The Real Cost of Owning a Car

Besides the pimply skin, awkward fitting clothes, and the occasional loud nonsensical mood swing, being a teenager is great.  It’s a carefree time where you feel invincible and the world is full of wonder.  The rare few years where the biggest worry in your life is what you’re going wear to the house party this weekend and whether or not one of the cooler seniors will be able to get their college-bound brother to buy everyone beer.  It’s a time of first kisses, long verbose soliloquies about love, and recognizing that the girl you like the most isn’t the popular cheerleader, but the tomboyish best friend living next door since you were kids.  Where the only music topping the charts are by Paula Cole and Pacey has yet to try and steal said tomboyish best friend from you…

Alright, I’m pretty sure I’m getting my realities confused here.  Amazingly melodratic teenage dramas aside, I think the only thing most of us remember about being a teenager, other than the bad skin, was that we didn’t have to shell out all our cash to pay off a giant pile of bills everyday.  Not me, of course, I worked and therefore lacked a proper childhood unlike all you middle to upper-class kids, you spoiled bunch of…umm… Anyway, my horrible traumas aside, from what everyone tells me, the best part of being a teenager was having a car.  A car meant freedom from your parents and the chance to go wherever you wanted to, and best of all the only costs you ever bore to keep it was the occasional tank of gas and washing it when it got dirty.

And then you got older.

Cars are expensive to keep.  With insurance, gas, and maintenance alone, the average cost of owning a car in America can cost you anywhere between $6,000 to over $10,000 a year.  Not to mention the price of the car itself.  Ha!  Who’s laughing now?  Suddenly a deprived childhood where you have to face the harsh realities of life when you’re 10 doesn’t seem so bad now, huh??  I’ve been prepared, yo.

But by far the worst and most expensive thing about owning a car is the inevitable accident.  The price to resolve one can be astronomical once you figure in not only the damage to the car, but the time you’ll waste negotiating with your insurance company, loss hours at work, and medical bills – not to mention the emotional toll.

The latest statistics from LegalMatch show that the avere medical costs associated with an automobile accident is well-over $100,000 and in some cases can even be in the millions depending on the severity of the injuries.  The average for lost wages is over $40,000, but a really bad accident can sometimes mean losing your ability to work.

So what does this all mean?  Well, I suppose it means that if you don’t happen to be fortunate enough to be born into the top ten percent of our society, one serious car accident can easily wipe you out.  Here are some tips on what to do if ever get into an accident.  And if those aren’t enough to calm your fraying nerves, don’t worry.  That’s why our society invented lawyers.  By far, the best way to resolve a car accident is with the assistance of an experience personal injury lawyer, get one who specializes in car accidents and you should be even better off.  Because remember, even though you probably can’t have mommy or daddy fix your mistakes anymore, you can always get a surrogate parent in the form of an attorney who you can cry your little eyes out to.

Huh?  What?  No, no, I’m not bitter at all.  Why do you ask?