Given the extreme weight of 18 wheeler tractor trailers the aftermath of a wreck is usually pretty ugly. Those lucky enough to survive many times have extremely serious injuries such as spinal cord fractures, traumatic brain injury, paralysis, and many require at least one surgery (if not multiple) at great expense.
Recovering from a tractor trailer accident can be job enough for anyone, yet the victims are also forced to pay high medical bills or deductibles at a time when they can not work which puts a heavy burden on the victim or their family. Some have good health insurance that pays most of the bills, others are faced with large out of pocket expenses and sometimes the medical expenses can go on indefinitely.
Fortunately, trucking companies usually have significant insurance coverage to cover legal injury damages such as:
- Physical pain and mental anguish
- Loss of earning capacity
- Disfigurement
- Physical impairment
- Medical care
These damages are posed to a jury to answer in both the past as well as the future.
Many times for permanent injuries with significant future medical expenses a life care planner is used to calculate the total lifetime cost of medical care. These professionals are Doctors who work with a team of medical professionals to protect the victim as far as future needs.
In cases where the victim of a trucking accident did not survive, the family seeks damages for the wrongful death and survival claims. The wrongful death case involves damages known in law as "pecuniary loss" which is the loss of the person and their economic contribution to the family. The human loss in a wrongful death case is called "loss of companionship and society" and a separate question is posed for "mental anguish".
In cases where the company of the driver acted with what is called "Malice" that is more than mere negligence, or thoughtlessness, exemplary damages may be appropriate and in Texas such damages have been capped by statute under recent "tort reform". Nevertheless, when exemplary damages can be submitted to a jury it can help the family recover economic justice for the bad actions of a trucker or his company.
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