What Are Damages?
Damages are compensation, usually in monetary form, awarded in a civil court case for an injury or loss caused by another person’s negligence.
What Are Damages?
According to the American Bar Association (ABA), damages are tangible and non-tangible losses that can be quantified and documented, providing direct financial assistance to an injured party. Examples of damages can include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property damage.
Damages are important in restoring the injured party to the position they would have been in had the wrongdoing not occurred. This concept is fundamental in both tort and contract law, where it addresses breaches of duty or contract, provides a financial measure of reparation, and is even more important in personal injury cases where the injured party receives compensatory damages for medical bills and pain and suffering.
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Injury Victims of Train Accidents May Often Claim Compensation
A recent train derailment in South Jersey sent some 70 people to the hospital and caused the evacuation of more than 200 nearby homes. The reason? The train cars were filled with a dangerous chemical called vinyl chloride, a chemical that wafted through the air for at least several days.
The Nov. 30 train derailment near Paulsboro, N.J., sent four rail cars into the Mantua Creek when the train came off its tracks on a bridge. It took officials two weeks to get the cars out of the creek, which feeds the Delaware River that provides drinking water to some 15 million people.
While no one was killed in the Paulsboro train accident, the long-term effects of vinyl chloride are such that we may not know the full damage for years. The gas reportedly causes cancer and liver damage, according to the EPA.
Mike Schade with the Center for Health, […]
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4 Pennsylvania School Bus Accidents In One Week
Week in early December 2012 yields high amount of school bus accidents
In less than a week, there were four separate school bus wrecks in Pennsylvania – with dozens of students being rushed to hospitals.
Contributing factors included inclement weather, hazardous road conditions, decreased visibility due to shorter days and increased holiday traffic.
There were 121,312 reportable traffic wrecks in Pennsylvania in 2010, according to the state Department of Transportation. A total of 1,324 people were killed in Pennsylvania automobile crashes that year, and 88,000 were injured.
Following are summaries of the four school bus wrecks, all of which occurred in early December:
- 20 York County students taken to the hospital. The school bus they were riding in was struck from behind by a sports utility vehicle just after 7 AM on December 14. The extent of the injuries was unknown, […]
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Safety Precautions to Take Before Using Power Tools
Without power tools, we would be unable to complete many of the construction projects that occur throughout the country on a daily basis. It is important though, that all people are extremely cautious when using these tools because they have the ability to cause serious injuries. Taking the time to implement some safety precautions can help to minimize the potential damages and may keep the handler and anyone nearby safe.
Power tool safety may seem like common sense, but without spending a few minutes reviewing your familiarity with each tool and ensuring that you have properly set up the area you will be working in, you may be putting yourself in danger. Safety precautions that you should consider taking before using a power tool include:
- Read the instruction manuals and warning. Power tools come with safety information that is relevant to the handling of the equipment. […]
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Pennsylvania Motorists and Bicyclists Reminded to Share the Road
Pennsylvania’s bike safety law was passed in April in an effort to reduce injuries and save lives of Pennsylvania bicyclists. With colleges and universities back in session throughout the state, many students take to the road on their bikes to get to and from classes. In an effort to raise awareness of the public, and college students alike, the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia police are teaming up to kick off the annual Share the Road bicycle safety campaign.
The campaign will kick off tomorrow at 11 a.m. in front of the Penn Bookstore. The event features members of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, PennCycle, Neighborhood Bike Works, Keswick Cycle, the Undergraduate Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team who will be on site to answer questions about bike safety.
“This safety campaign gives us an opportunity to collaborate with important stakeholders such as the City of Philadelphia Streets Department and bicycle advocate groups to get safety information out to bicyclists, […]
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PennDOT Announces Child Passenger Safety Week
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that when properly restrained infants have a 71 percent greater chance of surviving a car crash and toddlers have a 54 percent decrease in the risk of death. To educate adults on the proper use of child safety restraints, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is joining the NHTSA in its Child Passenger Safety Week campaign. The campaign runs September 16-22, 2012, and ends with National Seat Check Saturday.
The campaign is geared to helping parents find the appropriate car seat for their child. According to the NHTSA:
“There are so many car seat types and models, how do you know which one is right for your child? The right car seat or booster fits your child and your car and is one you will use correctly every time you travel. Not only will your child ride as safely as possible, […]
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