The Hidden Cost of Personal Injury

Insurance companies, lobbying groups, and lawmakers often rail against the financial awards rendered in cases pertaining to tort law. They cite the sometimes significant dollar amounts that are involved as a sign that litigation of these matters has grown out of control. Not only that, but they blame jury verdicts and settlements associated with these disputes for everything from the skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums and health care to the decline of small businesses in fields that have become wary about the potential to be sued over "trifling" matters.

But like so many things that enter the realm of politics, this battle is a misleading foray into the hall of smoke and mirrors. Those who are seeking to put corporate interests ahead of the welfare of the people whom the torts exist to protect attempt to paint the situation with a broad brush that pretends that all personal injury awards and other torts are excessive and run regularly into the tens and hundreds of millions.

For the most part, though, personal injury lawsuits are only aimed at helping the victims of negligence or recklessness to recover the money necessary to deal with medical concerns, property damage, lost wages, and a token recognition of the needless pain and suffering through which one was put. The larger verdicts are typically reserved for the most devastating injuries that significantly and irrevocably alter the course and diminish the objective quality of one’s life. A recent $65,000,000 verdict in a Central Florida car accident case would stoke their ire, but when the true story behind the litigation is laid plan, even they may be forced to question their position.

At What Cost a Life?

In 2007, 19 year old female Kendra Lymon was driving a Dodge Neon when she was struck at an intersection by an 18-wheeler being driven by a trucker who reported directly to the transportation company after serving a 24-hour shift in his capacity as a battalion chief for Polk County Fire Services. It was determined that fatigue was a significant factor contributing to the crash, and his employer, Bynum Transport Inc., failed to ensure that he had take the mandatory 10 hours of off-duty time before he was placed behind the wheel of his rig. Not only that, but he executed the turn that caused the crash without full visibility of oncoming traffic.

The jury in the case revealed that the truck driver and trucking company were completely at-fault, and that Kendra Lymon was devoid of liability for the crash. At the time of the accident, she had been ready to start her second year in college, but was unable to do so because the injuries from the crash caused Lymon to fall into a coma. She remained in a comatose state and in the hospital for months after the accident, and now she is dependent 24 hours per day upon her family and a team of professionals to assist with everything from her medical care needs to eating, walking, and other very basic tasks.

Because Kendra Lymon’s capacities were so severely impacted by the injuries that she sustained, she must undergo extensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy simply in the hope to regain some small portion of the life that she knew before. It is not anticipated that she will ever make anything remotely resembling a full recovery, and instead that she will only attain a normal life expectancy through the proper and persistent administration of medical care.

Torts Laid Bare

In consideration of all this, $65,000,000 seems somehow inadequate. That money will be used to pay for the enormous medical bills that Ms. Lymon has already incurred, and it will be distributed over many years to the different entities that will be charged with providing her with the care and therapy that she needs. There is no tangible joy in that dollar amount, and all that it brings is some relief to her family so that they will not have to worry so much about how to ensure that Kendra receives proper medical attention and assistance without requiring them to sacrifice their lives entirely.

And not for one second would Kendra or her family members wish for anything other than that the accident never happened. Torts are not the instruments of greed; they are the bringers of justice for those who are the victims of others’ non-criminal acts. To learn more about how tort law may relate to injuries that you suffered in an accident caused by another, contact the knowledgeable attorney, Donald Guthrie, PA.