Although I had been in road traffic accidents before, I was still not prepared when a driver blew through the red light and slammed into my side. Car accidents are always dramatic. No matter how many times you have gotten into a car accident before, nothing can prepare you for the next time! And this one was particularly grisly. At first, I didn't even realize I was injured, but when I tried to get out of the car, I simply fell down, unconscious. I woke up at the hospital, very seriously hurt.
Like many serious auto wrecks, this was a drunken driving accident. It was in the middle of the day, and the other driver had somehow not seen me or the light. When the cops came to the scene, he was so drunk he could barely get out of his car. Because he had been too selfish to realize he shouldn't drive home, we got in a very serious collision. Although he wasn't hurt in the car accident, I was. Because of his negligence, I fractured vertebrae in my spine, broke my arm, and suffered severe psychological trauma. The doctor said that I would make a full recovery, but in the meantime I was at risk of losing my job.
I called an injury attorney immediately, and he came to the hospital to meet with me. What a lot of people don't realize about car accidents is how much is involved in getting some type of meaningful settlement. The insurance companies don't want to pay up when they can avoid it, and other drivers definitely don't want to pay up ? particularly when they are at fault. Although personal injury lawyers generally don't take a cut unless they win, when they do win, the cut is quite substantial. This is why damages for car accidents often run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you get any less in your settlement, most of it will end up going to your lawyer.
Fortunately, this was an open and shut case, and the guy was loaded. He had been in many other car accidents before, and they were all his fault. Not only did he lose his license, but he had to pay me a generous compensation for my injuries, pain and suffering. Don't get me wrong ? I would rather have not been injured. Still, if you are injured, it is nice to be injured by a rich driver!
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