MA Senate Rejects Damages Cap For Serious Personal Injuries
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 541
The MA Senate was in the process of voting on a transportation reform bill last week, when Governor Patrick's proposed $100,000.00 cap on personal injury damage awards was weakened to include a loophole for serious bodily injury or death. The proposed cap was supposed to be in place for public transit accidents but Senator Steven Panagiotakos, a personal injury lawyer and Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, rejected the cap and added the exemption for death or serious injuries "resulting in permanent disfigurement, loss or impairment of a bodily function, limb or organ."
Transit authority officials say they have long sought a liability cap because those types of cases are unpredictable, tough to insure and the most costly. Eliminating large judgments, they say, could save the agency -- and taxpayers -- $2 million annually.
Senator Panagiotakos stressed the importance of protecting the common person who should be entitled to recourse in the case of death or serious injury while using public transportation.
However, states across the country have limited these types of damage awards in order to limit taxpayer exposure. Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, explained that state agencies like the T are providing a public service to people and do not necessarily deserve to be punished like a for-profit corporation producing a faulty product that injures someone.
A spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority explained that a damages cap could reduce its budget for personal injury claims 20-25% annually.
Senator Panagiotakos insists that by erasing the cap for only serious bodily injuries or death, that the bill provides unlimited recovery for only the most serious situations.
The MA House will consider the transportation reform bill this week.
Our office has experience handling mass transit injuries and can assist you if you have been injured. For general information on mass transit and related injuries, click here.