Imagine your son is on his way over to visit for the entire weekend. You haven’t seen him since he moved out of state so you’ve been excited for weeks. He was supposed to arrive thirty minutes ago and you haven’t heard from him. Finally the phone rings with some bad news. Your son was in a car accident due to texting and driving and he’s on his way to the hospital. You leave to meet him in the emergency room, fearing the worst.
The fallout from such a situation can be severe. If you’re lucky your loved one will only need to replace a car. All too often though families of injured victims are left with high costs. Whether you are facing a long road of surgeries and rehabilitation, or the staggering loss of life, you should speak with an experienced attorney as soon as possible.
When the injuries sustained in a texting while driving accident are severe, victims and their family are often awarded compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are intended to make victims “whole” by providing payment for economic (e.g. medical bills, lost wages) and non-economic (e.g. pain and suffering, disfigurement) damages. This means that the driver who was responsible for the accident would pay for the victim’s damages. You and your loved one may have more options. Punitive damages, which are designed to punish the offender as opposed to compensate the victim, may also be an avenue to explore. These can be awarded if the driver who was responsible for the accident has been fined for the same type of accident before. The court could add punitive damages to the money you would be receive for compensation. But like many car accidents, the options you have would depend on the facts and severity of the accident. Only an experienced accident attorney can help you weigh all of your options.
If you or a loved one become a victim of a texting and driving accident, it is important to contact a personal injury attorney. They can help direct you in what steps to take next and see that you get the compensation you or your loved one deserve.
This month, AT&T launched it’s “It Can Wait” campaign with the commercial below. This commercial depicts a realistic texting and driving accident, showing both the circumstances leading up to the accident and the accident itself. We hope you take the time to watch the video and notice how quickly a serious accident can occur when a driver is on their cellphone. Not to mention, the level of damage these types of accidents often produce.
