Calculating Damages in Virginia Truck Accident Cases

When a person is injured in a truck accident, they will need to understand the differences between economic and non-economic damages. An experienced truck attorney can help an individual while they are calculating damages in Virginia truck accident cases.

If you suffered injuries due to the negligence of another driver, it is imperative that you seek medical attention and consult a knowledgeable attorney who can help you navigate the legal system.

Common Truck Accident Injuries

Some common injuries that occur in trucking accidents include broken bones, strains, sprains, traumatic brain injuries, soft tissue injuries, lacerations, and things of that nature. Generally, any type of injury is fair game when a large truck causes an accident, especially when it strikes a smaller passenger vehicle, motorcycle, or even a pedestrian.

Immediate and Long-Term Effects

The immediate and long-term effects of injuries depend on a case-by-case basis. This is what makes every case and the non-economic damages in every case unique, whether or not a person suffered a broken bone, healed, returned to 100%, improved, and are able to go on with their lives as if nothing happened. That may occur and everyone hopes that anyone injured as a result of the negligence of another makes a full recovery.

Sometimes when one recovers they are not as they were before the accident, which was not their fault. When that occurs and there are lasting damages, scars, or limitations, it is something that an attorney is going to be considering when asking to meet with their potential client.

Damages the Insurance Company Pays

Auto insurance typically covers both economic and non-economic damages. It includes medical bills and lost wages as well as pain and suffering. Generally, insurance policies have riders or exclusions that do not cover punitive damages

The insurance company covers property damage. Typically, property damage is paid by each person’s insurance company and the insurance companies settle up through inter-company combat. If a vehicle is severely damaged by the result of a truck driver’s negligence, the person’s insurance company may pay the initial property damage claim on the person’s own vehicle, but they may seek reimbursement, also known as subrogation, from the at-fault driver’s company.

Calculating Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are calculated on a case-by-case basis, depending on a variety of factors. Some of these factors include the nature of the economic damages like how significant they are, how long it took the person to recover, whether or not they were able to make a full recovery, any limitations that they have, as well as an impact on their life. Pain and suffering is a good term to describe what is included and not mixing up with damages because it is everything that goes into what makes that person’s life theirs and how that has been disrupted or harmed.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are to punish the wrongdoer if general damages and special damages do not fully address the conduct.

When a company knowingly put an unsafe vehicle on the road, punitive damages may be appropriate to punish that company beyond what actually occurred. If a more significant accident occurred, one should expect punitive damages to be more heavy-handed, however, it is not a required condition.

What Is the Damage Cap in an Accident?

Damage caps refer to limitations on recovery. Generally, there is not going to be a damage cap for a trucking accident in the same way that there is a damage cap for medical malpractice. There is a practical cap in many cases and that is the limit of coverage. If, for example, there is only $100,000 in coverage and the $100,000-policy is tendered, there may be a practical limit on obtaining more than that without some adverse, factual circumstances. The limitations are more practical in terms of what the coverage is.