If you've been injured in a truck accident, you don't have to try and deal with your recovery and losses all on your own. Contact a truck accident attorney for help with obtaining compensation. You can see some of the types of compensation you might be entitled to below.
Economic Damages
Damages that can be traced back to a specific loss are considered economic. Your medical bills from your injuries and wages you lost because your injuries prevented you from working are both examples of economic damages. These are losses you can easily prove. You have copies of your medical bills, for example, and your employer can confirm how many hours you missed at work and how much you make.
Your truck accident attorney will work with you to help determine and prove your economic damages. Even more importantly, they will ensure you are not overlooking something you could be compensated for.
Economic damage value is often linked to the truck size in your accident. The larger the truck, the more serious your injuries likely are, and this calls for more medical treatment. Heavy trucks, for instance, can weigh over 33,000 pounds, while lighter trucks can be under half of that weight. Injuries caused by a heavy truck are often more serious than those caused by a light truck.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are for things for which the cost isn't immediately clear. They include your mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of life enjoyment and other negative consequences you experienced because of the truck accident.
The value of non-economic damages varies greatly by case. The evidence you are able to provide will play a role in how much you receive. A daily journal in which you describe your suffering and pain, your medical records and medical expert testimony will all help establish the severity of these consequences of the accident.
Your truck accident attorney will help you establish your non-economic damages. They'll also ensure you are considering your potential future losses.
Punitive Damages
In some cases, people are entitled to punitive damages after a truck accident. These apply if a person or entity involved in your accident intentionally misbehaved or willfully disregarded other people's safety. Your truck accident attorney will review your case to see if punitive damages apply.
Punitive damages are not meant to compensate you for your losses. The aim of these damages is to punish someone for their actions or deter other people from acting in the same way in the future.
Work with a truck accident attorney so you know just how much compensation you're entitled to as a result of your accident. A truck accident can leave its victims with lifelong consequences, and you don't want to discover you settled for too little years down the road.
To learn more, contact a truck accident attorney.