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PRE-IMPACT FRIGHT DAMAGES MAY BE SOUGHT IN MOTOR VEHICLE CASE WHERE DECEDENT TRIED TO AVOID ONCOMING CAR BY ACCELERATING
This was a survival action filed by the decedent’s sister arising out of an automobile accident. She sought damages for pre-impact fright, mental or emotional pain, anguish, suffering and/or distress for loss of enjoyment of life. The decedent was killed by an automobile that crossed the center line and struck the decedent’s vehicle. An eyewitness testified that immediately before the collision, he saw the decedent attempt to avoid the collision by accelerating and veering his vehicle toward the highway’s shoulder. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion for judgment on the grounds that damages for pre-impact fright, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life are not recoverable in a survival action. The plaintiff appealed, and the Court granted cert. prior to the Court of Special Appeals’ consideration of the case. Following its own decision in Montgomery Cablevision Ltd. Partnership v. Benyon, 351 Md. 460, 718 A.2d 116 (1998), the Court reversed. The Court found that based on the testimony about the decedent’s efforts to avoid the collision, there was sufficient evidence to have permitted the jury to infer that the decedent suffered great mental anguish or emotional distress in the form of fright or fear immediately before the accident. The pre-impact fright was accompanied by both fatal physical injuries and independent objective manifestation, i.e., an attempt to avoid the collision. However, the Court rejected the plaintiff’s contention that notwithstanding his death immediately upon impact, the decedent has a cause of action for loss of his enjoyment of life. Concerning pre-impact loss of enjoyment of life, the Court held that those damages overlap, if they are not identical to, any pre-impact fright damages she might prove. Duplicative or overlapping recoveries in a lost action are not permissible. Concerning post-impact loss of the enjoyment of life, under the Maryland survivorship statute, the damages are limited to compensation for pain and suffering endured by the deceased, his lost time, his funeral expenses, and his expenses between the time of his injury and his death. Because the decedent did not survive the fatal impact, he suffered no "post-impact" or "post-death" loss of enjoyment of life. For instance, when the injured person is killed instantly, there are no future loss earnings damages in the survival action. |
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