Nashville Truck Accident Damages

If you have been involved in a serious car accident, you could be eligible for compensation. In fact, a capable and compassionate car crash lawyer could help you pursue damages for your injuries. There are two types of Nashville truck accident damages that an individual could hope to recover, economic and non-economic damages. Work with a skilled truck accident attorney that could fight to achieve the best possible outcome for you.

Economic damages can be represented by a specific dollar amount, what a lawyer may say can be written on a board. They include medical bills, property damage such as the cost to repair the car, and lost wages, past, and future. A jury can see hard numbers.

Non-economic damages in Nashville and throughout Tennessee are damages that are less concrete losses that usually do not have a dollar amount attached to them. They can be harder to calculate, such as physical or emotional pain and suffering, disfigurement, scarring, or even loss of consortium in a marital relationship, the general loss of enjoyment of life. They are non-economic but nevertheless are important damages. They are recoverable and often constitute a big part of cases.

Most Nashville truck accident damages are recoverable following a collision. It is not difficult to calculate medical bills from doctors, physical therapists, pharmacies, and others involved in treatment. Lost wages can be calculated by looking at a person’s income and how much time they lose from work.

It is more difficult to calculate future losses, and it may require an expert, such as an economist or a vocational disability expert to be a witness for the accident victim and provide an educated estimate of how much an accident or injury is going to impair a person's ability. A disability expert could put a dollar amount on it, which could be valuable expertise to have. Doctors, life-care planners and others also can testify about the likely cost of future medical bills that also are recoverable. It can be difficult to put a dollar figure on the cost to make people whole again, but it is the lawyer’s job to make that case to a judge or jury.

Punitive damages also may be involved when calculating Nashville truck accident damages. They are harder cases to make in Tennessee, but in some cases, it can be proven that the act of the truck driver was intentional, that they were drunk, they were driving recklessly, that they may have committed a felony, or they were being malicious. Those are incidences in which punitive damages may be awarded, sometimes large ones in truck accident cases.

The Nashville truck accident damages a person’s auto insurance typically covers, and who is responsible for paying the damages, depends on the type of insurance and who is at fault. For an accident in which the truck driver is at fault, the insurance company of the person in the car will not expect to pay anything other than what is called Med-Pay. That is when the person’s insurance company pays some of the medical bills until reimbursed by the at-fault driver.

The insurer also may pay to have the car repaired or pay for a rental while the case is being resolved. That usually occurs in a case of disputed liability. The car insurer also may provide the person with funds they will need to carry on with life while the case is pending.

In Nashville and the rest of Tennessee, there is a non-economic damage cap of $750,000 that may be recovered for such things as pain and suffering, and scarring. Only on rare occasions may more be awarded. There is no cap on economic damages such as medical bills and lost wages. They will be awarded whatever the actual costs are. There is a cap, however, on punitive damages in Tennessee of either $500,000 or two times the economic damages.

There are ways for truck accident attorneys to circumvent caps on non-economic damages, but it is very difficult to do. Under Tennessee law, an individual technically cannot exceed the cap. But, if the defendant in the case intentionally falsified or destroyed records or evidence such as truck logs that would have shown they were at fault, the lawyer may try to argue for more than the cap.

The lawyer may be able to argue that the evidence would have shown the truck driver was driving while fatigued or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that they were intoxicated in some way that caused the accident and the injuries to the other driver. If it could be shown that the truck driver’s actions were criminal and led to a felony conviction, that could lead to lifting the cap in that case. Another way the cap could be lifted is if it could be proved that the accident was intentional on the part of the truck driver. But, those are tough cases to make in truck accident cases. If an individual wants to know more about Nashville truck accident damages, they should work with a capable truck accident attorney that could answer their questions and advocate for them.