Estimating the financial consequences of a car crash can be difficult. People often focus so intently on their short-term setbacks and challenges that they may overlook the long-term implications of their current challenges. For example, people sometimes focus primarily on their immediate medical expenses instead of trying to estimate their likely future medical costs.
Not only do people need to consider the need for ongoing care years after sustaining a catastrophic injury, but they may also need to consider how their current functional limitations could manifest in a need for more support later in life. The decline that occurs during someone’s golden years can be much more pronounced in cases where people have pre-existing injuries.
Those with serious car crash injuries may also underestimate the income-related consequences of their injuries. They may focus on their temporary loss of wages while they recover instead of on the long-term reduction in their earning capabilities that may follow the car crash. How do injuries affect a professional’s future earning potential?
By changing their capabilities
Different injuries may manifest in unique ways. A compound fracture could cause weakness in the affected body part and could forever limit the injured person’s range of motion. A brain injury could change how a person recalls information or interacts with other people by changing their personality.
Any injury that causes permanent changes to a person’s body could affect what jobs they can perform. Some people have to change professions after a major injury. Others may no longer be eligible to advance their careers as they had previously hoped.
By affecting a worker’s reputation
Attendance is one of the metrics that employers use to gauge a worker’s commitment to their position. Workers who are routinely late for their shifts or who are absent regularly may not seem as dedicated as those who never miss a shift. Research has shown that even when employers know workers called in due to serious injuries or other medical challenges, missing work has a chilling effect on their future advancement opportunities.
Employers may treat workers with chronic medical conditions differently from those who have nothing, putting pressure on their work attendance. Professionals may find themselves unable to qualify for promotions or even performance-based raises because of how their absences from work affect their employer’s opinion of their job performance.
Connecting a reduction in earning potential to car crash injuries can help people hold unsafe drivers accountable for causing car wrecks. The loss of future income can be an important consideration for those trying to estimate the financial impact of a car crash injury.