Airlines and train and bus companies, collectively referred to as “common carriers,” must exercise the highest duty of care to their patrons. Unlike drivers of motor vehicles, and operators of boats, common carriers must exercise extreme care, not merely ordinary care. In addition, common carriers have a duty to warn. If a common carrier fails to act with that high degree of care or fails to warn when a warning was due, then it will be liable for your injuries.
Because of these heightened standards and the degree of regulation imposed on common carriers, an injured person has several avenues of recovering compensation for injuries sustained on a plane, train, or bus.
Legal Questions to Address
The degree of regulation frequently piques the negligence per se doctrine when an injury occurs on a common carrier. This doctrine holds that if the common carrier is in violation of a particular regulation and there is a resultant injury, the law holds the carrier liable, period, if the injury is the sort the regulation was designed to prevent. This definitively establishes legal responsibility, leaving only the questions of causation and damages. By way of example, if a common carrier fails to post required warnings and there is an accident the required warning was designed to prevent, the carrier is deemed liable for your resulting injuries.
What Compensation is Available
Medical bills accrued and wages lost because of the common carrier accident are recoverable. In addition, future medical bills and future lost wages can be recovered, as long as they can be ascertained with reasonable certainty. Compensation for lost earning capacity is also available. For example, if a carpenter is injured so he or she can no longer work in the field and no longer has the possibility of becoming a foreman, then the foreman-pay may be recoverable, if the carpenter can show he or she had a likely chance of getting the promotion, until the accident occurred.
In addition, a victim of a common carrier accident can be monetarily compensated for his or her pain and suffering, both past and future. Typically, this figure includes compensation for experiencing fear of imminent harm or death, physical pain, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Although no amount of money can make up for the loss of a loved one, if the victim dies, California’s Wrongful Death statute allows surviving family members to recover for loss of financial support, medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of consortium, and loss of comfort and care. If nothing else, these awards will ease the financial burden imposed on the family, simultaneously forcing the at-fault person to bear some of the responsibility.
Finally, there are certain circumstances when a common carrier may have to pay a sum of money called punitive damages. This award is paid to the injured person that is intended to punish the carrier for acting in conscious disregard of the safety of its patrons. Oftentimes, this award is far greater than the compensation for medical bills and lost wages.
How to Get That Compensation
Because there are unique legal issues to analyze when an injury occurs on a common carrier, because the standards to which they are held are quite high, and because the measure of damages is often quite complicated, it is important that you contact an experienced attorney if you or a loved one has been injured on a common carrier.
At the Law Offices of Slaughter & Slaughter, we understand not only the potential severity of these injuries, but also the severity of the impact these injuries have on the daily lives of the victim and his or her family members. Although no amount of money can truly compensate, we are experienced in assessing the wide range of effects these injuries can have. We are willing to fight for your rights and seek the maximum compensation the law will provide. If you or a loved one has suffered an injury on a common carrier, call The Law Offices of Slaughter & Slaughter today.
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There is no need to go through this alone. Whether you are in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Northridge, Chatsworth, Westwood, Venice, Long Beach, San Bernardino, Encinitas, Chula Vista, San Diego, or anywhere else in Southern California, The Law Offices of Slaughter & Slaughter can help.
The Law Offices of Slaughter & Slaughter
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