When someone is physically injured in a car accident in Idaho, there are two categories of damages: special damages and general damages.
The category of special damages includes any past and future lost wages that you incurred, and any past and future medical bills. General damages relate to your pain and suffering.
Q: How is pain and suffering calculated?
There’s no exact formula for pain and suffering damages.
One consideration is the person’s age. For instance, we may have a doctor on record saying that the injury victim will need to endure lifelong pain due to the accident. If the victim is young, that’s a longer period of time for someone to suffer which may result in more pain and suffering damages.
Other pain and suffering considerations may relate to the type of activities you were able to do before but unable to do now. An example of an activity that a person might have been able to do before a serious injury, but not after, may be skiing. If, before the accident, you were an avid skier and skied 60 days a year to relieve stress with friends and family, it would have been a major part of your life. If the accident causes a really bad break in your leg that leads to a permanent limp to where you can no longer ski, your quality of life is considered lower.
Other examples could include not be able to hike or return to hard labor jobs because of an accident. The injury victim may have to find a new line of work, which might not pay as much as their previous job.
There’s no hard and fast formula for what would be suitable compensation for the pain and suffering that a car accident injury victim suffers. Ultimately, the jury will come up with a number for general damages and pain and suffering based on the evidence that we present on your behalf.
Q: If I suffer a bad break in my leg and now limp, does the disfigurement factor into pain and suffering?
Yes, it does. The jury would consider that as well and may have sympathy for the person who was affected in ways such as embarrassment because of the limp or other visible injury.
Q: If you feel like there’s a lot of potential for pain and suffering damages, would you skip the mediation because you think there’s a good chance that the jury is going to be sympathetic toward this permanently disfigured person?
Not necessarily because we can always go to mediation and reject what they’re offering. If we think a jury would award the victim significant compensation for their injuries, at the mediation, if the insurance company’s settlement offer isn’t reasonable, we would advise our client to walk away from the mediation and let us proceed with the trial.
Q: What are punitive damages?
Punitive damages are damages awarded to the plaintiff to, in layman’s terms, to punish a defendant for committing a bad act. For example, if an excessively intoxicated driver causes an accident, a jury may award punitive damages because they viewed the act as so bad that they want to punish the person responsible.
Call us for a FREE consultation and you’ll be one step closer to receiving the compensation and benefits you deserve. We have over 30 years of experience and 3 convenient locations in Twin Falls, Burley & Ketchum. We also serve the communities of Rupert, Hailey, Jerome, Gooding and all surrounding areas in Southern Idaho.