A permanent personal injury

According to a news report in California’s San Mateo Daily Journal, 41 year old Tricia Roth was driving her car in 2006 in San Mateo when a demolition company’s truck ran a red light and hit her car. The collision, which occurred at the intersection of Franklin Parkway and East Hillsdale Boulevard, broke her neck and she was left paralyzed.

She and her husband sued the driver and the demolition company, known as Demolition One, for her injuries and a San Mateo judge awarded them $45 million. Of that amount, $12 million was reportedly awarded for Tricia’s past and future medical expenses, over $7 million for lost wages (Roth was a software consultant for Microsoft) and $15 million for pain and suffering.

In addition, Roth’s husband was awarded $5 million for loss of companionship and lost earnings as he has become Tricia’s full time caregiver. The couple’s passion had been ballroom dancing before Tricia’s accident – but the car accident put an end to that.

Available damages in California

If you’ve been in a car accident in California, you may be entitled to compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. Here’s a list of the types of damages associated with each category:

Economic damages. Economic damages may include:

• Damage to personal property
• Damage to personal property having a special value
• Damage to real property
• Loss of ability to provide household services
• Loss of use of personal property
• Loss of use of real property
• Loss or destruction of personal property
• Lost earning capacity
• Lost profits
• Lost wages – past and future
• Medical expenses – past and future

Non-economic damages. Non-economic damages may include:

• Emotional distress
• Loss of consortium (loss of spousal companionship and services)
• Mental suffering
• Physical pain

An experienced California car accident attorney will be able to determine what types of damages may apply to your case.