The last subsection of Indiana Model Jury Instruction 703 is subsection 8, regarding the life expectancy of a plaintiff involved in a car accident. This section deals with the introduction, usually at a trial, of standard life expectancy tables. These tables show the chance of death for every conceivable age as well as the number of individuals in the population who fall into that age. These charts can influence the amount of damages awarded, and that will be discussed below.
How These Charts Influence Damage Awards
These charts can be used in several different situations. Charts can be used if a death is involved in the accident. In this case, the charts show about how long the average person in that age would have lived, but for the car accident. This is used especially in cases where the deceased might have been younger or middle aged, as they would typically expect to live longer.
However, in a case where the injuries may be permanent, or even in a case where the person injured in the accident is alive, but older, the charts tend to show typical life expectancy. This could be used by defense attorneys and insurance companies to limit a damages award because the person is older and would not or will not live for much longer.
In trial, these tables can also be used by plaintiffs to show the loss of ability due to permanent injury. They can also be used to show, along with expert testimony, a decrease in life expectancy of the person who was injured. In the latter case, the plaintiff still must show that the injury or injuries are in fact permanent. But these tables can be useful in that regard.
Life expectancy tables are useful because they show, along with expert testimony, that a person has a diminished life expectancy due to injuries suffered in a car accident or other accident. If the tables have been used properly, they can be very helpful to a case for damages.
What Should I Do?
You should talk to an experienced Indianapolis Personal Injury Lawyer that can help guide you through this complicated process. The Legal Team at Hurst Limontes LLC has years of experience handling serious Personal Injury cases and Car Crash cases. We can walk you through the process. We will answer your questions and most importantly answer the Phone and call you back. We will represent your interests and we will explain this process.