Discussion Question Two Due Day 3 Thurs Felix is a school bus driver He is driving children home from school one day when he is distracted by a fight in the back of the bus He turns to see what is happening behind him and accidentally strikes and kills two twins riding bicycles in the bike lane One twin is a brain surgeon and the other is a garbage collector Each has dependents Explain how damages will be calculated for each victim and why the families will collect different amounts Is this a fair system Why or why not Your carefully edited response should be a minimum of 350 words and posted to the thread titled Week Two Discussion Question Two Thread in the Main forum Tort damages are monetary damages that are sought from the offending party UoP 2010 p 95 A wrongful death lawsuit the victims have the legal right to recover damages In all jurisdictions victims can recover damages p 107 in three different groups general damages non economic special damages economic and in some cases punitive damages General damages in this case covers emotional distress loss of a father loss of a spouse and companionship This type of damage cannot be calculated and do not represent actual costs or expenses paid Special damages can be calculated because this damage includes medical expenses loss of wages loss of earnings and loss of property Punitive damages is when the defendant is proven to have acted in a way that is wrong and away from what is to be conceived normal in society such actions as fraud contemptible or highly offensive In this case Felix the bus driver did not act out of the norm of society or intentionally act in a vile or despicable way p 107 The damages collected will be different when it comes to the special or economic damages The reason is one of the twins killed was a brain surgeon in this case his loss of wages and future income will be higher than that of his twin who is a garbage collector whose income is normally less The general damages or non economic could be awarded the same if both have the same amount of dependants left behind Is this fair in my opinion it is Felix did not intentionally kill the twins and normally most would respond the same when driving we all do it with our children in the car However the justice system has guidelines one what can and cannot be awarded in these types of wrongful deaths Limits are placed and calculated based upon special damages by the funeral expenses loss of income and future wages that would have been there for the dependants However it is normally up to a judge or a jury to determine the general damages for the mental distress and loss of father or spouse Second response The damages in this case will be calculated in for each twin in a similar fashion The each of the victims or rather in this case the victims families will receive punitive damages based on the fact the bus driver acted in reckless disregard for the victims safety by turning around in the bus while driving By Felix taking his eyes off the road he acted with disregard for the victims and in this case their lives The punitive damages probably would not differ much in the cases this would basically be to punish the bus driver The difference in what the two victims families will receive can be seen in the compensatory damages Here the damages will be rewarded based on what will make the victims or in this case the families whole Here since one is a brain surgeon and the other a garbage collector the lose of wages for the family over the victims lifetimes will differ just as much as the wage difference is between the two victims Since a brain surgeon makes significantly more than a garbage collector then the family of the twin that was a surgeon will collect more damages than the other twin based on income Is this fair way to compensate the families I would say so since it accounts for the income lost by each one Some might argue that it places more value on the richer people or people who have higher incomes This can be viewed as being true however I see it as being as close to being fair as possible The families are use to a certain level of comfort that would be seen if the victims were still alive It does not take in consideration potential growth but does place a value on current value which is easier to figure out than potential value