Imposing caps on non-economic damages is a big concern for the trucking industry right now, and the issue could get even more exposure as the country debates health care reform.

Non-economic damages, a.k.a. quality of life or “pain and suffering“ damages, are awards for intangible injuries or losses -- emotional and physical -- and are often difficult to quantify and translate into a dollar value.

As you know, trucking can be a rewarding job, but it can also be dangerous. That’s why we take precautions on the road to minimize accidents -- getting enough rest, observing the speed limit, making sure our cargo is secure, and so on.

But lawsuits do happen as a result of accidents, and some believe that without tort reform and limits on non-economic damages, the cost of insurance premiums -- health insurance, motor carrier insurance, whatever the case may be -- will continue to soar. Others believe that ceilings on non-economic damages limit access to fair compensation where there is legitimate liability, among other reasons.

Many states have passed laws to put caps on non-economic damages. Oklahoma is one such state that recently passed a cap of $400,000 for non-economic damages as part of sweeping tort reform legislation, which the Oklahoma Trucking Association supported.

As it pertains to the broader trucking industry, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) says legislation that imposes caps on non-economic damages would “likely help control escalating carrier insurance costs” and would “seek to strengthen the legal nexus between negligence and liability.” (See their 2008 report on critical issues in the trucking industry.) With the current spotlight on health care and tort reform, we will no doubt be hearing much more about this issue in the near future.