Over the weekend, a Lake Oswego teenager, Cameron Rathmanner, crashed during an illegal street race in Washington County. The crash sent Mr. Rathmanner’s teenage passenger to OHSU with critical injuries as reported in the Oregonian. The reckless driving of Mr. Rathmanner is clearly grounds for punitive damages by his teenage passenger and her family. While there is no amount of money that can truly compensate a victim in this type of preventable tragedy, hopefully there is enough automobile insurance coverage to pay all past and future medical expenses as well as begin to make up a little bit for the pain, suffering, and rehabilitative challenges that undoubtedly lay ahead for the young passenger-victim. In addition, punitive damages are society’s way of deterring future reckless conduct through the civil justice system.
Tags: Car Accidents, civil, Motor Vehicle Collisions, Personal Injury, punitive damages