One of the most common injuries linked to a car accident is traumatic brain injury. Often when these are linked to car accidents, they can be extreme depending on how severe the initial impact was. That being said, the victim may appear fine but may undergo delayed trauma. When this happens, medical treatment is of extreme importance in order to determine the extent of the brain injury. In addition, legal assistance is necessary for the victim in order to receive compensation for their medical expenses, time-lost away from work as well as pain and suffering. This article will discuss the help an experienced lawyer can provide when a traumatic brain injury is as a result of a car accident.
Car accident claims are often linked with negligence; when negligence is used there are four elements that must be proven by the injury victim. These elements are:
The element of causation, as with the other three elements, is necessary to prove one’s case. Causation basically describes the reason something happened; it is the concept of cause. In order to prove causation a ‘but for’ test [But-for test | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)] must be carried out determining, “but for the existence of X, would Y have occurred”. Therefore, it is necessary for the traumatic brain injuries suffered by the injury victim to be directly linked or connected to the accident. To prove this a physician must record the injury linking the damage to the accident and presenting details of this in the courtroom as proof of negligence of the other driver. As such, the car accident lawyer provides proof that the plaintiff’s injury is the direct result of the accident.
An experienced personal injury lawyer will assist the victim by presenting the evidence of the traumatic brain injury. This is possible by way of documenting of the symptoms. Brain and head injuries are serious and have symptoms that include:
There may be other symptoms that manifest that point to the traumatic brain damage being caused by a car accident.
Another way a lawyer provides assistance is by calculating damages. This applies to medical bills, loss of income while recovering and away from work, car accident property damage [https://www.crowsonlaw-wasilla.com/auto-accidents/2016/12/13/property-], pain and suffering, etc. While property damage and medical bills can easily be quantified, other calculations involving pain and suffering or trauma require further understanding. To put this into perspective try to put a dollar value to having a chronic headache for a year. To establish a dollar value, calculations use a multiplying factor which increases based on the level of the victim’s sustained pain and suffering.
Traumatic brain injury cases are complex and thus require the use of an expert witness to remove confusion about the case. An expert witness is a professional in their field; in brain injury cases it may be a medical professional or accident reconstruction expert. They provide necessary testimony to support the case.
For legal advice and representation contact expert personal injury attorneys today.
