If you were lucky or blessed enough to survive a car crash with a semi-truck or commercial trailer truck on the many miles of streets and highways of this great Nation, the USofA – first of all, get down on your knees and thank whatever power you believe in – because the reality of the situation is you just narrowly escaped death.
Ok, now that you’ve come to grips with that, let’s talk about compensation for you…assuming you were not at fault for causing the crash in the first place!
The types of compensation available to you and anybody else affected (like the other passengers in the car with you) as the result of a car crash or “accident” involving a semi-truck (otherwise known as a commercial trailer truck) falls into two categories:
- Economic damages
- Non-economic damages.
Economic Damages include compensation, monetary and/or otherwise serving to cover specific monetary costs. These specific monetary costs can include the following:
- Current Medical Expenses: This may include fees for emergency room visits, hospital care, surgery, assistive devices and appointments with approved medical professionals.
- Future Medical Expenses: Compensation for extended medical attention and care.
- Lost Wages: Compensation for the wages lost between the time of injury and the conclusion of the lawsuit.
- Loss of Earning Capacity: If the victim can demonstrate that their ability to earn a living has been negatively impacted, compensation may be available. The awarding party will look to establish the amount victim could have earned had the car accident not occurred.
Non-economic damages compensate the victim and/or family for non-financial, intangible losses. Non-economic damages for a crash involving a semi-truck or commercial truck can include the following:
- Pain and Suffering: This includes compensation for the physical pain suffered as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. The nature of the injury, the extent of the pain, and the length of time the victim is expected to suffer are all included in the calculation of the award.
- Mental Anguish: Compensation for emotional pain stemming from a truck accident, including fright, embarrassment, nervousness, worry, grief and other forms of emotional distress caused by the accident.
- Loss of Consortium: Compensation awarded to a spouse, parents, and minor children loss of services, assistance, aid, society, and companionship/care of a loved one, a child, or parents.
In addition to economic and non-economic damages, punitive damages may be applicable if the defendant’s actions causing the injury were willful, malicious, fraudulent or reckless. Punitive damages serve to punish the offender and dissuade similar behavior in the future.
