Attorney for Bucks Schoolgirl Who Lost Leg: Time To Update Award Limits
By Brad Segall
FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa. (CBS) -- The attorney for a Bucks County girl who was run over by a school bus several years ago says he will call on the state legislature to change the law after a court ruling upholding a cap on the amount of damages she can collect.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a lower court was correct when it capped the amount of damages at $500,000, instead of the $14 million that a jury had awarded to Ashley Zauflik.
She was 17 when she was dragged under a Pennsbury school bus seven years ago, losing her leg and suffering other severe injuries.
Attorney Tom Kline says it's time to change the decades-old law.
"We believe that the statute, which hasn't changed the cap since 1980, should be changed and should be modified to allow for recovery in 2014 dollars, not in 1980 dollars," he tells KYW Newsradio.
That state law makes many governmental entities immune from civil liability but allows damages up to a half-million dollars for motor vehicle accidents.
Kline says any change would be too late for Zauflik, but they want to fix it for "future Ashleys."