Legal jurisdictions use different methods to calculate pain and suffering after being injured in a truck, car, or motorcycle accident.
According to legal specialists, the most reasonable scholars and courts support pain and suffering as a concrete loss. Suffering is a reality, and pain and suffering damages acknowledge that fact and its result: there is a real-world social cost of negligent behavior.
What Is Pain and Suffering?
It’s hard to explain what pain and suffering are. Moreover, calculating a cash award will always get criticism from both sides. Most people understand that pain and suffering are subjective, and some accident victims might be delighted to laze away their days with a substantial bankroll to fund their wildest desires. However, most reasonable people understand that people suffer when they lose their normal abilities.
Physical pain and suffering can be partially quantified based on comparisons with the physical pain that most other people experience. However, mental pain and suffering is completely subjective. Therefore, it’s understandable that victims suffer when they lose their jobs, lose their ability to earn an income, and can no longer walk without assistance.
Most of the criticism of pain and suffering awards comes from businesses and plaintiffs that are held responsible for the damages. Many people simply roll their eyes at the whole concept because they accept that life is unfair and dangerous. However, most reasonable people accept emotional injuries as real, compensable events.
Recovery of Pain and Suffering Damages
There is no single definition of pain and suffering, and the current legal system is based on the premise that people can sue for damages as great as they want. They might not win the total amount requested, but that’s how the legal system works. Lawyers spend lots of effort to create sympathy for certain accident victims because the strategy works. Mental or emotional pain can include the following:
- Fear
- Social withdrawal
- Humiliation
- Anxiety
- Loss of enjoyment from activities
- Loss of consortium
- Other debilitating emotions
The Multiplier Method of Calculating Pain and Suffering
Many jurisdictions use a simple multiplier formula to calculate damages for pain and suffering. The multiplier method first requires the calculation of other bills that include medical and rehab expenses and lost wages. That figure is then multiplied by a specific number based on the severity of injuries, whether the injury has caused permanent damage, and the level of pain the victim experiences.
Other numbers are added if the prognosis includes the victim’s likely premature death. Other considerations in setting the multiplier number include:
- Whether the victim suffered for a limited time or over a long-term period
- How the injuries affected the victim’s lifestyle
- The severity of the injuries
- Whether the injuries will likely cause premature death
Truck Accident Multiplier
It’s important that you stand up for your rights and not be found at fault just because you were driving a truck. Trucks are a critical part of the U.S. transportation system, and most drivers exercise great care to operate safely.
According to a Gainesville truck accident lawyer, you should find a law firm in your state to fight for your rights and help you win your case by offering their full resources. Attorneys are crucial in truck crashes, as they have the means of hiring accident reconstruction experts, dealing with insurance companies, rounding up witnesses, and getting the best medicine and psychology experts to the stand, among other things.
Many attorneys operate on the understanding that truck accidents can be emotionally more damaging than other accidents. Getting into a collision with a 70,000- or 80,000-pound truck generates horrifying nightmares and instances of PTSD. As a result, lawyers tend to stress the damages caused by truck accidents in an attempt to move the scales to their client’s side.
The Limits of Estimating an Intangible Value
Recent reform proposals abound because many legal scholars hate the uncertainties of trying to calculate damages for damages that are ambiguous at best. There’s no certain way to confirm pain and suffering, and many suggest that a standard rate be set that’s automatically awarded in each case.
