Why fair recompense in personal injury cases is essential and … well, fair
When you sustain personal injury due to another’s actions or neglect, it truly is not selfish or greedy to expect and receive fair recompense from the at-fault party.
You are already bearing the heavy burden of simply living with pain and impairment and dealing with all the logistics of coping with your injury. Your family and support-people are also living with the emotional pain and physical strain of helping to meet your needs as well as their own.
It is simply not fair for you and your family to also bear the additional burden of dealing with financial setbacks, and medical, supportive-care and other ongoing expenses. The at-fault party (or parties) can’t take away the all pain and deprivation caused by their actions or neglect, but they certainly should provide compensation and relief insofar as is possible. It is only fair.
Unrecompensed personal injury not only places an undue burden on the injured party and his/her family, but on the community at large. Practically-speaking, medical costs alone will quickly eliminate the savings and resources of most families, at which point taxpayers often end up paying the bills. When a breadwinner is incapacitated by a personal injury and the at-fault party does not provide compensation, tax-payers again often have to foot the bill for helping the family to survive and pay even their most basic expenses. This is one of the many reasons it is so important to hold at-fault parties (and their insurance companies) accountable.
Additionally, in a surprising number of cases, when an at-fault party is held legally responsible and accountable for neglect or wrong actions, it provides significant incentive to rectify the problem, protecting other people from the risk. It would be lovely if, say, every car manufacturer was good-heartedly willing to replace a faulty car part, no matter the expense, simply to protect against anyone being injured because of the defect. Unfortunately, many manufacturers will only spend money to correct such a problem when faced by the real threat of paying much more to cover personal injury compensations. If one lawsuit protects hundreds of innocent car passengers, that is a positive for the community at large.
No one plans to or wants to become a personal injury victim and plaintiff. But any of us may find ourselves in that position. For example, vehicle mishaps are one of the most common causes of personal injuries, including some of the most devastating and debilitation cases. And the truth is, no matter how careful and responsible you are as a driver, you may be injured due to another driver’s carelessness, inattention, inexperience, recklessness or impairment. In the blink of an eye, your entire life can be turned upside-down, and you will soon become very aware of how important it is to obtain full and fair compensation for your personal injury.