Damages in Camden Pedestrian Accident Cases

In Camden and throughout New Jersey, those impacted in a pedestrian accident case can recover economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are damages that you can actually put a firm number on, such as lost wages, medical bills, and out-of-pocket expenses. Non-economic damages are a little bit more difficult to calculate, they are not a set number, there is no number that you can say that that they should be getting, this is based on their pain, their suffering, their injuries, and the impact that it had on their life. But a pedestrian is entitled to both sets of damages.

If you were recently in an accident and would like to know more about damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases, an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer can assist you when preparing your case. A Camden pedestrian accident lawyer will have the knowledge of local laws necessary to support your claim.

Calculating Damages

Damages in a Camden pedestrian accident case are really calculated differently depending on the case. There is no set schedule that says, “A shoulder injury is worth a certain amount, every single case is different; it is a very subjective analysis because every person is affected differently by an injury. When calculating damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases, the economic damages can be calculated very easily, a person is able to look at the time that the person has missed from work, they are able to look at what their medical bills were.

If the person is going to be out of work into the future or if they need future medical treatment, the pedestrian accident attorney will hire an economic expert to look at those numbers and calculate what the future numbers will be. Non-economic losses are harder to calculate for damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases. These include the person’s pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, the impact that this had on them and the person’s family. The way a pedestrian accident lawyer would assess these damages includes looking at the overall picture, using past experience of dealing with similar cases and come up with a number that is considered fair.

With clients, coming up with a number that everyone is happy with does not mean the insurance company is going to pay damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases and sometimes the individual will need to file a lawsuit. If the individual still gets a number that is considered unfair, they can go to trial with their attorney. The jury would then make the determination amount damages that the person should get or how much damages they should get resulting from the accident.

Probability of Going to Trial

Damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases often resolve on their own, the reason why is in New Jersey a person is not allowed to tell a jury how much money they are looking for. Neither party is able to tell the jury how much money that they want to get, with that being said it makes juries very unpredictable. In the best interest of both parties to resolve the issue of damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases and often goes to trial.

Involvement of Punitive Damages

Punitive damages in Camden pedestrian accident cases become involved depending on the happening of the accident and what the other driver or the person who hit the person was doing. If it can be proven that they were acting grossly negligent or with a reckless indifference to pedestrians, a lawyer can try to seek punitive damages. Punitive damages for pedestrian accident cases are meant to punish the person who causes the accident. It is a very tough standard to reach, it is a tough thing to prove in an accident, but if it is probable that someone was acting recklessly then the individual can seek punitive damages.

Punitive damages will never be an agreement of settlement. Someone is not going to settle the claim and agree that they are going to pay punitive damages. Punitive damages usually come into play when the case goes all the way to a trial and a jury feels that the defendant needs to be punished for their actions and they will issue a number that would be awarded. Similar to when a person is getting awarded economic damages or non-economic damages, punitive damages are awarded to the person and it is meant to punish the person who caused the accident.

The statute of limitations

The statute of limitations following a Camden pedestrian accident is generally two years. Now that only can be tolled for certain reasons. One could be if it involved a minor in New Jersey, a minor statute of limitations is two years from their 18th birthday regardless of the accident. Regardless of when the accident occurred, they still have two years from their 18th birthday to make a claim.