Punitive Damages in Personal Injury Claims
July 9, 2012
Under Georgia Law, punitive damages may be availabe in certain types of
personal injury cases. The conduct giving rise to punitive damages must
be proven by “clear and convincing evidence.” The purpose behind
punitive damages is to punish the behavior of the person that has caused
the injury. Punitive damages are payable to the personal injury victim
and are in addition to the the money that is recoverable for the injury
claim itself. It is extremely important that your Atlanta Accident Attorney
understand how and when punitive damages are available as it can many
times mean the difference between tens of thousands of dollars on your
Georgia Personal Injury Claim.
An injured person has a clear right to receive punitive damages, in addition
to compensatory damages, in cases where the other person’s actions
show willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or that
entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference
to consequences. O.C.G.A. section 51-12-5.1(b). Below we have provided
Georgia’s entire code section regarding punitive damages.
It is important to remember that In order to punish and deter the wrongdoer,
a jury is entitled to hear about prior incidents of misconduct as a way
to gauge the amount of punishment that should be issued in the instant
case. This is necessary to determine that amount of punitive damages necessary
to prevent the defendant from doing the same type of activity. Thus, it
is very important for your Atlanta Injury Lawyer to make sure that he
or she does a thorough investigation into the background of the other
party to determine if there is a pattern of behavior that shows that the
other person has committed similar offenses.
Some examples of personal injury claims that may warrant punitive damages
are the following:
- Driving under the Influence – (We have been very successful in claims against drunk drivers –click here for a list of our recent results.)
- Hit and Run – (It is extremely important to locate and identify the other driver earlyon – otherwise it is highly unlikely that a punitive damage claim can
be brought).
- Racing/Road Rage – (Punitive damages are available in situations where two or more peopleare racing their vehicles or there is a road rage situation. The inherent
problem with most of these cases is proving that either racing or road
rage was involved.)
- Intentional Acts/Assault/Battery – (In these types of claim punitive damages are likely to be available,the problem many times is that insurance policies exclude claims made
as a result of an intentional act. If you are presented with this situation,
you should contact an Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer immediately as there
may be ways around the insurance company’s exclusion).
It is also worth noting that punitive damages are not available if someone
is simply talking on the cell phone or texting at the time of the auto
wreck. While this is the current status of the law in Georgia, it is our
hope that this will change as the public better understands the dangers
associated with Distracted Driving in Georgia.
Georgia’s punitive damage statute is found at O.C.G.A. section 51-12-5.1
