Revising the rules

A lengthening list of states are taking steps to revise rules that relate to pain-and-suffering damages in incidents involving large trucks.

Georgia

Georgia lawmakers have approved a bill to repeal the state’s direct-action statute. It now heads to the governor’s desk for his expected signature.

The legislative action follows the recommendation of a special legislative panel to help address the needs of truck drivers in the state.

In place since the 1930s, state law permits injured individuals to sue truck drivers’ insurance companies directly.

Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, said the cost of truck insurance has risen so rapidly over the past few years it is creating a competitive issue with other states.

Legislation sent to Gov. Brian Kemp would put into place limits on lawsuits filed by individuals injured in truck-related incidents.

“In our state, right now, you can directly sue an insurance carrier when it’s related to a common carrier. Most states have done away with that provision. Georgia has not,” Sen. Blake Tillery, R-Vidalia, recently testified.

Tillery’s bill, SB426, would eliminate the state’s direct-action law. Exceptions to the rule would apply to instances when a trucking operation enters bankruptcy or the company cannot be located.

Lt. Gov. Burt Jones welcomed the bill’s passage.

“With the passage of this bill, we are one step closer to providing Georgia’s growing business community the relief it needs,” Jones said in prepared remarks.

Illinois

An Illinois Senate bill is intended to nix a problem statute for trucking operations.

A year ago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill to permit juries to grant unlimited noneconomic, or pain-and-suffering, damages in wrongful death lawsuits.

The Wrongful Death Act allows civil litigants to receive punitive (pain-and-suffering) damages. Punitive damages also are permitted for people who survive.

Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, is behind a legislative pursuit to remove the provision in statute that permits unlimited pain-and-suffering damages.

HB4992 would cap noneconomic damages in a civil action against a common carrier at up to $2 million per plaintiff.

OOIDA has encouraged Illinois members to contact their state lawmakers and ask that they support this tort liability bill.

Indiana

In neighboring Indiana, a new rule on the books allows seat belt usage to be considered in accident lawsuits.

State law has prohibited the seat belt information from being made available to juries.

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law a bill to permit juries in civil lawsuits related to vehicle accidents to hear whether the victim was wearing a seat belt. That information then can be used when considering damages.

A judge still would have the final say on whether the information is allowed to be presented.

House Roads and Transportation Committee Chair Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie, said it is important that the state not stand in the way of juries’ access to information about whether a vehicle occupant was wearing a seat belt.

“It has nothing to do with fault. It has nothing to do with cause. It’s only to be used in damages,” Pressel recently testified.

Previously HB1090, the law takes effect July 1.

Iowa

An Iowa bill revisiting a year-old rule on pain-and-suffering damages in lawsuits involving commercial vehicles has been put to rest.

State lawmakers acted last year to address “nuclear verdicts” in lawsuits that result from crashes with large trucks.

OOIDA welcomed the new rule to cap pain-and-suffering damages in lawsuits from crashes with heavy-duty trucks at $5 million.

While this limits noneconomic damages – including for pain and suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience or loss of opportunity – economic damages are not limited. These include compensation for lost wages or medical expenses. Punitive damages, if awarded, also are not limited.

A Senate bill introduced early this year sought to reverse course on the recent changes.

SF2224 covered tort liability in civil actions involving large trucks, including employer liability, noneconomic damages, punitive damages and exemplary damages.

The bill called for doing away with the state’s respondent superior law. Specifically, an employer would be made liable for an employee’s negligence.

The $5 million cap on noneconomic damages that was set a year ago also would have been removed.

Doug Morris, OOIDA director of state government affairs, said the legislation amounted to “nothing more than a money grab by the plaintiff’s bar so they can obtain larger verdicts and settlements in Iowa.”

SF2224 did not receive committee consideration, effectively killing it for the year.

Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, state lawmakers sent to the governor a bill to limit the total amount of noneconomic damages, such as pain-and-suffering, that a person may recover from a trucking company. A $1 million cap on noneconomic damages would apply to incidents with a truck that result in injury, death or other loss.

SB613 does not limit direct damages, such as medical expenses.

Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, told the panel about a study by the American Transportation Research Institute that showed the average verdict size for a lawsuit above $1 million involving a truck crash has increased nearly 1,000%.

“This has become a rising problem in the transportation industry,” he said.

In written testimony, Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, testified that the commercial trucking industry has seen an increase in large-scale litigation.

He highlighted a July 2023 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform that showed despite a decline in fatal crashes by more than one-third over the past two decades, “there has been a significant inflation in the valuation of verdicts and settlements, with the average settlement award reaching $27.5 million.”

Tomczyk said his truck insurance bill addresses a rising problem by placing a reasonable cap on noneconomic damages.

The Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association and OOIDA support the reform legislation.

Speaking at a recent hearing, WMCA President Neal Kedzie told lawmakers the truck insurance legislation is about setting reasonable limits to curb the growing abuse of noneconomic damages.

OOIDA has issued a Call to Action encouraging Wisconsin members to contact the governor and ask that SB613 be signed into law. LL