I can *prove* that I was struck on my hip, back, left arm and left leg, by a truck traveling at high speeds. I can prove that in the opinion of myself and the guy who hit me, I should have been killed. Both of us consider it a miracle that I wasn't.
I think the number 1 thing you need to understand is that those two sentences do not entitle you to any recovery at all. It was a horrible accident, the driver is 100% at fault and you are very lucky to just be alive. But, that alone is not worth any money. Now, if you get to the second step (really the first step) and can prove some serious injuries with actual dollars attached to them (lost wages, long term car, super high medical bills) the story of the accident can amplify the value in front of a jury because, well, its a good story, but you can not get there just based on on close you came to serious injury. A story with no injuries is worthless. A great story with fairly minor injuries is worth something but not much. Even a bad story with serious injury and monitary loss is worth a lot. Facts regarding the injuries trump the story. Here, it sounds like maybe you have the good story on the accident but Gieco has the good facts on the injury.
So, while you could have ended up dead or in a wheel chair, in the end, its starting to sound like you ended up with a sore arm that's not bad enough to cause you to see a medical doctor repeately and did not cause you to miss work or lose income. That is worth money, at least your medical bills and maybe a little kicker but it is not anywhere near the same as a father with 3 kids to support hurt bad enough to miss 6 months of work or someone having to go to physical therapy 2x a week for 3 years and having demonstrably perment loss of function. Those are the claims that get settled for $100K+.
I think the number 1 thing you need to understand is that those two sentences do not entitle you to any recovery at all. It was a horrible accident, the driver is 100% at fault and you are very lucky to just be alive. But, that alone is not worth any money. Now, if you get to the second step (really the first step) and can prove some serious injuries with actual dollars attached to them (lost wages, long term car, super high medical bills) the story of the accident can amplify the value in front of a jury because, well, its a good story, but you can not get there just based on on close you came to serious injury. A story with no injuries is worthless. A great story with fairly minor injuries is worth something but not much. Even a bad story with serious injury and monitary loss is worth a lot. Facts regarding the injuries trump the story. Here, it sounds like maybe you have the good story on the accident but Gieco has the good facts on the injury.
So, while you could have ended up dead or in a wheel chair, in the end, its starting to sound like you ended up with a sore arm that's not bad enough to cause you to see a medical doctor repeately and did not cause you to miss work or lose income. That is worth money, at least your medical bills and maybe a little kicker but it is not anywhere near the same as a father with 3 kids to support hurt bad enough to miss 6 months of work or someone having to go to physical therapy 2x a week for 3 years and having demonstrably perment loss of function. Those are the claims that get settled for $100K+.