america is a weird place. if someone is negligent, and causes injury to others, they should compensate for those injuries.
you can drive like a buffoon, cause someone to wreck, and literally your punishment is your insurance goes 50 bucks a month for 5-7 years. for the majority of people, they are not going to even notice the difference.
breaking your clavicle does not always mean immediate surgery, some opt to see if it heals on its own, depending on the fracture. some, might not be able to afford health insurance.
what if this person is a laborer? now they are out of work. it’s america, they may not have enough sick time built up, or work in a union. for all we know, he could have lost his job by now.
pain and suffering/emotional suffering? yeah, that’s a real fucking thing. i’ve treated thousands of patients who had their life totally turned upside down because some dickwad was texting and driving. you damn well bet i’m going to sue your ass for more than medical bills. if you cause me to lose more than 1 day of my regular life, doing shit like rehab, surgery, oh man, you better be ready to lawyer up.
lets put it this way. i’m going to hit you with a car, cause you physical harm, you’ll need surgery, be out of work for 6 months, maybe lose your job, and be a burden on your entire family. you also won’t be able to swim, bike, or run for 6 months, and it’ll take you another 6 months to a year to get back into the same physical shape you were.
how much would i have to pay you for me to do that to you? that number, is what people deserve when others are dingleberries.
people talk about americans lawyering up, i don’t think it happens enough, or is successful enough. that’s why people are always cutting corners.
last year, my wife and i had just moved to slc. we were super excited to go mountain biking while the weather was cool and before the snow came. some dumb 25 year old was texting and driving and plowed into the back of our car. i got it all on dashcam. i had a sore back for 2 weeks, our bumper was destroyed, and our brand new bike rack was mangled. we spent countless of hours frustrated on the phone with insurance to get reimbursement for a new rack, we had to fight tooth and nail to use the repair shop we wanted, and my wife had a sore neck that lingered for 3 months.
that same girl? nothing. after proclaiming she was on her phone and exchanging numbers, she stopped responding to me, and told insurance i stopped abruptly at the stop light. luckily we had it all on the dash cam. car was registered to daddy, (she was driving a 2017 bmw), who likely still pays her insurance. you would have to pay me 10k to go through that experience again… my wife, hah… unless you’re paying her 50k, she would never ever do that again (assuming the outcomes were exactly the same).
people will hear 60k for a “fender bender”, all i hear is justice served.
i’ve been to countless races where timing mats are all kinds of jank. at the starting like, when there are thousands of folks starting, you sometimes don’t even see it coming. i’ve always thought, someone is going to get fucked up one day, and here we are. (note, haven’t read the case)