Iowa Senate considering bill limiting how much truck-crash victims can sue for

A bill being considered in the Iowa Senate would cap how much compensation victims of semi truck crashes could sue for in lawsuits. 

The bill was voted down on Wednesday, March 16th, but could be brought back according to ABC 9 News.

Victims of previous truck crashes say that the bill could make things worse for families recovering from such a serious ordeal, and that putting a dollar amount cap on human life is simply wrong. 

The Heeran family in Cedar Rapids says that their father, who loaded trucks at the trucking company formerly known as Dupont, was struck and killed by a truck at work. Although nothing could replace the father and husband, the family says that, had the proposed cap been in place at the time of the incident, they would have settled their case at a fraction of the cost, making the whole scenario harder on the family. 

If the proposed cap is put into place, family members of the affected victims would be allowed to be awarded no more than $150,000 per family member. And the total amount allowed per victim of a crash where the truck driver is at fault: $1 million. 

“Typically, a jury would award millions of dollars for a lifetime of care, treatment, and loss of function,” said Semelroth of RSH Legal. 

“It’s not like they are proposing a cap if one of us made a mistake and seriously injured or killed somebody,” he said. “This is a specific piece of legislation to remove responsibility from one single industry.”

“There is no other area of the law in Iowa where there’s a limit like this; it’s a carve-out for the trucking industry.”