Car accidents in Miami and across the country are expensive. The cost injured persons have to face can be astronomical when medical bills, lost time at work, car damage, and other costs are factored in. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report takes a look at the costs of car accidents in the United States. The conclusion that the authors of the report have reached is that non-fatal car accidents have a much higher cost than many people believe.
According to the CDC, for every fatal traffic accident in 2012, there were eight people injured in car accidents that required a hospital stay and a further 100 people who required time at the emergency room. In 2012 alone, non-fatal traffic collisions resulted in 3 million emergency room visits, and a cost of $18.4 billion. Teens and young adults under the age of30 were the most likely to suffer injury in these types of crashes.
High Costs Across The Country
The CDC reported that elderly passengers and drivers in car collisions were most likely to be among the 7.5% of those admitted to the ER who needed to be kept at the hospital for further treatment. The elderly also took longer to recover from their injuries, on average.
In 2012 alone, people across the country spent more than a million collective days in the hospital for injuries related to traffic collisions. The average stay in a hospital for these injuries was 5.6 days. Each hospitalization cost about $56,674. Each traffic-accident related visit to the emergency room cost about $3,362.
High Costs for the Injured
While some of these costs can be covered by insurance, it is important to keep in mind that in some cases insurance does not cover the full cost of an injury. In the case of a hit and run crash in Miami or another city, for example, a victim may never find the other driver and may not be able to get insurance information from that person. Some drivers have underinsured or uninsured coverage on their own policies to help with these situations, but there is no guarantee that insurance will cover the full costs. In fact, many people injured in car accidents find that their insurance companies do not cover the full, long-term costs of their injury. In some cases, this is because their claims are undervalued. In other cases, it is because the insurance carriers claim that some of the costs are not covered by a policy.
Due to the insurance issues that can sometimes come up after a car accident, it is a good idea to contact a personal injury attorney for legal advice immediately following any traffic collision. When you are injured, an attorney can advise you about the resources and options open to you and can help you make a choice about compensation.
Do You Have a Claim?
If you would like to speak to a personal injury attorney today, contact Flaxman Law Group. Our law firm is part of the Miami community and we also have offices in Homestead and Hollywood to serve the communities of Miami-Dade County, South Miami Heights, Broward County, and beyond. Contact us today for a free accident consultation about your case.