Sudden car crashes can be awful. Maybe you’re in the car with your family on your way to pick up some burgers or see a movie, and the next thing you know, there’s a violent collision. What happened might not be your fault, but you’re left picking up the pieces afterward.
When something like this occurs, it doesn’t do any good to wallow in misery. You need to pick yourself up and get back on the proverbial horse for your family as well as yourself. Let’s talk about a few ways you and your family members can move forward following a car wreck.
You Can Get Whatever Medical Treatment is Necessary
The first thing to do is assess whether the crash hurt anyone. Remember that your family members might seem okay to your untrained eye, but you’re not a medical professional. You should get yourself and all family members checked out who were in the vehicle.
If you sustained head trauma, or any other family member did, that can be serious. As much as 40% of individuals who sustain head trauma can develop intracranial hematomas. This can threaten the person’s life, and head injuries in car accidents are common.
You can insist on a doctor looking at everyone following the crash. Once you all get the okay to go home, you can start figuring out the rest of the details.
You Can Modify the House
It might be that you or one of your family members suffered a severe injury from the car crash. If so, you’ll need to get them whatever medical attention they need. They might need surgery or months of physical therapy.
During the recovery period, you might retrofit your house in various ways to help that family member who needs it. The injury might even be permanent, and you’ll have to make things as comfortable as possible for them.
You might add a ramp to the front and back door if your family member has to be in a wheelchair now. You can add a lift that will carry them up the stairs if they can’t walk so well anymore.
You can set up a shower seat so they can sit down while they wash themselves. You can add railings to the stairways if they want to hold onto those while they go up and down the steps.
You Can Set Up Therapy Appointments for Whoever Needs It
Maybe your whole family was lucky enough to get away with just a few cuts and bruises. Sometimes, that is the best you might hope for when wrecks occur.
Still, you or your family members might feel traumatized by what happened. Some people experience PTSD after car accidents. Others experience depression or anxiety.
You should never downplay these feelings or say they aren’t valid. Just because you can’t see a wound, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
You may need to set up therapy appointments for yourself or whoever else doesn’t seem able to get past the event on their own. It’s nice if your family can talk among yourselves about what happened, but it’s better if you can involve a professional.
A professional therapist might recommend that you or the family member in question take prescription drugs for a time till you get past the event. In time, most individuals move past these incidents, but it can take months or even years, especially if the crash resulted in serious injuries or deaths.
You Can Get a New Vehicle to Replace the Old One
Maybe it was your vehicle that the other car hit, or perhaps it belonged to your spouse or one of your adult children. Whoever it belonged to, they will probably need a replacement vehicle if the accident totaled the first one.
If you can fix the vehicle, do so. If what happened was the other driver’s fault, then their insurance should cover the damage. You can get the car fixed, as long as there was no frame damage or anything else too severe.
You need to replace the vehicle when the cost to fix it is more than the car itself is worth. You’ll probably need to consult a mechanic to figure that out.
If you determine that you need a new vehicle, or your family member does, figure out the best way to do that. If the other driver caused the damage, their insurance should pay for all or most of the new car.
If you or a family member caused the accident, you must purchase a new vehicle with your own money. You might get a loan to do so, or you may need to liquidate all or most of your savings, depending on your financial situation.
Spend Some Quality Time Together
With how traumatic some car crashes are, you may also want to spend some family time afterward. Regardless of whether you or any other family members sustained physical injuries or emotional damage, being together can put everyone in a much better mental state.
You’re a family, and you also went through the same experience together. You’re survivors, and if you can cheer each other up, that should help you all get over what took place.
You might have some family meals together, have a family movie or game night, spend time talking to each other about how your days went, and so forth. As long as you’re there for each other, each one of you will feel you have that support network, and that’s one of the most critical ways you can get past such a difficult event.
Few people can walk away from serious vehicle accidents as though nothing happened. They can change your life, especially if they badly injured you or another family member.
You should know, though, that most people do get over these things. In time, you’ll all be able to move on, and the event will be a painful memory that recedes into the past.
