For your convenience, we have included a transcript of the video below.
We are often asked, ‘What damages should I get after my automobile accident?’ Let me explain. Under Utah Law, you are entitled to several categories of damages; they can be categorized into economic and non- economic damages.
In economic damages we have a couple different types of damages. One would be your medical bills; if you have to go to the doctor and get treated for your injuries, your medical bills will be compensated. Another type of damage under economic damages would be vehicle repair; if your car is damaged in the crash, you are entitled to get the negligent party to pay to repair or replace your vehicle. Another type of damage under the economic damages category is lost income; you are entitled to be paid for the time that you are unable to work because of physical injuries, and that lost income can be both past and future. Finally, you are entitled to non- economic damages; sometimes those are called pain and suffering, general damages, or compensatory damages. Regardless to the name put on those, let me explain to you the basis for those.
Imagine a situation where you are playing out in the backyard with one of your kids, and you are playing baseball perhaps, and you hit a ball over the fence and it goes and hits the neighbor’s window, and damages the window. I do not think any of us would question that you, the one that hit the ball, are morally required to go to the neighbor, and approach them and say, ‘I am sorry I accidentally broke your window,’ and then offer to pay for it. That I think, all of us were taught when we were kids that that is what we should do. Unfortunately, a lot of people do not do that, and so, if the person who broke the window did not do that, the neighbor, I think all of us would agree, would be justified in saying, ‘You broke my window. I need the money to pay for it.’ That is economic damages.
Let us take a little bit different scenario. Let us say the neighbors standing right next to the window, so when the ball hits the window, the window shatters and the glass falls to the ground. The neighbor, an elderly woman standing right behind the window, a little piece of the glass flies out and lands in her eye. How much money should be paid to her? Should it be just the value to replace the window? If we were to say that, it puts us into a morally difficult position because all of us believe in our hearts that people are more important than property. If we say, ‘You need to pay for the window but not for the personal injury;’ that puts property over people, and that is simply morally wrong, the law does not support it, and courts will not support it. What courts say is if you injure somebody, if you cause them pain or suffering, this little piece of glass in the eye, it may be able to be taken out and it may not cause permanent damage, or maybe it would, we do not know from my hypothetical at this point, but let us say it can be taken out and cured. Do you pay the exact same amount? No, you must pay more, morally, you are obligated to pay more and that is what pain, and suffering damages is; it is a way in which we as a society state that we believe that people are important, physical bodies are important, and their well being is important.
When you go in front of a jury, if you have been involved in an automobile accident, you are not just entitled to economic damages; no, you are entitled to more than that. You are entitled to be compensated for your pain and suffering. How much should that be? That is a difficult question, and the jury is asked to answer that and put a dollar amount on it. Let me suggest to you what that ought to be. As a society, do we value people? Do we value their well being? Imagine a scenario where you are sick and you have a sour throat, perhaps you have strep throat and it is going to last a very long time, in fact, it may cause all sorts of problems if it is not treated. You go to the doctor and the doctor says, ‘I am going to charge you $75 for this visit, and if you want a pill which will cure your strep throat, you can pay an extra $50.’ You have to do a little mental calculation in there. Is it worth it to me to spend $50 in order to cure my strep throat, or should I just let nature take its course and see what happens? I think all of us, well not all of us, but perhaps almost all of us have been in that situation and said, ‘It is worth the $50. I am so miserable, this sore throat is so miserable, I do not want it to go one second longer, and $50 is a small price to pay in order to cut that time down.’
As a society, we value people much more than we value property. Let me give you another example: A fighter pilot is in a fighter plane, and the fighter pilot knows that the fighter pilot maybe be able to bring . . . the plane has some damage or it is going to crash, but the pilot may be able to bring it down safely. We put ejection seats in these planes because we value people more than a multi-million dollar aircraft. We say to the pilot, ‘If you get into a situation where you are going to crash, go ahead and eject. It is better to save your life and basically throw the airplane away than it is to go down with that plane.’ As a society, we put a multiplied value on the value of human life over property. Let me just suggest something to you. If a person were to pay $50 dollars for a pill to cure strep throat, it is probably worth 10 times that to that person, $500. They would probably pay $500; they would maybe even pay more than that in order to have that cure. We all know of babies that have been put in the ICU and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills in order to get that baby a better chance of living. We as a society, value people much more than property.
What is the value? It is impossible for me to say on this video because we do not know the extent of the injuries. That being said, it has got to be multiple times, probably 10 times or more than the medical bills, property damage, and lost income. We do not live our lives to work; we work so that we can live our lives. That is what pain and suffering is all about, and if a jury follows its charge and follows the law, it will award an amount for pain and suffering that is typically multiple times higher than the other types of economic damages.
I hope this adds some clarity to the situation and helps you understand the basis for pain and suffering or non-economic damages. Thank you for your time.