car crashes can be devastating in multiple ways.
From the physical damage that is caused to vehicles and other property to the injuries and fatalities that happen, the yearly financial toll from these events is astronomical.
What many people may not realize is that auto crashes result in costs that involve much more than money.
Car crash attorneys representing accident victims see all sides of these accidents and how there is much more than just money lost when someone is injured in a car accident.
What Are The Categories of Car Crash Damages?
In calculating the annual financial cost of car crashes, damages are broken up into multiple categories.
According to the NHTSA, auto crashes result in $340 billion in monetary damages in one year across the different categories.
Those include $31 billion in medical expenses, $115 billion in property damage, plus $106 billion in lost household and market productivity.
Overall amounts also include less-recognized financial damage of an additional $36 billion annually, which comes from traffic congestion and delays, excess fuel consumption, increased greenhouse gases, and other secondary costs that occur when accidents happen.
What About Intangible Injuries?
What car crash attorneys point out is that these measurable financial costs do not figure in the cost of damage which is much more difficult to measure.
Intangible costs associated with physical pain and suffering, emotional and mental health issues, and other losses that are different for every person makes coming up with the true cost of some accidents impossible.
Chronic pain, PTSD, and other conditions that come as a result of an auto crash can bring lifelong effects, from an inability to work or be productive in any way to a loss of enjoyment of life.
These damages are also impossible to put a monetary price tag on.
Summary of The True Cost of Car Crashes
To summarize, although car crashes result in nearly $350 billion in financial damages every year, the true cost that includes unmeasurable damages like pain, suffering, mental health, and life issues is unknown.
Although it is impossible to value a person’s intangible damages, as theirs will be different than the next person’s, experienced car crash attorneys have methods for calculating suitable settlements that acknowledge these damages and the lifelong costs associated with them.
Though it is not possible to fully reimburse someone for certain costs suffered after auto crashes, the best thing anyone involved in a vehicle accident can do to protect themselves is to hire a respected, skilled car crash attorney to represent them in court.
That attorney will consider all damages, including long-lasting, life-altering physical and mental health conditions, and fight for a fair settlement.