Seven Ways a Car Accident Can Impact Your Career
With the workforce around the world heading back to work – well partially if not all, it’s time to remind ourselves to stay alert on the commute. There are a lot of ways you could end up in a car accident, some of which are more serious than others. Just a few include:
- Distracted driving
- Drunk driving
- Speeding
- Bad weather
- Tailgating
If you’re lucky, you may walk away with a scuffed bumper and a little scare. However, if your accident is more serious, it can affect your life in many ways. Not only can it affect your personal life, it can affect your career too.
Lose Your Job
The most serious way a car accident can affect you is the loss of your job. There are a number of reasons why you might find yourself looking for a new position somewhere else.
For example, truck driver fatigue can result in an accident, and that accident could end up causing you to lose your job. You may be considered a liability to the company and are let go, but you could also find that you’re unable to drive physically or mentally, which means you’ll be looking for another job.
Other careers can be at risk too. A physically demanding job may be too much after sustaining injuries in a car accident, while other careers, like teaching and medicine, may be on the line if you were in an accident due to drunk driving.
Missed Work
You can’t make an impact at work if you aren’t there! There’s nothing wrong with taking planned time off, but if you’re in an accident, you could find yourself having to take time off in the middle of an important project.
You’re also more likely to take more time off in the long run. The impacts of a car accident can be long lasting, which means you’ll have to take time off to go to doctor’s appointments weeks, months, and even years after the accident.
If charges accompany your accident, you’ll have to take even more time off. For example, if you’re charged with a DUI, you may have to take time off for court dates and classes.
Increase in Insurance Premiums
Getting into an accident can upend your life in many ways. You can expect your insurance rates to go up if you’re in a personal accident, but you may discover that it impacts your company’s insurance too.
If you drive for work and you’re in an accident, your company’s insurance rate could go up. That may cause them to rethink whether they allow you to drive a company vehicle at all, which depending on your job, could make working difficult and unenjoyable.
If your job relies on your ability to drive safely, you may find yourself without a job. For example, if you drive a truck for work, you drive a taxi cab, or part of your job description has you delivering items between locations, you may be let go simply because they can’t afford to insure you.
Physically Unable to Work
Even a minor accident can leave you with lasting injuries. Depending on what you do for a living and the kind of injuries you sustained, you may find that you are physically unable to do a job that you have done for years or even decades.
For example, manufacturing jobs can require you to bend and twist your body, which is difficult to do if you injured your spine. Physically active jobs, like maintenance, can be nearly impossible to do if you injured your arms and legs. You may even find it difficult to sit at a desk, as the act of sitting for hours at a time can flare up some injuries. You may find yourself looking for another job simply because you’re physically unable to do your current job anymore.
Less Focus on the Job
There’s a lot to think about when you get into a car accident. You probably have to think about car repairs or a complete replacement. You might be dealing with injuries and medical appointments, and you could be dealing with legal issues.
It’s also normal to cope with trauma after an accident. You might end up dealing with PTSD, depression, or anxiety after an accident. All of these things take your mind away from your work, which means your projects can suffer.
Loss of Income
Although it’s not always the case, an accident can sometimes cause you to lose income. At first, you may be able to take sick and vacation time off of work, but if you have to keep regular medical or legal appointments, you may find that eventually you have to take unpaid time off. If you have a job that doesn’t provide paid time off, you’ll be out the money every time you don’t come in.
Of course, if you lose your job, you’ll be out your normal salary. If you have to take a different position because you can no longer work in your current position, you may have to take a pay cut.
Stalled Promotion
There are things you should focus on doing if you want to get promoted at work. For example, you’ll want to look for ways to get noticed, demonstrate your leadership skills, and become a positive presence in your workplace. These are things that can be difficult to do if you’re in an accident.
You have to be at work to get noticed, which can be hard if you’re at medical appointments. Not to mention, you might be noticed for the wrong reasons if you’re in an accident. You may not be able to demonstrate your leadership skills because you find it hard to focus, and depending on the circumstances of your accident, you may be more of a bad influence than a good influence on coworkers. Your accident could delay or cancel a promotion, which means lost wages and lost opportunities.
A car accident can impact your personal life, but it can also affect your professional life too. From missing work to go to appointments to lost wages and opportunities, there are a lot of reasons to drive safely every time you get behind the wheel.