Driving With A Medical Emergency: What Happens If You Face Punitive Damages From A Car Accident
Posted on: 26 September 2014
If you experienced a medical emergency and caused a car accident on your way to the hospital, the injured driver may want to sue you for punitive damages instead of careless and negligent driving. You should contact a personal injury attorney, like one from The Gumprecht Law Firm, for help if you face punitive damages or charges. You didn't set out to harm anyone and the attorney may help you prove it. In the meantime, here are a few things you may do while your attorney works on your behalf.
Go to Your Doctor's Appointments
A personal injury court can make you pay out of pocket for the other party's injuries if you caused them through malice, road rage and other dangerous behavior. Negligence describes accidents you don't intend to cause. One of the most important things you can do to prove that you didn't want to harm anyone is keep up with your doctors' appointments.
This means going to every appointment your regular doctor schedules for you, and the appointments your car accident physician makes for you. These visits may provide evidence of your medical emergency and the reasons why you rushed to the hospital that fateful day. They may also provide evidence of your state of mind before the incident.
The attorney of the no-fault accident victim may want to prove that you caused his or her client's injuries because you simply didn't care. There may be many reasons you chose to drive to the hospital instead of calling or waiting for emergency transport services that day. These reasons include the following three things:
You Panicked about Your Health
If you experienced great pain, heart or respiratory distress, or some other severe medical complications before your car accident, you probably panicked about your health. You felt the need to get to the hospital as soon as possible or risk endangering your life.
According to the Better Health Channel, two of the reasons you may panic is fear and a sudden change in your environment or health. Panic attacks may occur when you suddenly face something that scares you. This immediate danger triggers chemicals in your brain and body that tell you to run or react fast. In some cases, you react without thinking about the consequences of those actions.
You Couldn't Focus or Think
Sometimes, health problems like a stroke and a severe drop in blood sugar may affect your cognitive thinking processes. These types of illnesses come on so suddenly that you don't understand what's happening or going on around you. You may lose focus and do things you wouldn't normally do in a healthy state.
You Were Already on the Road
Another thing that may factor into your accident is your location when you hit the other driver. If you were already driving and experienced the health scare, you probably didn't have the luxury or time to call for medical care. There may be several other possible reasons for this, including these below:
- You didn't own a cell or car phone at the time.
- You traveled on a highway or street that leads directly to the hospital.
- You didn't see any businesses, such as restaurants and stores, to pull into and ask for help.
It's up to your personal injury lawyer to prove that you faced one or more of these problems before and during your accident. The medical evidence may help him or her do this.
The best way to handle the car accident and subsequent case against you is to consult with a professional attorney right away. If you wait too long or disregard the case, you may lose more than just your money. You may also experience more problems with your health.
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