What Happens If You Forget What Happened In An Auto Accident?

You may feel bewildered, shocked, and overwhelmed after a car crash. Car accidents happen so quickly that you may not remember the specifics. After an automobile accident, memory loss or inability to recollect the event can be due to a catastrophic injury. Make sure you get help from an experienced lawyer.  

Is Car Accident Memory Loss Normal?

Traumatic car accidents can happen. Trauma can make the brain prioritize survival over memory. This can help a vehicle accident victim escape. It can also make it hard to understand what transpired. Thus, car crashes can cause memory loss.

Car accidents can induce memory loss:

• Head traumas and TBIs- Concussions or impairment to the hippocampus, which controls memory, can disrupt memory.
• Hypoxia or anoxia- Smoke or carbon monoxide inhalation from automobile accidents or fires, respiratory system constriction, or cardiac or respiratory arrests can reduce brain oxygen supply.
• Emotional trauma and distress—Stress can make the mind reject distressing memories.
• Amnesia Types Auto Accident

Car accidents can cause multiple types of amnesia, including co-occurrence. These are:

• Anterograde amnesia—A person cannot generate new memories but remembers everything before the damage. Permanent or transient. Brain damage, like a head injury, causes it.
• Retrograde amnesia—A person is able to recall what happened after an injury but not before. Anterograde and retrograde amnesia can coexist.
• Post-traumatic amnesia—This is frequent after an automobile accident and is usually transitory. It usually happens after a coma. Accident-related post-traumatic amnesia may suggest a TBI.

Car Accident Memory Loss Settlements

Amnesia following a car crash might affect your physical and mental health. If memory loss keeps you from working, you may face excessive medical expenditures, lost pay, and emotional suffering from forgetting significant events and people. The effects are severe.

If someone else caused your vehicle accident, you may be able to recover damages. Funds for:

• Hospital stays, doctor visits, prescription and over-the-counter drugs, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and other medical expenses
• Mileage to and from the doctor, etc.
• Lost wages if forgetfulness inhibits work.
• Depression, pain, and quality of life

After an automobile accident, you might file a claim with your insurance company or a lawsuit. The at-fault party’s insurance company settles most vehicle accident injury cases out of court. If an insurer refuses to settle, you can sue the at-fault party in civil court.

How Long to Sue for Memory Loss After an Automobile Accident?

The statute of limitations applies to lawsuits. With limited exceptions, Arizona law limits personal injury lawsuits to two years from the injury date. If you miss this date, you may lose your civil court claim.

Without a lawsuit, your capacity to bargain with the insurance company for reimbursement through an insurance claim is restricted.