Tennessee Motor Vehicle Accident Punitive Damage Awards
Compensatory damages are awarded to injured persons to make them whole again. Such damages include awards for property damage, medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, and pain and suffering. Sometimes, however, compensatory damages are not enough. Some behaviors are just so reckless or malicious that something more should be done to ensure that such course of conduct does not happen again. The remedy under these circumstances is an additional award to the plaintiff of punitive damages, which often equals or exceeds the total compensatory damage award.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has said that punitive damages “are awarded in cases involving fraud, malice, gross negligence or oppression; or where a wrongful act is done with a bad motive or so recklessly as to imply a disregard of social obligations; or where there is such willful misconduct or entire want of care as to raise a presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.”
In Tennessee car accident cases, punitive damages are often awarded when the defendant motorist’s conduct amounts to “gross negligence” or “conscious indifference to consequences.” The behavior of the defendant in Sakamotor v. N.A.B. Trucking Co., Inc., is a good example of gross negligence. In that case, the defendant trucker attempted to make a u-turn in the northbound lane of Interstate 75 because he had missed the exit where he liked to eat his breakfast. As he attempted to make the u-turn, the plaintiff collided into the side of the tractor-trailer causing serious personal injuries.
Driving while intoxicated is a good example of conduct amounting to conscious indifference to the safety of other motorists. While several jurisdictions require proof of an additional reckless act, a punitive damage award in Tennessee requires only that the defendant was legally intoxicated.
Reckless drivers who consciously disregard the safety of other motorists deserve an aggressive response. If you have been seriously injured because of a reckless driver, don’t hesitate; call 866-853-2888 to speak with a skilled auto accident attorney in Pigeon Forge at Baker Associates.
