You’ve been involved in a car accident in the Boca Raton area. Your injuries were significant. Even so, you kept your wits about you and acted wisely. Your knowledge of what to do and what not to do after an accident paid off. Swiftly contacting a top Boca Raton personal injury lawyer was a great move. Your medical care is ongoing. As you recover at home, the next question practically asks itself. How does one decide about returning to work after a car accident?
There are both medical and legal aspects to this decision. Since you were working before the accident, there’s likely the matter of financial necessity, too. In point of fact, the medical, legal, and financial issues are connected. Perhaps we can unpack them.
FIRST, THE DOCTOR
Your doctors are, of course, the final judges of your fitness to return to work. Modern medicine can certainly minimize the time your recovery will take, but cannot actually speed it up. Going back to work too soon after sustaining injuries in an accident is risky. It may slow healing, or set recovery back. Depending on the nature of your injuries and of your job, there may even be an increased risk of sustaining new injuries.
YOUR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY
As far as your legal case goes, the timing of your return to work after a car accident can indeed have effects on your claim. An early return to your job can, indeed, create the impression that your injuries are less severe than they actually are. However, injured parties have a duty to take reasonable steps to minimize their losses – including lost wages. Hence, from a legal standpoint, there are conflicting pressures regarding the timing of returning to work after a car accident.
Thus, the decision calls for the inputs of your doctor and your Boca Raton personal injury lawyer, both. On the medical side, things are rarely black-and-white. Rather, an injured patient’s fitness to return to work is often a relative, not an absolute measure. As healing proceeds, a patient hopefully becomes more fit for work. The medical benefits of additional home rest decline. At the same time, economic pressures from lost income increase. At some point, the value of staying away from work outweighs the costs of not working.
THE DECISION: RETURNING TO WORK AFTER A CAR ACCIDENT
Your doctor, in the final analysis, has the last word on the subject of returning to work after a car accident. Following the doctor’s treatment plan, and his or her advice on the timing of a return to the workplace is the best practice. Your personal injury attorney can and will advise you of any implications of the timing options. At Silver Injury Law, PA we believe that health comes first, of course. But we also make sure our clients and their doctors are fully appraised of the legal aspects of returning to work after a car accident.
