Rep. Bill Gustoff (Iowa House photo)
A compromise between Iowa’s trucking industry and trial lawyers would create new liability protection from lawsuits filed over accidents involving commercial vehicles.
The Iowa House, on a 58-42 vote, has approved a bill that would set a five million dollar cap on so-called pain and suffering damages in most lawsuits filed over wrecks involving commercial vehicles like semis and tow trucks.
“It’s a fair resolution by two parties that I thought wouldn’t come together on this,” said Representative Bill Gustoff, a Republican from Des Moines.
The liability protection would limit rising insurance rates for trucking companies, according to Gustoff. “These costs get passed along and so it’s hard. It costs trucking companies. It costs farmers. It costs employees. It costs consumers,” Gustoff says, “because everything we eat, wear, use — if you have it, it came on a truck.”
Representative Jon Dunwell, a Republican from Newton, was seriously injured 22 years ago when he was hit by a commercial truck while riding a bicycle. Dunwell said increasingly high verdicts in tort liability cases, though, are a drag on the U.S. economy and he backs the bill.
“I recognize the importance and value of the tort system, but I want to also make sure it has some boundaries on it because of the expense for American families,” Dunwell said.
All 58 “yes” votes came from Republicans. Democrats and a few Republicans opposed it. Republican Representative Megan Jones of Sioux Rapids cried as she talked about a great aunt who was killed decades ago when the car she was in struck a truck parked, without its lights on, in the middle of a highway at night. Her family didn’t sue, but Jones said she won’t vote to limit what other families in similar circumstances can do.
“I don’t see this bill as being generous to victims. Iowans aren’t looking to get run down by semi trucks,” Jones said. “Lawyers aren’t taking risky, frivolous cases. Iowa juries aren’t awarding more than a person deserves.”
Representative Sami Sheetz, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, said the bill is fundamentally wrong. “This bill is being sold as a way to make Iowa competitive with other states,” Sheets said, “but it is critically important to note that not a single other state specifically exempts the trucking industry from liability.”
Earlier this year, most Republicans in the Iowa Senate voted for a $2 million cap on non-economic damages in lawsuits filed over trucking accidents. Governor Reynolds has previously proposed a $1 million limit, so it’s unclear if the Senate will accept the $5 million cap.