One car accident changes your life. If the driver wasn’t insured, you may pay for part of all of your medical expenses.
There is no truer saying than, “Your life can change in the blink of an eye.” That is all it takes to perhaps sustain traumatic injuries in a car accident that may mean a lifetime of therapy and medical bills, unemployment or having to choose a different occupation. If the person who caused the car accident doesn’t have enough insurance to cover all your medical expenses or doesn’t have insurance at all, chances are you will be picking up the bills.
That thought should scare you, and for good reasons. If you happen to acquire traumatic brain injury, spinal cord problems or neck and back injuries, your medical bills may be astronomical. Even if you do have health insurance, you stand the chance of being wiped out quickly. If you have been in an auto accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, make it a point to talk to a New Mexico personal injury lawyer.
Many Americans make the choice to drive without insurance because they can’t afford it. The fact is that they really can’t afford not to have it, not if they are badly injured. The statistics dealing with uninsured drivers in many states are shocking: just about 15% to 20% of drivers in any state are on the road without insurance. This of course increases your chances of being hit by an uninsured driver. With the risk of severe personal injury being that high, don’t ignore the possible outcome. Be proactive and have the right kind of insurance to protect yourself.
The hard, cold facts are that if you get into a collision with an underinsured or uninsured driver and you don’t have your own insurance (or enough insurance) for medical expenses, you may need to consider filing for bankruptcy. That is the brutal reality of today – that medical bills are the reason for close to 50% of all the bankruptcies in the US.
Here is something else that will make you think that a good New Mexico personal injury lawyer will tell you if you have been badly hurt and need compensation for your injuries. A study done by Harvard University points out that most of the people filing for medical bankruptcy used to be middle class working people with health insurance. They handled their situation or accident in the beginning of their medical crisis, but lost coverage just before filing for bankruptcy. There is something seriously wrong with that picture.
If you don’t want to find yourself in the medical crisis, medical bankruptcy situation, make sure you get enough car insurance to protect yourself and your family. In other words, get sufficient uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, because it’s “your” life that may be turned upside down. As an added bonus, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage generally also covers a hit-and-run accident and the other driver is never identified.
Scott Atkinson was admitted to practice in New Mexico in 1989 and is a New Mexico personal injury lawyer and New Mexico wrongful death lawyer with the Atkinson Law Firm, LTD. Learn more at Attorneynewmexico.com or call 1.505.944.1050.
