MORALITY OF PURSUING PERSONAL INJURY
CASES:
(How and Why you not only should pursue your
case, but why you have a duty to the rest of the
community to do so).
If the community (or a jury) chooses to hold these
people responsible for their "choices" and their
illegal behavior, then the community can become a
safer place. For example, if a driver is held
responsible for the injury he caused in a wreck, and
his insurance company or his business, or he
himself is forced to pay, then his insurance rates will
rightfully go up, the burden of the harms such as
medical bills, lost income, and property damage will
rightfully be placed on the shoulders of the
wrongdoer. This will cause at least a portion of
these people to think twice before engaging in this
type behavior again. This burden being placed on
the wrongdoer will change the behavior of at least
some of those held responsible. This can and does
save lives and health of innocent families and
victims from injury and death caused by these
people. This is done by having a deterring affect on
that person from doing the same unsafe,
dangerous, or criminal act again in the future.
If the community (or a jury) decides to give the
wrongdoer a break, by letting the criminal, unsafe, or
dangerous act off without the consequence of
paying for what they caused, then the community
sends the message that this person's behavior is
just fine. That person will continue to behave as
they did before, because they will feel vindicated.
They will feel that they have been told that their
behavior is not only "just an accident", but they will
feel that a court and jury has actually endorsed their
behavior, and that if they continue to do what they did
before that caused harm, that their behavior
shouldn't be punished in any way. This leads to
more people being killed, injured, and suffering
other harms.
If the person who caused the injury and death is not
held responsible and forced to pay for their acts; if
they do not pay for the medical bills, lost earning
capacity, and destruction of health then who does?
The injured person will either have:
a) under their health insurance plan - copays,
deductibles, and uncovered costs that they will have
to pay and lost income and productivity that they will
be forced to do without. Often these costs go unpaid
because they are too great for the person or their
family to bear while they are attempting to cover bills
while their loved one is trying to recover and unable
to work or contribute to the family;
b) if they have no insurance then the bill goes
unpaid, since typically an injured person who cannot
afford health insurance is not able to work for some
period of time while recovering from their injury,
which puts them behind on their regular bills, and
puts them into the position that there is no way for
them to pay the outstanding medical bills.