Punitive Damages Could Add to Your Houston Truck Accident Recovery

Punitive damages intend to punish the defendant for unacceptable behavior. Punitive damages should deter the defendant and others who might engage in negligent, bad acts similar to the one that injured you in a Houston truck accident. A jury considers the following factors when deciding on the amount of punitive damages.

• How bad the defendant’s behavior or disregard for others’ safety was in causing the Houston truck accident.
• The amount of the damages awarded to compensate you for your actual injuries and losses from the accident.
• The worth of the defendant’s assets.

A punitive damages award that doesn’t make a dent in the defendant’s net worth also doesn’t have a deterrent effect. Your Houston truck accident attorney should perform some focused and diligent research to uncover the extent of the defendant’s wealth.

Many defendants, especially profit-oriented entities like trucking companies, go to great lengths to hide both their assets and their liabilities. So your Houston truck accident attorney may have to delve pretty deeply into corporate books and government records to find the assets you’re seeking to pay for your injuries from the accident the defendants caused. SEC data serves as a good resource for corporate financial data.

Some of the Houston truck accident cases where you could seek punitive damages include these examples.

• Where the truck driver drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Where the driver falsified his logbook regarding hours driven and rest breaks taken.
• Where road rage contributed to the truck crash.
• Where rushed delivery schedules and excessive speed played a role in the truck accident.
• Where the driver engaged in particularly reckless maneuvers on the road.

In most instances, the trucking company becomes vicariously liable for its employee’s behavior while on the job. So you would be able to ask punitive damages from the trucking company as well as from the actual truck driver.

Contact the skilled Houston truck accident lawyers at Denena & Points for a free legal consultation regarding your Houston truck accident case. We’ve been helping the innocent victims injured by heinous truck wrecks to successfully recover full financial damages for over 12 years. We could help you too.