Actual Case (not mine): $3,000,000 in Pain and Suffering alone to a 44-year-old man who had his leg amputated (cut off) below the knee after an SUV hit his motorcycle in Hialeah (Miami-Dade County), Florida.
The motorcycle rider had a degloving crush injury to his foot, ankle or foot. He had 4 surgeries on his leg before having his leg cut off below the knee 2 days after the accident. He spent 10 days in the hospital. A couple of months after the accident, the motorcyclist was given a prosthetic leg, but he had blisters on the leg and swelling.
A few months later, he had a minor heart issue but it went away. His doctor said that the problem with his heart was related to his injuries from the accident. The motorcyclist said that he still has pain in his missing limb, and pain in his knees and hips. He also said he had problems having sex.
Job
He was able work again as a maintenance man at a condominium building in Miami Beach, Florida. His employer was agreeable to making accommodations for him to be able to do his job.
His doctor said that he should not continue working as a maintenance worker and that he has a loss of future earning capacity because of the loss (amputation) of his leg.
The driver and owner of the SUV argued that:
- the motorcyclist was doing well and did not even need to take prescriptions for any of the pain and problems that he claimed to be suffering from.
- the motorcyclist can live a regular life and can work with his fake leg.
- the motorcyclist’s problems having sex and his heart problems were not caused by the crash.
The jury found the defendant 100% at fault. The jury awarded the plaintiff $27,000 in past pain and suffering and $406,000 for future pain and suffering. The motorcyclist asked the judge to increase the amount of plaintiff’s past pain and suffering to $500,000 and future pain and suffering to $2,500,000. The judge increased the award.
The motorcycle rider claimed that the SUV turned into his lane without any warning. The SUV driver argued that the motorcycle did not have its headlight on at the time of the accident, which was during the night. The jury said the SUV driver was 100% at fault.
The SUV driver’s employer owned the SUV. The verdict was in 2011. The case is Denis v. HNTB Holdings Inc. Et Al.
My thoughts:
The jury apparently did not believe the SUV driver’s testimony that the motorcycle headlight was not on at the time of the accident. I say this because the jury found the SUV driver to be 100% at fault for the accident.
If the jury would have believed that the motorcycle headlight was out, they could have found the motorcycle rider to be a certain percentage at fault. If the jury had placed fault on the motorcyclist, then the verdict would have been reduced by the motorcyclist’s percentage of fault.
The company that owned the SUV is liable for the accident because in Florida, an automobile owner is liable for damages (medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering) if someone who is driving its vehicle causes an accident and injures someone else.
The company that owned the SUV was also liable because I believe that the driver was working for the company at the time of the crash. An employer is liable if an employee causes an accident and injures someone else.
A degloving injury is when the skin and flesh come off the bone. Using life expectancy tables, the motorcyclist was expected to live to age 78 or so, which is another 33 or so years after the accident. That means that the judge basically awarded $76,000 per year for his future pain and suffering.
As mentioned above, the jury awarded $13,500 a year for future pain and suffering.
The judge felt that the fair value for future pain and suffering of this below the knee amputation was worth $62,500 more per year than the jury felt it was worth.
The judge felt that $27,000 was too little for his past pain and suffering, and awarded $500,000 for past pain and suffering for the below the knee amputation.
The judge felt that jury undervalued the past pain and suffering by $463,000 which is a huge amount of money. The motorcyclist was also awarded economic damages (medical bills and lost wages).
The SUV driver and owner appealed the jury verdict probably because they believed that the judge increased the pain and suffering amount too much. The appellate court affirmed (approved) the judge’s increase in pain and suffering.
The final pain and suffering award in this case means that the Appeals court in Miami-Dade County considers $76,000 or so per year to be a fair amount for future pain and suffering in a below the knee amputation case.
Now you should note that an appeals court in another district which ecompasses cities that are not in Miami-Dade County does not have to follow what a Miami-Dade County Appeals court considers to be a fair amount for future pain and suffering for a below the knee amputation.
If you are riding a motorcycle and are hit by a car (or any motor vehicle) in Florida, you do not have to prove that you have a permanent injury in order to get money for pain and suffering. But you still have to prove that the car was at fault.
In most cases if you are driving a car and you are hit by a car (or SUV or truck), you have to prove that you have a permanent injury in order to get money for pain and suffering. Again, you still have to prove that the car (or SUV or truck) negligent (at fault).
In this case, if the motorcycle rider was driving (or a passenger of) a car instead of riding a motorcycle, his amputation clearly would have qualified as a permanent injury and he would have been able to get pain and suffering damages if he could show that the SUV was at fault.
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