Unfortunately, car versus pedestrian accidents can result in traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most devastating injuries a person can sustain.
There is no recovery from traumatic brain injury, at least not in the sense that we know it. While TBI may be diagnosed as mild, it will still mean impairment of various functions for the rest of the person’s life. TBI is generally a matter of degrees; degrees of frustration and degrees of how one’s life has been turned upside down as the result of an accident. Those with brain injuries often need the help of an Austin personal injury lawyer to take their case to trial to get a fair and equitable award.
Just how does a car manage to hit a pedestrian in the first place? Are they not on the sidewalk, up out of harm’s way? Typically, most pedestrians are on the sidewalk, but they may also be in the middle of a crosswalk, standing on a street corner, waiting for a bus, getting off a bus, walking out from behind another vehicle, walking under the influence, walking while texting or talking on the cell phone or walking with headphones on, not able to hear traffic.
Certainly, some of the above mentioned scenarios would be conducive to the likelihood of being hit by a car or other vehicle. In some of those situations, the pedestrian may well be the author of his or her own misfortune. For example: if the pedestrian was wearing dark clothing at night and was jaywalking, chances are any lawsuit filed in a case such as that would either not succeed, or succeed with proportionate liability.
Many times however, an accident involving a car and a pedestrian is not the pedestrian’s fault and comes about as the result of speeding, distracted driving, DUI of alcohol or drugs, failing to obey traffic signs and/or lights, ignoring pedestrian crosswalks or a mechanical defect that causes the driver to lose control of their vehicle.
Consider the case of the 78-year-old woman who was about to step off the curb into the designated crosswalk and was hit by a car driven by an 18-year-old teen who was speeding to get to his track meet at school and texting his buddies at the same time. The woman sustained severe traumatic brain injuries and is now in a wheelchair and reliant on the care of others. A once vibrant and active senior had her life turned into a daily struggle due to the negligence of another.
Traumatic brain injuries are often referred to as catastrophic injuries because they drastically change lives and victims will never be the way they were prior to their accident. This means their compensation tends to be higher when they go to court or negotiate a settlement with the assistance of an Austin personal injury lawyer.
If you have been in an accident like this, take the time to discuss your case with a skilled Austin injury lawyer. It will be the best investment of time you will ever make. Additionally, it will change the way you live your new life, with enough compensation to pay for your care.
Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.
