Getting injured in a truck accident can be an extremely scary and life-altering experience. Large trucks, whether it is a commercial semi-trailer truck or a run of the mill city garbage truck, can cause immense damage when involved in an accident. With more weight and a larger size than your everyday car, the aftermath and damage from a truck accident can be even more significant.
Following an accident, you are involved in the truck accident attorney in Columbus, Ohio that you choose to work with will help you to file a personal injury claim to seek damages and compensation.
There are two primary categories of damages that you will typically see in personal injury claims resulting from truck accidents: compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Below we are going to explore both types of damages in more detail.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages can be broken down into two distinct categories: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are directly tied to the various costs and expenses that you will be dealing with after the truck accident. A few economic damages that you might be able to be compensated for include:
- Lost wages: Injuries that result from the accident may prevent you from being able to return to work in a timely manner. This means that you may be able to seek compensation for lost income in a number of ways such as if you will miss work because of medical care (i.e. hospital stays, etc), if you are unable to work following the accident, or if you’ll need to change careers.
- Medical expenses: This can include the cost of your hospital stay, doctor visits and appointments, physical therapy, medication, and other associated medical costs in the aftermath of the truck accident.
- Future medical expenses: Since accidents can result in a variety of injurie, you may require future medical care that goes beyond the direct aftermath of the accident. You can seek damages in your truck accident claim for things such as future physical therapy, doctor appointments, and other ongoing care.
- Property damage: Your car and any other property that might have been damaged in the accident may be eligible for compensation in a truck accident.
Other economic damages you might be able to seek include child care costs, lost benefits, and funeral expenses.
The second category of compensatory damages you might receive compensation for getting injured in a truck accident are non-economic damages. These are losses or injuries that are on a much more personal level and can be more difficult to place a specific dollar amount on.
Non-economic damages include:
- Loss of a family member: If you lost a family member due to a truck accident, this comes with an unknown amount of emotional and financial toll on you. Losing a family member is a significant loss in many ways and you can seek compensation for said losses.
- Pain and suffering: Getting injured in a truck accident can leave you with a great amount of physical pain to recover from. Pain and suffering damages are a way to help make up for the physical pain you are dealing with following the accident, during recovery, and for any long lasting pain.
For both economic and non-economic damages, you will want to talk with your truck accident attorney to determine what you may be eligible for. Damages are going to depend on the truck accident and many different factors that will be taken into consideration.
Punitive Damages
The second category of damages that you may be awarded a compensation for a truck accident are punitive damages. Punitive damages are essentially a penalty that can be given to negligent drivers or trucking companies.
They are meant to act as a deterrent and punishment to drivers and trucking companies that are involved in the truck accident.
But punitive damages are not handed out very often and there may be certain caps in certain states on how the amount of punitive damages that may be awarded.
