The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released a new report investigating the impact of verdicts and settlements under $1 million on the trucking industry.
The research used a new ATRI dataset of more than 600 cases resulting in either a settlement or verdict award of less than $1 million and provides insight into key crash characteristics and litigation factors that contribute to substantial payments to plaintiffs.
The study, a follow-up to ATRI’s 2020 hallmark report on The Impact of Nuclear Verdicts on the Trucking Industry, showed that settlement payments are approximately 37.7 percent larger than verdict awards, and 393 percent more likely to occur in incidents involving a fatality.
Additionally, incidents involving a severe injury were 217 percent more likely to settle and 199 percent more likely to result in payments to plaintiffs over $600,000.
The report provides an overview of the small litigation landscape in the trucking industry as well as strategies to assist carriers and attorneys in preventing more costly litigation outcomes.
The full report can be read on ATRI’s website.
